Andy’s Take: Way-Too-Early Top 25 High School Football Rankings – June 16
· Yahoo Sports
So did the most recent set of the Massey Ratings High School Football Top 25 Rankings released yesterday get your attention?
Comments flowed in from around the country with takes coming every which way on which teams should be in the conversation of the best in the land. DeSoto (TX) was named the preseason No. 1 team in the nation by Massey Ratings and don’t get me wrong, the Eagles will have a great team as head coach Claude Mathis wouldn’t have accepted the challenge of taking his team down to South Florida in late August otherwise.
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There was certainly a ton of buzz surrounding the lack of teams from states like Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and etc. The argument can certainly be made that a program like Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas should never be excluded from the ranks. A number of others should be factored into the equation as well.
When it comes to high school football nowadays, the off-season high school transfer portal has to be taken into account along with head coaching changes as well. A lot has changed since the 2025 high school football season ended.
Heck, a lot has changed since I last did my own set of rankings back on January 1st. I broke in the New Year with the country’s first Way-Too-Early set of Top 25 rankings and now it’s time to release my next take on the best programs around the country.
You might see some major differences between my Andy’s Take version versus Massey Ratings and just about anyone else’s rankings for that matter. In talking, watching and knowing who has moved around, this take is aligned accordingly with that.
From what I’m seeing returning combined with how they finished the 2025 season and who has already transferred in as of June 16, 2026, here’s my next Andy’s Take on the Way-Too-Early Top 25 High School Football Updated Rankings.
1. St. Frances Academy Panthers (MD)
If you think we’re betting against St. Frances Academy head coach Messay Hailemariam to not have this team right back in the national conversation with the bundle of talent he’s already got slated to come back, you are wrongly mistaken. The defense remains a scary unit as it will be anchored by EDGE rushers like five-star Anthony Sweeney (Texas Tech commit), Jermaine Smith and Jayden Travers (Nebraska commit). The offense has a myriad of talent with running back Sa’Nir Brooks and wide receivers Samir Edwards, James Branch slated to all return along with guys like Brandon Jefferson coming into the mix. If you thought the Panthers losing guys like Zion Elee and Jireh Edwards was going to slow them down, think again. In some ways, this specific St. Frances Academy team might actually be more talented than last year’s Overtime Nationals winning bunch. That’s a scary thought.
2. IMG Academy Ascenders (FL)
Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy the last time I did rankings like these at the beginning of the year was at the very top and now I’ve changed my mind. Not by much, but the goalposts have shifted ever so slightly on this. The Ascenders, which finished 9-0 in 2025, return the most 2027 talent of any team in the country and it’s a who’s, who kinda list when it comes to players. From five-star EDGE Zyron Forstall to reclassified wide receiver Eric McFarland to Georgia commitment Jayden Wade, there’s plenty of reasons to believe that IMG Academy could be currently the best team in America. Some key graduations and transfers out have definitely got me thinking along with a regular season schedule that seems on its face a little lackluster to say the least, just creates the notion this Ascenders’ team may not be the undisputed heavyweight champion of high school football after all. Can we just see the Panthers and Ascenders play on Nov. 13 already?
3. St. John Bosco Braves (CA)
Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco may have stumbled at the very tail end of the 2025 high school football season, but as of right now, the Braves are in great position to be right back in the hunt for a national championship. Oh yeah, and also right in the thick of it when it comes to the CIF Southern Section and California’s Open Division crown. There’s a number of underclassmen slated to return, but maybe none more important than 2028 three-star quarterback Koa Malau’ulu, who threw for 2,361 yards and 33 touchdowns this past season. 2028 four-star wide receiver Darren Tubbs is ready to explode this fall after showing what he’s got in 2025. Though the Braves will lose some key players like Texas A&M signee Madden Williams, they have the talent, experience on both sides of the ball coming back to be as good as anyone in California and the country.
4. St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders (FL)
No offense to any other rankings, but not having a team that has the caliber of athletes, coaching and having won seven straight state championships among the Top 10 has to be looked into further. Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas is a team that has honestly gotten better during the off-season and for intents and purposes, the Raiders are in the conversation for the mythical national championship this fall. Reason they weren’t in my books last year was the season-opening loss to Mater Dei to start, but after that were able to prove to folks why they are who they are as a high school football program. The Raiders have one of the nation’s top offensive line units, anchored by 2027 five-star Mark Matthews (Texas A&M commit) and four-star wide receiver Julius Jones leading a strong wide receiving corps. 2027 quarterback Cody Conness looks to have all but win the starting job at St. Thomas Aquinas and he will get to show his stuff on the big stage in front of a national audience when the Raiders face DeSoto on Aug. 29. There’s so much to like about this team and that’s why they bump into the Top 5 for me.
5. Santa Margarita Catholic Eagles (CA)
Staying right at the No. 5 spot is the Rancho (Calif.) Santa Margarita Catholic Eagles. Head coach Carson Palmer has one of the top coaching staffs in the country and surprisingly, it was the team’s defense that really did a lot of the heavy lifting last year en route to the CIF Open Division title. Now not that the Eagles won’t be anywhere near as good come 2026, but with several key starters graduating, leaving voids already for Palmer and crew, I hesitate to have them ahead of St. John Bosco for now. Players like USC signee Trent Mosley and Tulane signee Trace Johnson are among the players that are leaving due to graduation and they played major roles in Santa Margarita’s last season. There’s plenty of reasons to believe this team could be not far off from the pack as they bring back a number of players from this season’s Open Division championship group. My belief is the sky is the limit for Santa Margarita Catholic, even with some of the big hits they take to graduation, they’re deserving of being considered inside of the Top 5 of these second way-too-early high school football rankings. A early season test against Orlando (Fla.) Jones, which has loaded up on the defensive side of the ball, will definitely tell us a lot about where Santa Margarita Catholic is at for 2026.
Andy’s Take Way-Too-Early High School Football Updated Rankings Nos. 6-25
6. Bishop Gorman (NV)
7. Carrollton (GA)
8. Baylor School (TN)
9. Centennial (CA)
10. Buford (GA)
11. Sierra Canyon (CA)
12. Basha (AZ)
13. Thompson (AL)
14. Mater Dei (CA)
15. St. Joseph Regional (N.J.)
16. Chaminade-Madonna Prep (FL)
17. Mount Carmel (IL)
18. Edna Karr (LA)
19. Don Bosco Prep (N.J.)
20. Cardinal Mooney (FL)
21. East St. Louis (IL)
22. Grayson (GA)
23. DeMatha Catholic (MD)
24. Miami Central (FL)
25. The St. James Academy(VA)
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