One thing is certain just four weeks into the high school football season — opinions still vary as to the pecking order of the state’s best teams.

For the first time in the history of The Day’s Top 10 state coaches’ poll, there’s a different number one team for the third straight week: Southington.

The Blue Knights (4-0) moved up one spot to first after previously top-ranked Shelton was stunned by North Haven last Friday, 18-10. It was the first time North Haven had beaten the Gaels since 1994.

Five teams received No. 1 votes for the second week in a row, too, and all are in the top five. Southington received five of 13 first-place votes, followed by New Canaan (three), Maloney (two), St. Joseph (two) and, for the first time this season, West Haven (one). All five teams are 4-0.

New Canaan picked up two extra first-place votes while Maloney, Southington and West Haven all earned one more than they previously had.

Unbeaten Killingly (4-0) holds at sixth and Greenwich (3-1) is seventh.

North Haven’s win added confusion because it lost to Notre Dame of West Haven in Week 2, 14-7 (Sept 26).

Shelton also had an impressive season-opening win over Ridgefield (55-14, Sept. 9). A week later, Ridgefield gave Greenwich a scare in a losing effort, 49-42.

How, then, should one vote North Haven, Notre Dame (3-1) and Shelton?

North Haven (3-1) debuts at eighth, followed by Shelton.

The Green Knights, however, are way back at 17th because they received just four votes for a total of 38 points.

Hamden (4-0) made the week’s biggest move as it earned 117 more points than last week and jetted all the way up to No. 10.

The Green Dragons ascended for two reasons. The first was their convincing 42-27 win over Fairfield Prep last Friday.

The other reason was that Prep lost to third-ranked New Canaan the previous week (Sept. 23), 14-7, despite having a 155-93 edge in offensive yardage.

Previously ninth-ranked Trumbull dropped out of the Top 10 after last Friday’s 36-29 loss to Staples. The Wreckers won after Tyler Clark caught a 70-yard touchdown pass from Caleb Smith with 1 minute, 12 seconds left in the game.

Ansonia, which had been 10th, also dropped out despite beating the Gilbert/NW Regional/Housatonic Regional co-op last Friday, 30-20. It even earned four more points than last week.

The Chargers fell to No. 11 because both Hamden and North Haven made large jumps into the Top 10.

All of the Top 10 teams will play another Top 10 program before the season ends, too. St. Joseph plays at both Greenwich (Oct. 14) and New Canaan (Oct. 28), while West Haven hosts Shelton (Oct. 21) and Hamden (Nov. 11).

Maloney also hosts Southington on Nov. 4.

Three teams received first-place votes in the GameTimeCT media poll — top-ranked Southington (16 first-place votes), No. 2 New Canaan (five) and No. 4 Killingly (three). No. 3 Maloney and No. 5 Greenwich round out the top five.

n.griffen@theday.com