MaxPreps Top 10 High School Football Games of the Week

Video: Top 10 High School Football Games of the Week
No. 11 Miami Central travels to D.C. to take on No. 4 St. John's and East heads south to face No. 3 Allen.

For the second consecutive week No. 4 St. John's (Washington, D.C.) will be the main attraction. This time around they face Florida power Miami Central, the No. 11 team in the Top 25. This game will have huge implications on the national rankings.

Six of the 10 games selected this week are out-of-state matchups. Utah power East (Salt Lake City) travels to Texas to take on No. 3 Allen, a team that has won 17 games in a row. The No. 1 quarterback in 2019, Spencer Rattler of Pinnacle (Phoenix), is set to return against JSerra Catholic (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and the winner of this one will inch closer to the Top 25. Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.) heads out to the DMV to take on Gonzaga, who has outscored the opposition 85-0 through its first two games.

Two games from the Polynesian Football Classic are featured in the Top 10 as No. 5 IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) takes on Liberty (Henderson, Nev.) in its backyard on Friday night and in Saturday's nightcap No. 15 Bingham (South Jordan, Utah) takes on one of the best teams from Arizona, Mountain Pointe.



The top two teams from the Aloha State face off when No. 10 St. Louis takes on Kahuku. A huge showdown between Hoover (Ala.) and Thompson (Alabaster, Ala.) will decide who the top team is from Alabama. Grayson (Loganville, Ga.) dropped from four to 22 after losing to New Jersey power Bergen Catholic and they look to rebound against a very talented Marietta (Ga.) team. The fourth and final in-state game features a SoCal vs. NorCal showdown — Chaminade (West Hills, Calif.) vs. Folsom (Calif.).
MaxPreps Top 10 Games of the Week

No. 11 Central (Miami, Fla.) @ No. 4 St. John's (Washington, D.C.)
Saturday, 2 p.m. (All times local)

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Top Players

Miami Central: QB Maurice Underwood (6-3, 170), CB Henry Gray (5-11.5, 175), DE Jesus Machado (6-1, 205), RB Lexington Joseph (5-7, 170), LB Tatum Bethune (6-0, 215)

St. John's: RB Keilan Robinson (5-9, 185), QB Sol-Jay Maiava (6-0.5, 185), LB Mekhail Sherman (6-3, 235), WR Rakim Jarrett (6-0, 180), ATH Quinten Johnson (5-11, 190)



Saturday's meeting will be one of the biggest games of the year and the winner keeps its hopes alive of being No. 1 at the end of the season. St. John's flexed its muscle last week on the road in Alabama against Hoover and cruised to a 42-14 win. Maiava, a transfer from Kahuku (Hawaii), has proven he belongs among the best quarterbacks from 2020 with the way he has looked through his first two games in D.C. Miami Central has cruised to a 2-0 record knocking off two very talented Florida teams -— Cardinal Gibbons (Fort Lauderdale) and Booker T. Washington (Miami).

East (Salt Lake City) @ No. 3 Allen (Texas)
Friday, 7 p.m.

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East: DT Siaki Ika (6-3, 350), ATH Charlie Vincent (6-0, 180), CB Nick Session (5-11, 175), RB Tutu Spann (5-7, 175), DE Talin Finau (6-2, 240)

Allen: WR Theo Wease (6-3, 200), QB Grant Tisdale (6-1, 205), OT EJ Ndoma-Ogar (6-3.5, 320), DT Jayden Jernigan (6-1, 280), RB Andrew Henry (5-10, 180)

East has battled quarterback injuries all season so far and things don't get any easier this week heading out to Texas to take on No. 3 Allen. The Eagles extended their winning streak to 17 after shutting out Horn (Mesquite, Texas), 40-0 in its season opener. Tisdale and Wease put on a show connecting for two scores and the defense only allowed six first downs. East is hoping for the same magic they had when they rolled out to California and knocked off De La Salle (Concord), but this will be a different animal on Friday night in Texas.

Pinnacle (Phoenix.) vs. JSerra Catholic (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.)
Saturday, 4:30 p.m. @ Moorpark high school (Calif.)



