Demopolis High School head football coach, Doug Goodwin wasn’t surprised to find his team’s name sitting at the No 4 spot of the Alabama Sports Writers Association (ASWA) Prep Football Rankings Tuesday.

Although Coach Goodwin was pleased with the No. 4 ranking, he said that at this point in the game it don’t mean nothing.

“Rankings are nice,” Goodwin said. “It’s nice to be recognized, but they don’t mean anything. Those preseason rankings are based on what a team did the previous season. This team hasn’t done anything yet.”

Defending 4A state champion Trinity (15-0) was tabbed the No. 1 team in 4A. The Tigers suffered their only loss of the 2003 season to Trinity, as they finished with a second consecutive 13-1 season. Deshler (14-1) placed as the 4A Runner-Up in 2003, and land in the No. 3 spot above Demopolis.

Other noted teams in the top ten include: No. 7 Thomasville (10-2), No. 5 North Jackson (9-3), Tarrant 12-1 in 3A last season, move up a class to take the No. 9 position and Anniston, who finished the 2003 season at (8-3) in 5A, drop a class to 4A this year rounding out the list at the No. 10 spot.

But the big surprise in this year’s preseason rankings sits in the No. 2 position with UMS-Wright (11-2).

Although the Tigers, who have a total of 18 returning starters in 2004, muffled the mighty Bulldogs 19-7 in the 2003 playoffs, UMS still comes out ahead.

“I’m really not surprised by that,” Goodwin said. “There are more sports writers in Mobile than there are in Demopolis. It’s something we have to deal with every year. But like I said, it don’t mean anything.”