So most of the national high school football rankings are out around the country, with human input and computers spitting out which teams are the best in the United States.
Computers can tell you one thing, but the human eye helps as well and I’m offering mine as a Christmas Eve gift, or maybe not a gift to those who disagree, which I’m sure there will be plenty. I’ve traveled quite a bit over the 2025 high school football season, maybe more so than anyone else when it comes to covering the sport.
Starting at Buford High School back on Aug. 14 to Mercedes-Benz Stadium last week for the GHSA high school football state championships, I’ve stood on sidelines, endzones and press boxes, well more of the first two, and caught an up-close glimpse of some of the top high school football programs there is.
This isn’t a computer providing these rankings, it’s my final take on the 2025 high school football season when it comes to who might be the best in the land. Take it for what it’s worth as I provide the latest Andy’s Take just ahead of Christmas Day.
1. Buford Wolves (Ga.)
Buford (15-0) earned this in a multitude of ways. As much as I would love to see Buford and St. Frances Academy go head to head, which I really would, the Wolves ended the season unbeaten against another nationally ranked foe.
They seemingly always had the answers for whatever test was put in their way. The two times I covered Buford versus Milton and Carrollton, both were tight games and the Wolves just found a way.
Offensively, if the team struggles to pass the rock, they put their Georgia signee Tyriq Green in the backfield and let him go to work. Defensively, this team has a strong secondary and very talented front seven. I think if they faced St. Frances Academy, it would be a really good defensive game between the two foes, though the last time they played each other back in 2023 it ended in a fight breaking out.
2. St. Frances Academy Panthers (Md.)
I got the chance to see St. Frances Academy Panthers’ first and last game of the season, just like Buford’s, and much of the same superlatives could be given to Messay Hailemariam‘s group as well.
I will say this is the best defensive high school football team in the country. That I don’t mind debating with anyone because of the fact this team just flies around to the ball like none other and hits you like a ton of bricks.
Just that one loss to St. John Bosco (Calif.) leaves room for pause on saying flat out they’re the best because yes, the aura around being undefeated is real. You want the mythical national champion to be an unbeaten team, I mean isn’t that how sports kinda works out a lot of the times? Oh how I long for the Wolves and Panthers to go head-to-head because to me, that would be the real national championship game for high school football.
3. Santa Margarita Catholic Eagles (Calif.)
No team ended the season playing hotter than the Santa Margarita Catholic Eagles (11-3) and for that, forget about the three losses, just check out how Carson Palmer‘s team played down the stretch of the season.
Now I only got to watch Santa Margarita via the NFHS Network, but from what I saw, this offense was humming and the defense was lights out. What better combination do you want in a team when the season is ending?
Whether it was beating Mater Dei or Centennial or De La Salle, the list of impressive wins for the Eagles is deep and how they defeated opponents was in dominating fashion at the tail end of the season. Take into the fact that Santa Margarita beat Centennial and De La Salle by a combined 89-20 score and you have yourself one tough bunch to beat in the postseason.
I agree with Palmer when he said he wishes his team could play a couple more games. If there was such a thing like a ‘High School Football Playoff’, I would have loved to seen them against a Buford, IMG Academy or St. Frances Academy. Unfortunately we won’t and that’s the end of that pipe dream for me anyways.
4. IMG Academy Ascenders (Fla.)
The IMG Academy Ascenders (9-0) have seen themselves sitting at No. 1 at some point in the rankings, but no one is warding them the crown because well, they just don’t have that season defining win you’d like to see on a team’s resume.
Possibly the toughest teams the Ascenders faced was East St. Louis and The Hun School. I’m going to throw in Winslow Township, a New Jersey high school state champion, as another opponent that kinda gave IMG fits.
I covered IMG against Winslow Township and East St. Louis, both games at different points during the game, gave the Ascenders some problems. What head coach Greg Studrawa and his staff leaned on was their power run game and stout defensive cast of players to win them games. Needless to say it did work, leading to an undefeated season.
My thoughts are this team badly needed a game with a team like, oh yeah, maybe St. Frances Academy to help prove to folks this was or is the best football squad in the country. Instead, it left everyone to wonder what to make of the 2025 season for IMG Academy.
5. Carrollton Trojans (Ga.)
If Buford is No. 1, there’s really no way I can move Carrollton (14-1) too far down just because they lost the GHSA Class 6A state championship. I mean, what kind of sense does that really make?
