Folsom's Week 7 Michigan high school football rankings

Sports reporter Brandon Folsom is back with his weekly top-10 football rankings:

10. Farmington (4-2, 2-1 OAA-Blue; Last week: Unranked) 

The Falcons are still alive in the Oakland Activities Association-Blue title race, despite dropping a division game to Troy two weeks ago. They got just the bounce-back performance they needed in a crossover matchup with Pontiac in Week 6, and they should pick up another confidence-building win against Ferndale this week.

Just how good is Farmington? We'll find out in the de facto OAA-Blue championship game in Week 8 when undefeated Birmingham Seaholm comes to town. A win for the Maples gives them the outright title. A win for the Falcons means both teams would finish 3-1 in the division.

9. Novi (4-2, 4-1 KLAA-West; Last week: No. 10)

The Wildcats wrapped up their three-game stint against the Plymouth-Canton Educational Park by going 3-0 and outscoring Salem, Canton and Plymouth by a combined score of 112-16.

It's going to get a lot tougher for Novi the rest of the way. It has a trap game type of matchup against Howell this week before it visits rival Northville in Week 8. Then it will take on either Livonia Franklin or Dearborn in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association crossover in the regular-season finale before the playoffs start.

8. South Lyon East (5-1, 4-1 LVC; Last week: No. 9)

The Cougars should beat White Lake Lakeland this week. That win would tie the program record for most wins in a single season (6). That's saying something because they'll still have matchups against Milford and South Lyon left before the regular season concludes. And then they'll get at least one playoff game.

Assuming South Lyon East can avoid another catastrophic injury to a key starter (QB Nico Campo was lost against Walled Lake Western in Week 4), this team should go down as the all-time winningest since the school started playing the sport in 2008.

7. Northville (5-1, 4-1 KLAA-West; Last Week: No. 7)

Traveling to Hartland is never an easy feat. But I don't need to tell the Mustangs that. They've never beaten the Eagles once in football. Seriously. Hartland has gone 4 for 4 against Northville since the two were aligned in the same divison of the KLAA four years ago, and it leads the all-time series, 4-0. And the games haven't even been close, as the Eagles have won by an average margin of victory of 21.5 points.

But this is a new and improved Northville squad. It should put up more of a fight this time around. Week 7 should be a good test for the Mustangs.

6. Detroit Catholic Central (4-2, 1-1 CHSL-Central; Last week: No. 1)

It might be too harsh to drop the Shamrocks five spots in the rankings after losing to the defending Division 2 state champions. But they didn't show too much fight against Warren De La Salle during the Boys Bowl.

The defense played well enough to win, giving up just 28 points and even holding De La Salle scoreless in the third quarter. But the offense just couldn't get anything going. There were fumbles, dropped catches and blown assignments along the offensive line.

Detroit Catholic Central will bounce back with a win over Orchard Lake St. Mary's this week, but it must sort out its offensive woes before the playoffs start at the end of the month.

5. Detroit Country Day (4-1; Last week: No. 6)

The Yellowjackets are quietly having a great season.

Their lone loss was in Week 4 against South Lyon, a D-2 team with twice its enrollment.

They had a bye the following week, but they got just the bounce-back performance in a 35-10 homecoming thumping of Flint Powers Catholic this past weekend.

They have a challenging schedule to end the regular season, but each game is winnable, including that Week 8 matchup against Brother Rice. The Warriors have struggled this season, and it could be perfect timing for Detroit Country Day to snap its two-game losing streak to big brother up the road.

4. Birmingham Seaholm (6-0, 3-0 OAA-Blue; Last week: No. 5)

Out of all the teams on the Maples' schedule so far, Troy had the best chance of knocking off Birmingham Seaholm. And it just didn't happen. Seaholm crushed the 2021 OAA-Blue runner-ups to the tune of 52-0, and it was its most-dominant performance yet.

The Maples should keep this going. I expect them to beat Farmington to win the division title. It'll be a coin flip if they beat rival Birmingham Groves in the regular-season finale. But it doesn't matter what happens in that game. It'll already have a playoff spot locked up and, likely, home-field advantage as well.

3. Redford Union (6-0, 5-0 WWAC; Last week: No. 4)

Garden City proved that the Panthers are, indeed, human. Only the Cougars didn't have enough depth and discipline to pull off the upset at Redford Union. It was a one-score game at one point, and Garden City had the perfect opportunity to knot the score. It probably could've garnered enough mojo to take the lead, too.

But maybe getting punched in the mouth will prove to be a good thing for Union. Steamrolling every opponent doesn't help them learn how to deal with adversity. And the Panthers definitely dealt with adversity in last week's Western Wayne Athletic Conference game.

2. Livonia Franklin (6-0, 4-0 KLAA-East; Last week: No. 3)

It wasn't a surprise to see the Patriots claim the outright Livonia City Championship a week ago, nor was it surprising seeing Livonia Stevenson QB ArJon Thompson keeping the game close early. But the Patriots pulled away late and picked up the admirable 24-7 victory against the Spartans.

Livonia Franklin faces rebuilding Dearborn Fordson this week. And it should be another big win that allows the Patriots to get each backup some playing experience. But they must leave this matchup unscathed. They're going to need every playmaker they have when they meet top-ranked Belleville for the KLAA-East title in Week 8.

1. South Lyon (5-1, 4-1 LVC); Last week: No. 2)

This week will be the Lions' final easy win before the schedule starts to heat up for the rest of the year. They face Walled Lake Northern in Week 7, and they should win by another big score. The biggest challenge will be escaping without injuries to key players.

But back-to-back games against Waterford Mott and South Lyon East await them. And then the playoffs start. Each week should get incrementally more challenging until their season ends. And that's going to be either them losing deep in the playoffs or them winning the state championship.

Out of the top-10 rankings: Milford (3-3, 2-3 LVC; Last week: No. 8)

Brandon Folsom covers high school sports in metro Detroit for Hometown Life. Follow him on Twitter @folsombrandonj.