They're baaack.

After losing eight all-conference players from last season's state championship team, the Service Cougars didn't enter the 2009 campaign surrounded by a lot of hype. The defending champs weren't ranked in the preseason Alaska Sports Broadcasting Network's poll, with voters evidently unconvinced that a crop of newcomers could duplicate Service's run from a year ago.

Consider the pollsters convinced.

Service is the state's top-ranked team following a 53-15 nonconference thrashing of the West Valley Wolfpack in Fairbanks over the weekend.

The Cougars moved up one spot from last week, replacing the Colony Knights, who fell to third after narrowly edging small-schools power Soldotna on Saturday.

Undefeated West is ranked No. 2, up one spot after a tight win over Bartlett, while Juneau-Douglas returned to the rankings at No. 4 after a one-week absence. Rounding out the large-schools poll is South, No. 5 for the second straight week after moving to 3-1 with a win at North Pole.

Service's roster is full of players who either weren't with the varsity team last season or played sparingly. The team's top returning rusher, wide receiver Lucas Cosgriff, accumulated a whopping five yards on a single carry last season, and the Cougars didn't return a single quarterback who threw a pass during the championship season.

But the roster also includes 24 players who were around when the Cougars defeated Juneau for the title last year, something coach Jason Caldarera said is a big part of the team's continuing success.

"A lot of it is that we have kids that are familiar with our playbook," he said.

The emergence of players like sophomore quarterback J.J. Christy has proven that there's still plenty of talent at Service. The state's leading passer, Christy has thrown for 942 yards and eight touchdowns in his inaugural varsity season, including a pair of strikes that helped put away the Wolfpack on Friday.

Caldarera said players worked hard over the offseason, attending skills camps and lifting programs while on summer vacation. That kind of dedication helped role players move seamlessly into more important positions, he said.

"That's the idea, that they should be able to step in and fill those roles," he said.

As for the poll, Caldarera said he puts very little stock in what members of the media think of his team so far this season.

"The polls are for you guys," he said. "We want to be No. 1 when it counts."

Service is the fourth team to hold down the poll's top spot, following North Pole, Bartlett and Colony. Both North Pole and Bartlett lost in their first week at the top, while Colony spent two weeks at the top before slipping this week.

Service faces a crucial CIC showdown this weekend when Caldarera will square off against West coach Tim Davis, a longtime Service assistant in his first season with the 4-0 Eagles.

The small-schools poll saw almost no movement from last week. The top four teams remain the same from last week, with Homer replacing Monroe at No. 5.

Kenai is still the top-ranked team after beating up on four teams with a combined 3-13 record. Fellow undefeated Eielson is No. 2, while preseason No. 1 Soldotna is remains third despite playing a brutal non conference schedule that has included close losses to West and Colony.