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Pinnacle: QB Spencer Rattler (6-1, 180), ATH Kaleb Covington (5-10, 175), LB Alonzo Maya (5-10, 180), ATH Quinton Powell (5-8, 160), LB Amelec Juntunen (6-0, 190)

JSerra Catholic: WR Tarik Luckett (6-2.5, 185), RB Chris Street (5-8, 190), QB Caden Bell (6-0, 185), WR Tyler Shimomura (5-11, 180), LB Calvin Mouisset (6-1.5, 195)

This is one of the best games on the West Coast this weekend and the winner will be on the bubble to join the Top 25. It looks like Rattler will be back this week from an ankle injury which is a huge boost even though JD Johnson balled out in Rattler's place. This is a huge opportunity for Pinnacle to prove they belong against the big boys facing one of the top teams from the Trinity League. JSerra Catholic is loaded with talent and Luckett and Street have been one of the best one-two punches in all of California. Keep an eye out for Jack Harlow and Ryan Suliafu in the trenches too, they have been huge for the Lions early on.

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Kahuku (Hawaii) vs. No. 10 St. Louis (Honolulu)
Friday, 7:30 p.m. @ Aloha Stadium (Honolulu)

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Kahuku: OT Enokk Vimahi (6-4, 280), LB Miki Ah You (6-1, 220), RB Wes Alo-Maiava (5-10, 160), CB Kaonohi Kaniho (5-10, 160), LB Tausili Fiatoa (6-2, 195)

St. Louis: DT Faatui Tuitele (6-4, 300), LB Jordan Botelho (6-3, 220), QB Jayden de Laura (6-0, 180), DE Gino Quinones (6-2, 260), DT Stanley McKenzie (6-2, 270)

It is No. 1 vs. No. 2 in Hawaii at Aloha Stadium on Friday night. These two 808 powers have met three straight years in the state championship and this will be the first regular season meeting since 2013. St. Louis hasn't played since a 47-7 win over Narbonne (Harbor City, Calif.) on Aug. 17 and the Red Raiders' last game was the same date when they rolled past Waianae (Hawaii), 49-13. Don't be surprised when these two meet again in the Division 1 Open State Championship later in the year. Kahuku knocked off St. Louis in 2015 and the Crusaders have won it all in back-to-back years.

Folsom (Calif.) @ Chaminade (West Hills, Calif.)
Friday, 7 p.m.

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Folsom: WR Joe Ngata (6-3, 210), QB Kaiden Bennett (6-0, 170), RB Daniyel Ngata (5-9, 180), WR Elijhah Badger (6-1, 185), DT Tyler Hardeman (6-2, 260)



Chaminade: LB Blake Antzoulatos (6-2, 225), QB Ryan Stevens (6-1, 170), S Chris Rankins (6-0, 205), RB Alex Okuribido (6-0, 185), LB Michael Erhart (6-1, 215)

When it's SoCal vs. NorCal, bragging rights are on the line. Folsom has bounced back strong since its opening week shutout loss to No. 12 De La Salle (Concord), outscoring its last two opponents 91 to 14. The same goes for Chaminade, since dropping its season opener No. 25 Oaks Christian (Westlake Village, Calif.), the Eagles won the next two games by a combined score of 72 to 6. A can't miss matchup in this one is watching 2019 Cal commit Antzoulatos trying to stop Folsom's running game led by Daniyel Ngata, a Top 100 player from the Class of 2020.

No. 5 IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) @ Liberty (Henderson, Nev.)
Friday, 7 p.m.

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IMG Academy: DE Nolan Smith (6-3, 230), RB Trey Sanders (6-0, 215), OT Evan Neal (6-7.5, 360), RB Noah Cain (5-10, 210), LB Jaleel McRae (6-2, 230)

Liberty: OT Troy Fautanu (6-4, 265), CB Cervontes White (5-11, 175), LB Kyle Beaudry (6-1, 205), ATH Zyrus Fiaseu (6-1, 200), DT Luke Toomalatai (6-2, 250)



IMG Academy extended its winning streak to 39 after cruising to a 49-14 over Norland (Miami). This team is straight loaded with Division I talent led by the best backfield in the country. The Ascenders can match anyone in the country in the trenches, too. Liberty had a huge win to start the year off beating a very talented Saguaro (Scottsdale, Ariz.) team but lost to Utah power Lone Peak (Highland) last week. A win over IMG Academy would be one of the biggest in school history.

