High School Football Ratings
It's Still Northwestern, St. Xavier, Katy and Carroll in Top Four
ESPN, USA Today, Prep Nation and Rise Magazine generally agree on America's best prep school football teams.
The Northwestern Bulls of Miami, FL and St. Xavier of Cincinnati registered impressive wins to retain the two top spots in United States high school football polls going into October. Northwestern defeated Southridge 48-21 and St. Xavier shut out Elder 18-0.
There was little change in the composite ratings drawn from the polls conducted by the ESPN sports television network, USA Today, Rise Magazine and the website Prep Nation .
Twenty-two of the top 26 teams remained undefeated. Twenty six teams made the composite poll because three of them tied for the 24th spot.
Northwestern was first in three of the October 1 media polls and second in another. St. Xavier of Cincinnati had one first place, two seconds and one third.
The composite ratings, which represent a wider viewpoint than the individual media polls, are determined by awarding teams 25 points for first place, 24 for second, etc., in each of the four media polls. That gave Northwestern 99 poll points and St. Xavier 96.
Katy takes over third place
Katy, TX moved into undisputed possession of third place in the composite ratings with 86 points. It was followed by Carroll High of Southlake, TX with 82 poll points each.
While the media polls were in general agreement on the top four teams, they went their separate ways after that. Prattville, AL, which has a 5-0 record, continued to be the most controversial team with rankings of third in one poll, but 7th, 14th and 21st in the others. It was tied for ninth in the composite ratings.
Florida, Ohio State still tops
Florida retained its state lead in the composite ratings with four teams among the top 26, registering a total of 234 poll points. Ohio was second with three teams and 222 points, followed by Texas with two teams and 168 points and California with three teams and 157 points
Game results for all the top teams are available on the individual poll websites.
The October 2 rankings:
Here’s how the teams ranked in composite points earned in the four polls after the September 27-29 weekend games. Points are awarded on the basis of 25 for first place, 24 for second, etc. in each of the four polls.
- Northwestern of Miami, FL—99
- St. Xavier of Cincinnati, OH—96
- Katy, TX—86
- Carroll of Southlake, TX--82
- Mater Dei of Santa Ann, CA--81
- South Panola of Batesville, MS--78
- Northside of Warner Robins, CA—68
- Booker T. Washington, Miami, FL—62
- Prattville, AL--59
- Pahokee, FL—59
- Cardinal Mooney of Youngstown, OH—58
- Colerain of Cincinnati, OH—58
- Hamilton of Chandler, AZ—54
- Maryville, TN—52
- De la Salle of Concord, CA—48
- Union of Tulsa, OK—40
- Central Catholic of Pittsburgh—30
- DeMatha of Hyattsville, MD—30
- Centennial of Carona, CA--28
- Muskegan, Mich—18
- Columbine of Littleton, CO--16
- Jenks, OK--14
- Lakeland, FL—14
- Independence of Charlotte, NC--10
- Don Bosco of Ramsey, NJ--10
- Salem, Virginia Beach, VA--10
Prep Football Composite Rankings
