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MaxPreps rankings for Division 8A football (2026). Every high school football team in the nation is ranked. Find out where your teams stands... 

Division 8A Football (2026) Rankings

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MaxPreps National Football Editor Zack Poff and MaxPreps Director of Editorial Steve Montoya give a MaxPreps Top 25 rankings update.

MaxPreps Top 25 Rankings Update | Week 6 2026 High School Football Season

MaxPreps goes inside Allen football for a behind the scenes look at the stadium, players, traditions and scale surrounding one of Texas' premier high school football programs.

Inside Allen: Texas High School Football on Another Level

MaxPreps Top 25 Rankings Update | Week 5 2026 High School Football Season

MaxPreps Top 25 Rankings Update | Week 4 2026 High School Football Season

MaxPreps goes inside Bishop Gorman football for a behind-the-scenes look at the players, practices, facilities and culture surrounding one of the nation’s premier high school football programs.

Inside Bishop Gorman: A High School Football Powerhouse

Inside Duncanville football. Colin Simmons went to Texas. Keelon Russell went to Alabama. Dakorien Moore went to Oregon. All three came off the same two Duncanville teams, the back-to-back Texas 6A state champions of 2022 and 2023.

None of it was given. Duncanville has played for a state title seven times and lost four, most recently by three points in 2025. Coach Reginald Samples has 364 career wins and counting, sixth-most in Texas history. At 70 he considered retiring. He came back instead.

Fifteen minutes down the road is DeSoto. In 2022 and 2023 the two schools split every 6A trophy in Texas between them.

Duncanville Panthers | Duncanville, Texas
317-221-13 all-time · 3 state titles · 7 state final appearances
Reginald Samples — winningest Black head coach in Texas high school football history

Heart of the Program is a four-part series from MaxPreps and Nike featuring DeSoto (TX), St. Thomas Aquinas (FL), Massillon Washington (OH) and Duncanville (TX).

Duncanville Football: 6 State Finals in 8 Years, 360+ Wins for Coach Samples | Presented by Nike

MaxPreps Top 25 Rankings Update | Week 3 2026 High School Football Season

Newcomers to the MaxPreps Top 25 | Week 2 2026 High School Football Season

Seventeen state championships. Seven in a row, a Florida record. Thirty-two NFL Draft picks since 2001. Head coach Roger Harriott calls it the greatest high school football program in the world.

This is inside St. Thomas Aquinas — not the trophies, but what the program is built on: character, accountability, and an expectation every new group of Raiders inherits.

St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders | Fort Lauderdale, Florida · 17 state titles · 7 straight, a Florida record · 32 NFL Draft picks since 2001 Alumni: Michael Irvin, Joey and Nick Bosa, Asante Samuel Jr., Nik Bonitto, Elijah Moore & more.

Heart of the Program is a four-part series from MaxPreps and Nike featuring DeSoto (TX), St. Thomas Aquinas (FL), Massillon Washington (OH) and Duncanville (TX).

St. Thomas Aquinas Football: 7 Straight Florida State Titles | Presented by Nike

DeSoto has won four state championships, three of them in the last four years, and sent 13 players to the NFL Draft since 2001. Head coach Claude Mathis doesn't call it a team. He calls it a program.

This is DeSoto football: the city, the community, and the standard a group of teenagers in South Dallas carries every fall. The pipeline runs from Jalen Mills to Byron Murphy II, and it keeps producing.

DeSoto Eagles | DeSoto, Texas 4 state titles (2016, 2022, 2023, 2025) · 3 in the last 4 years · 13 NFL Draft picks since 2001

Heart of the Program is a four-part series from MaxPreps and Nike featuring DeSoto (TX), St. Thomas Aquinas (FL), Massillon Washington (OH) and Duncanville (TX).

DeSoto Football: 3 Texas State Titles in 4 Years | Presented by Nike

MaxPreps Top 25 Rankings Update | Week 1 2026 High School Football Season

Ten MaxPreps Top 25 teams represent their state led by St. John Bosco, St. Thomas Aquinas, Buford and Duncanville.

#	Team	Ovr.	Rating	Str.
1	Loyola Academy	7-0	88.99	47.1
2	Lincoln-Way East	7-0	88.08	45.4
3	Chicago Mt. Carmel	5-2	82.61	52.6
4	Oswego	6-1	67.66	38.9
5	Sandburg	5-2	65.35	44.4
6	Marist	4-3	65.04	44.8
7	Barrington	3-4	63.22	43.6
8	Lyons	6-1	60.91	35.1
9	Naperville North	6-1	58.98	37.1
10	Naperville Central	3-4	58.59	41.6
11	Maine South	6-1	57.33	27.6
12	York	4-3	56.43	35.9
13	Huntley	7-0	55.98	23.4
14	Edwardsville	2-5	55.45	41.8
15	Fremd	5-2	55.25	35.4
16	Glenbrook South	5-2	53.30	24.9
17	Belleville East	3-4	45.22	35.0
18	Palatine	3-4	44.43	32.6
19	Warren Township	3-4	44.39	36.9
20	Downers Grove South	5-2	43.66	31.7
21	Plainfield South	6-1	43.28	30.9
22	Minooka	4-3	42.45	30.8
23	Glenbard East	5-2	40.58	17.6
24	West Aurora	4-3	40.28	21.1
25	South Elgin	6-1	39.86	16.2

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