Mountainside holds at No. 10 in the Week 4 6A football coaches poll with a 2-2 record and 14 poll points.

The Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) poll, reported Tuesday, Sept. 29, by the Beaverton Valley Times, has the Mavericks tied at No. 10 with Ida B. Wells, which sits at 4-0. Both teams collected 14 points from coaches statewide.

The ranking caps a bumpy four-week stretch. Mountainside opened with a 52-13 loss at Tualatin on Friday, Aug. 28, then won back-to-back games over Glencoe (28-17 on Sept. 4) and at West Salem (39-27 on Sept. 11). Those wins lifted the Mavericks to No. 7 in the Week 1 poll before a slight dip to No. 8 in Week 2 at 2-1.

A 34-22 loss at Lakeridge on Sept. 18 sent Mountainside tumbling to No. 10 in the Week 3 poll published by the OSAA. The Mavericks stayed there this week.

The coaches poll does not affect the OSAA's Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) and Colley ratings that seed playoff brackets. Mountainside's 2-2 record, though, does feed into those separate systems.

Head coach Keanon Lowe, now in his fourth year with a 33-19 career mark, entered the season expecting a step forward. "This year's Mountainside team is more prepared for a run than years past," Lowe said in an OregonLive preseason preview published in August. First-year starting quarterback Mason Severson has replaced graduated all-state signal-caller Cade Mitchell, now at New Mexico.

At the top of the poll, Lake Oswego leads at No. 1 (4-0, 152 points, 13 first-place votes). Nelson sits at No. 2 (3-1) and Tualatin at No. 3 (4-0). Three teams dropped out: Central Catholic (0-4), Lincoln (3-1) and Tigard (3-1). Lakeridge, which beat Mountainside on Sept. 18, climbed to No. 7.

League play is next. The Mavericks host Westview on Friday, Oct. 2, in the Metro League opener, then travel to Jesuit on Oct. 9. The rest of the league slate: home against Southridge on Oct. 16, at Sunset on Oct. 23 and home against Beaverton on Oct. 30.