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No. 16 Bingham (South Jordan, Utah) vs. Mountain Pointe (Phoenix)
Saturday, 7 p.m. @ Liberty (Henderson, Nev.) high school

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Bingham: LB Lolani Langi (6-2, 225), DT Simote Pepa (6-2, 295), LB Junior Tafuna (6-3, 220), S JJ Greenfield (5-11, 170), LB Saleka Ata'ata (6-0, 220)

Mountain Pointe: QB Nick Wallerstedt (6-3, 180), CB Lacarea Pleasant-Johnson (6-2, 180), DE Anthony Dedrick (6-4, 235), RB Jakim McKinney (5-8, 170), WR Dominique Davis (6-2, 170)

This is how you cap a Saturday triple header at the Polynesian Football Classic — with a Utah power taking on an Arizona stalwart. The Miners defense has looked like one of the best in the country so far and they have one of the top front sevens led by Langi, Pepa and Tafuna. Mountain Pointe bounced back strong last week with a 45-18 win over Mountain View (Mesa, Ariz.) after losing its opener to Pinnacle. A win over Bingham would be the second straight against an out-of-state power for an Arizona team after Centennial (Peoria) beat Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) 13-7.



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Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.) @ Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.)
Saturday, 12 p.m.

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Don Bosco Prep: RB Jalen Berger (6-0, 185), QB Jahquil Batts (6-1, 185), LB Jonathan Alvarado (6-1, 230), WR Christian Dremel (5-10, 165), QB Jake Tarentino (6-1, 185)

Gonzaga: DE Joseph Weté (6-4, 220), QB Caleb Williams (6-0, 190), LB Hunter Stewart (6-3, 225), CB Dean Engram (5-10, 165), TE Justin Ball (6-6, 230)

Don Bosco snapped its six game losing streak against out-of-state opponents last week with a 22-17 comeback win over South Carolina power Byrnes (Duncan) and look to start a winning streak against Gonzaga on Saturday. The Zags have looked as good as anyone through its first two games outscoring the opposition 85-0. A win over Mike Teel and Don Bosco Prep will keep them trending upward as they get close to jumping in the Top 25.

No. 22 Grayson (Loganville, Ga.) @ Marietta (Ga.)
Friday, 7:30 p.m.



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Grayson: LB Owen Pappoe (6-0.5, 210), OT Wanya Morris (6-5.5, 310), S Kenyatta Watson II (6-2, 185), DE Kevin Harris (6-4, 230), WR Kenyon Jackson (6-5.5, 195)

Marietta: QB Harrison Bailey (6-4, 215), ATH Arik Gilbert (6-5, 250), WR Ramel Keyton (6-3, 180), OT Jake Wray (6-5, 290), DE BJ Ojulari (6-4, 215)

Two of the most talented teams in high school football face off in a huge 7A showdown. Grayson looks to bounce back after losing 34-22 last week to New Jersey power Bergen Catholic. The loss dropped the Rams from No. 4 in the Top 25 to 22. Marietta lost its first two games to start the 2018 season, but got its first win of the season last week against Collins Hill (Suwanee, Ga.). This game will feature as much Division I talent as any other game on the schedule in 2018, and that includes No. 2 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) vs. No. 5 IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) on Sept. 21.

Thompson (Alabaster, Ala.) @ Hoover (Ala.)
Friday, 7 p.m.

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Thompson: QB Taulia Tagovailoa (5-11, 200), OT Amari Kight (6-6.5, 315), RB Shadrick Byrd (5-9, 210), LB Will Conner (6-2, 220), OT Jayme Simmons (6-5, 270)

Hoover: WR George Pickens (6-3.5, 190), QB Robby Ashford (6-4, 210), RB Larry McCammon (5-10, 200), LB Nick Curtis (6-5, 205), CB Jabari Moore (6-0, 180)

The winner of this game will slide into being the No. 1 team in Alabama. Thompson has cruised to a 2-0 record to start the 2018 season and Hoover looked great in its season opener beating the defending 6A state champs, Pinson Valley (Pinson), 52-14, but lost last week 42-14 to No. 4 St. John's (Washington, D.C.). This game features two of the best quarterbacks in the state with Tagovailoa and Ashford. Tagovailoa, a 2019 Alabama commit, already has nine touchdowns through two games but he faces a big-time defense on Friday night.

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