Presented by Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler
Two weeks ago, the KOT845 Power 40 was built on what we knew coming into the season.
Now we have results.
And the first two weeks have changed plenty.
Middletown takes the throne
Middletown started the year at No. 4.
They are now No. 1.
A 32-0 win over Arlington got things started. Then came the game that changed the top of the board: a 22-21 win at Cornwall.
That was enough.
Monroe-Woodbury entered the season No. 1 as the defending Class AA champion, but an 0-2 start opened the door. Middletown walked through it.
For now, there is a new team at the top of Section Nine.
But No. 1 does not mean the work is finished. Middletown still has plenty left to prove. The Middies have to take care of Newburgh again, beat Monroe-Woodbury for the first time since 2022 and win the Erie Bell back for the first time since 2023.
Being No. 1 also puts a target on them. Every team left on the schedule now gets to look at Middletown as the team to knock off. Until the Middies handle those tests, being ranked first may make somebody else believe they are really the one. Middletown has the top spot now. Keeping it is the next challenge.
Cornwall stays No. 2 — even at 0-2
This is where the difference between power rankings and standings matters.
Cornwall has lost twice, but the Dragons are not suddenly the third-, fourth- or fifth-best team in Section Nine because their record says 0-2.
They opened against Rye and then lost by one point to the new No. 1 team in the section.
There is also history behind keeping Cornwall above Newburgh and Washingtonville. Cornwall hasn’t lost to Newburgh since 2009 and hasn’t lost to Washingtonville since 2005.
Until somebody changes that on the field, it still matters.
Newburgh climbs. Washingtonville really climbs.
Newburgh moves from No. 5 to No. 3.
The Goldbacks lost a competitive opener to Curtis before responding with a 42-6 win over Warwick. They have not done anything to fall out of the top tier.
Then there is Washingtonville.
The Wizards started at No. 8 and are now No. 4 after beating Lourdes 34-16 and Monroe-Woodbury 17-14.
No team outside Middletown has changed its early-season perception more.
At some point, 2-0 with those two wins stops being a nice start and becomes proof.
Monroe falls from No. 1 to No. 5
This is probably the biggest visual change from Week 0.
Monroe-Woodbury entered at No. 1. Losses to JFK Campus and Washingtonville have moved the Crusaders down four spots.
They are not being erased.
This is still the defending AA champion, and that recent body of work matters. But the Power 40 has to react to what is happening now, too.
At 0-2, Monroe can no longer sit above teams that have already produced stronger 2026 results.
Port and Minisink trade places
Port Jervis moves from No. 7 to No. 6.
Minisink Valley falls from No. 3 to No. 7.
There is not much mystery here.
Port went into Minisink and won 31-3.
Minisink entered the year as the defending Class A champion and one of the safest teams near the top of the board. Port changed that conversation in one night.
That result deserves weight.
Goshen, Lourdes and Valley Central round out the top 10
Goshen has moved from No. 11 to No. 8 after starting 2-0.
Lourdes drops from No. 6 to No. 9, but the 53-12 response against Pine Bush kept the Warriors from falling much further after the Washingtonville loss.
Valley Central makes one of the biggest jumps near the top, climbing from No. 15 to No. 10.
The Vikings are 2-0 after beating Yorktown in overtime and Wallkill 32-25.
VC has earned its way into the top 10. What happens next determines whether they stay there.
The middle of the board is moving fast
This is where two weeks of actual football have created the most movement.
Kingston climbs from 16 to 12.
Marlboro moves from 19 to 15 after beating Chester.
Highland jumps from 22 to 18 after a 2-0 start that includes a direct win over Wallkill.
And then there is FDR.
The Presidents have made the largest upward move on the entire 11-man board, going from No. 26 to No. 20.
They have outscored Poughkeepsie and Monticello 86-0.
The opponent strength is why FDR is not higher yet. The dominance is why they cannot stay at 26.
Both things can be true.
Saugerties takes the biggest fall
Saugerties opened the year No. 9.
They are now No. 21.
That is the largest drop on the board.
The defending Class B champion did not get to play its opener, then lost 31-7 to Dover.
One result does not erase what Saugerties accomplished last season, but the Power 40 cannot keep a team inside the top 10 based entirely on last year while the teams around them are building current résumés.
Dover, meanwhile, moves to No. 17.
Records still don’t tell the whole story
Burke Catholic is 3-0 and sits at No. 22.
Spackenkill is 2-0 and sits at No. 24.
Beacon is 2-0 and sits at No. 13.
Warwick is 0-2 and sits at No. 11.
That is not an accident.
Strength of opponent matters. Classification matters. Head-to-head history matters. Recent program level matters. How a team wins or loses matters.
The goal is not to sort forty teams by record.
The goal is to answer one question:
Who is better right now?
Eight-man gets its first real reshuffle
Sullivan West now leads the eight-man group at No. 31 overall after a 56-18 win over Ellenville.
Pawling moves to No. 32 after beating Eldred 30-6.
Millbrook/Webutuck stays at No. 33 after a 34-0 win over Fallsburg, while Eldred falls from the top eight-man spot to No. 34.
Tri-Valley also moves up after its 18-16 win over Onteora.
Two weeks ago, those rankings were projections.
Now they have results behind them.
Two weeks changed the board
The September 2 Power 40 was the starting point.
September 15 is the first real checkpoint.
Middletown went from No. 4 to No. 1. Washingtonville went from No. 8 to No. 4. Valley Central jumped into the top 10. FDR climbed six spots. Saugerties fell twelve.
And we are still only two weeks into the season.
Week 0 gave us expectations. Weeks 0 and 1 gave us evidence.
Now the Power 40 starts getting harder.