Had Carrollton defeated Buford, we’d easily be talking about how the Trojans are the nation’s top program as they only lost 28-21. Nearly half a dozen turnovers torpedoed Carrollton’s chances to win the game, because you take those all away, we’d be singing a different tune right now. Woulda, coulda, shoulda.
I only got to watch Carrollton in-person once and this is a very sound ball club. They have a stud in two-way starter Zykie Helton (Georgia signee) and plenty of talent on both sides of the ball. Trojans’ head coach Joey King will have this team back in contention for a national title in 2026, but for now they finish inside of the Top 5.
6. Centennial (Calif.)
Anytime you can beat a team like Mater Dei not just once, but twice? Yeah, you should be higher up the ranks despite the two losses. Centennial Huskies (11-2), though getting blown out in the CIF Southern Section championship game, played most of the season like a team destined to win it all.
That was until they ran into arguably the country’s hottest team in Santa Margarita Catholic. The Huskies’ defense was for real, with the offense coming in clutch in many of the biggest games during the season.
It would have been nice to see Centennial coach Matt Logan to add a Open Division title under his belt, but with parity now throughout California seemingly, maybe the Huskies will have another shot sooner rather than later.
7. Mater Dei (Calif.)
Mater Dei (10-3) was the toughest team to read all season long because of the talent they possessed, but then the games where the offense seemed to have vanished in spurts or even entirely.
Like how a team that has so much firepower on the offensive side of the ball just couldn’t piece together everything entirely was puzzling. There’s no way, though, in seeing these guys at the beginning of the season when the beat St. Thomas Aquinas and in Las Vegas, when they edged Bishop Gorman, that the Monarchs aren’t a top 10 squad.
When focused, executing and locked in, they’re as good as anyone.
8. Bishop Gorman (Nev.)
The Bishop Gorman Gaels (12-1) really were another team that easily could make the argument to be the national champion, if not for one loss.
That loss to Mater Dei in Las Vegas was the Gaels’ chance to take the national crown and I knew that heading in. They needed that win so much more than Mater Dei back on Sep. 19.
In seeing them in-person, you can see why folks are super high on Bishop Gorman and that’s because they’re the complete package. On any given night, they too can or could be the best team in the country. A 14-0 win over Santa Margarita the following week after the loss to Mater Dei validated that thought process.
9. Thomas County Central (Ga.)
This Thomas County Central (15-0) deserves some respect put on their name because of the way they dominated teams in Georgia all season long.
When your offense scores 808 points, one of the most totals in Georgia high school football history, you know you’re watching something special. An offense fueled by Wake Forest signee Caleb Lawrence, but there was plenty of other characters to this talented cast of players.
Watching Thomas County Central score to the tune of 62 points against Gainesville to cap the GHSA state championships in Atlanta put a nice finishing touch on the traveling for me as I felt like I had witnessed one of the country’s best offenses at work. It’s hard for me to not say this team couldn’t knock off a Buford or Carrollton. Sounds like I need to see the two-team camp involving Creekside and Thomas County Central whenever that takes place again.
10. St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.)
The Florida high school football dynasty that is the St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders (14-1) close out the Top 10 here in the rankings.
I mean, it’s a tale as old as time with this guys because winning championships and staying on top is embedded in their DNA. I got to see St. Thomas Aquinas face Mater Dei and Lakeland, with the Raiders nearly beating the former on a fierce near-comeback.
The way the Raiders, without the services of Justice Fitzpatrick and not on their best offensive night, shut out perennial Florida power Lakeland, 29-0, just left me to think they just have this aura around them. St. Thomas Aquinas is just so well rounded, from their offense to defense and superb special teams. Everything top to bottom is top of the line and heck, they even have a win to their name over in Europe.
The Notre Dame-looking helmets paired with uniforms that give off a Michigan Wolverine vibe has you walking away wondering when will their dominance ever end?
11. St. John Bosco (Calif.) (9-2)
12. Grimsley (N.C.) (15-0)
13. Cherry Creek(CO) (14-0)
14. Grayson (Ga.) (12-1)
15. Edna Karr Cougars (14-0)
16. Cardinal Mooney (Fla.) (14-1)
17. Creekside (Ga.) (15-0)
18. Clay-Chalkville(Ala.) (16-0)
19. Baylor School (Tenn.) (12-0)
20.Millard South (Neb.) (12-1)
21. North Shore (TX) (14-2)
22. La Salle College(Pa.) (13-1)
23. Mount Carmel(IL) (15-0)
24. Basha (Ariz.) (12-1)
25. St. Joseph Regional(N.J.) (10-2)
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