Highland has a history of a weak conference. Their nonconference schedule has improved with victories over Belleville East (8A), Alton (7A playoff team), and Marion (5A- briefly ranked before Highland beat them). We will learn little to nothing from the conference schedule except maybe the Mascoutah game (4-1 and votes in 5a). Their starters are usually out by the 4th quarter. Their QB is green but very athletic and has a high football IQ. They have an all state WR in LaPorta and if they ran the ball more, they’d have an all state tailback in Feldmann (they may anyway, even though they are pass heavy).
Their line is smaller than previous years but well coached. Their defense is much improved from last year. They still lack discipline at times and give up long plays.
All of this to say, you okay who you play and the rest is speculation. They may not be 5-0 if they played in a tougher conference. But as mentioned, they also went to the semis last year and lost a relatively close away game in bad conditions (20 degrees with 30mph winds- nightmare for a passing team). They have potential and until proven otherwise, they deserve the AP poll designation.
As for location: 30 miles east of St. Louis on I-70.
Hopefully we will have a chance to see a matchup in the playoffs to tear the OPs theory. I’d love nothing more than to see it disproven, but I don’t know.