USA Today - now and especially then - kinda called their own shot.
1989
1. Cleveland St. Ignatius (13-0)
2. Odessa, Texas, Permian (16-0)
3. Fontana, Calif. (14-0)
4. Pittsburgh Upper St. Clair (15-0)
5. Rockingham, N.C. Richmond Co. (15-0)
6. East St. Louis, Ill. (14-0)*
7. Hazelwood, Mo. East (14-0)**
8. Farmington Hills, Mich. Harrison (13-0)
9. Anniston, Ala. (15-0)
10. Bradenton, Fla. Manatee (13-1)
11. Valdosta, Ga. (14-1)
12. Oak Lawn, Ill. Richards (14-0)
This is the scoop - they were damn good, loaded with D1 talent. Chris Moore broke out that year as a sophomore. Hickey sidelined and out of the spotlight - it was Chris’ show. And MLB bound, after going to U of I as a receiver, Homer Bush was second best to Jerry Creer. And they were big in the line too. Ran their table in dominant fashion. But their schedule was not as tough as ours, not by a long shot.
Hazelwood East - just across the River - beat us by 13 in the opener, sealing the game with a pick six by NFL longtimer, Terrell Fletcher.
(Last game I lost in high school.)
This is the year after the immortalized Friday Night Lights season. And if Permian did not pull down number 1, with that MOJO (ha!) behind them, well, IGGY OH had to be special.
That was my junior year - I was pretty dialed in to what was happening.
I heard nothing of a National title that year. In fact, the Post Dispatch gave them co-team of the year. (That’s an honor my senior class received singularly.)