Top 10 high school football storylines presented by Champs Sports

Video: Top 10 high school football storylines presented by Champs Sports
IMG Academy, Bishop Gorman and major milestones should garner national headlines.

With more than 15,000 varsity teams nationwide, high school football draws more fans on a weekly basis than the college and pro levels combined.

With state championships still being the thing for 99.9 percent of the country, most stories surrounding high school ball resonate at a local or regional level. But with travel, television and transfers increasingly coming into the picture, there are plenty of juicy storylines to digest on a national level, as well.

Read on for a look at some of the biggest high school football developments we will have our eyes on this fall.

1. How high will star-studded IMG Academy fly?
With 11 players on 247Sports' list of the Top 247 recruits for the Class of 2017 and a roster made up of star players native to more than a dozen different states, it's no surprise that No. 4 IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) creates more buzz than any high school football team in the nation. The Ascenders went 8-0 last season – with wins against teams from five different states – and ended up ranked seventh nationally by MaxPreps. This year, the regular season schedule has grown to 12 games and features powerhouse opponents from nine different states. Three of those games are against fellow preseason Top 25 teams. Regardless of its own final record, IMG Academy will play a key role in this year's national title chase.



2. Will the beat go on at Bishop Gorman?
Let's go ahead and call it: Five seasons in, Las Vegas juggernaut Bishop Gorman is the high school football team of the decade thus far. The Gaels – who start this season ranked No. 3 nationally – are 72-3 with five state crowns and one national title since 2011. In addition, they lead all teams playing in their state's largest classification with seven consecutive state titles and trail only Kimberly (Wis.) with 39 consecutive wins.

This year's squad features three four-star senior standouts – including Ohio State-committed quarterback Tate Martell – ready to face a daunting out-of-state schedule that includes three fellow preseason Top 10 teams. Another 15-0 record would all but assure the Gaels of a second national championship in three years.

3. The chase for No. 1
Aforementioned IMG Academy and Bishop Gorman are among a handful of teams well-positioned for a national-title run, but neither team will begin the season ranked No. 1 -- or even No. 2. St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), a program that already has two national titles to its name since 2008, starts 2016 in the top spot. This year's title hopes rest greatly on returning home victorious from its trip to Las Vegas to play No. 3 Bishop Gorman on Sept. 30. Meanwhile, No. 2 Grayson (Loganville, Ga.) must put its best foot forward the opening week of the season when it hosts No. 4 IMG. Don't forget about No. 5 Cedar Hill (Texas). The Longhorns will have ample opportunities to improve their position with games against No. 3 Bishop Gorman on August 27 and district rival No. 8 DeSoto (Texas) in September.

4. Head-to-head Top 50 matchups abound
There will be no fewer than 25 head-to-head matchups between teams that start the season ranked among the national Top 50. Third-ranked Bishop Gorman leads the way with four games against Top 50 teams, including three versus Top 10 opponents. No. 4 IMG Academy will also play four preseason ranked teams, but only if you count its August 20 preseason versus No. 42 Carol City (Miami). Fifth-ranked Cedar Hill (Texas) has three preseason Top 50 on its schedule.

5. Made-for-TV matchups
When it comes to the high school football games you will see on national television this fall, the reason most of the games were chosen – or, in many cases, even scheduled – was the presenting network's desire to give  college-football crazy viewers a glimpse of the nation's top-rated football recruits. On the final weekend of August alone (which is also the last weekend before college football begins), ESPN properties will televise 10 high school games over three days. The 20 teams in action boast 19 players have committed to brand-name college programs – including Ohio State, Florida State and USC – and 35 total players ranked among the ESPN's own Top 300 list for the Class of 2017.

6. Early offers getting earlier
According to the website RankByOffers.com, there are already 21 Class of 2020 football players reporting scholarship offers from FBS college football programs. Granted, it's no secret internet-based video services and scouting combines have contributed to a rapid acceleration of the recruiting process in recent years, but seeing highly selective powerhouses like Alabama and Florida State offering athletes who've yet to play football at a level higher than junior high or middle school is pretty remarkable. If you're wondering who is arguably the top incoming freshman player in the nation (high school freshman, that is) -- at least according to his offers, it's Drew Pyne, a 6-foot-1, 170-pound pro-style passer from New Canaan (Conn.).



Moreover, if you're interested in who will be some of the first players in this coming year's 8th grade class to receive scholarship offers, here are three Class of 2021 names to remember: Hayden Connor, a 6-5, 250-pound lineman from Katy, Texas, Antwain Littleton III, a sturdy 200-pound running back from suburban Washington, D.C., and 6-4 quarterback Aaron McLaughlin, a Suwanee, Ga., prospect who says Indiana, Ole Miss and Missouri have already offered. 7. Milestones ahead
Two of America's top head coaches and high school football's winningest program will most likely earn milestones victories early this season. Bob Milloy, who has led Good Counsel (Olney, Md.) to national prominence, is one shy of his 400th career victory. Milloy is 399-118-1 overall, putting him in a tie for 18th place all-time wins with former De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) coach Bob Ladouceur. Meanwhile, Greg Toal the two-time national championship coach at Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.) needs one more win to reach 300.

Barring an unthinkable winless season, Valdosta (Ga.) will become the first high school football program ever to reach 900 wins. The Wildcats enter the 2016 campaign with 899 victories – along with 23 state titles -- dating back to their inaugural season in 1913. College football blue blood Michigan is the only other football franchise with 900 wins. The Wolverines enter this season with 915 victories.

8. Pahranagat Valley Closing in on 100
In more than a century of high school football widely being played across the USA, only two teams have ever hit triple digits in the number of consecutive games won. This fall, Nevada 8-man titan Pahranagat Valley (Alamo, Nev.) could become the third.

The Panthers are currently tied with Shattuck (Okla.) among 8-man teams all-time with 93 wins in a row. They haven't lost a game since November 2007.

De La Salle is the all-time record holder for consecutive wins at all levels with 151 between 1992-2003. Independence (Charlotte, N.C.) also reached triple digits, winning 109 straight from 2000-07.

9. New faces in familiar places
Some new but familiar faces will patrol the sidelines at some of the nation's most successful programs this season.



• Jeff Herron has taken the reins at No. 2 Grayson after Mickey Conn left for a position on the Clemson coaching staff. Herron won three Georgia large-school state titles last decade at Camden County (Kingsland).

• Terry Gambill took over for Tom Westerberg as head coach at Allen (Texas). Westerberg, who led Allen to four state titles and a 57-game winning streak that ended in last season's 6A/I state semifinals, left in January to become head coach and athletics director at Barbers Hill (Mt. Belvieu). Gambill is a former defensive coordinator at Allen who went 68-13 in six years as head coach at Midway (Waco).

• Eric Folmar has replaced Bobby Carr, who resigned in June from Edgewood Academy (Elmore, Ala.). The Wildcats have the longest current winning streak in the nation among 11-man teams with 70.

10. Tumultuous coaching situations
Bellevue (Wash.): Butch Goncharoff, who guided Bellevue to 11 state championships in the past 15 seasons, remains employed but is on paid administrative leave in the wake of a rather scathing Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association report that found widespread violations related to academics, recruiting and excessive payments to coaches from outside entities. The program was slapped with a four-year ban on postseason play and outside fundraising.

Colquitt County (Moultrie, Ga.): Earlier this summer, Rush Propst won an appeal to overturn a one-season coaching ban placed against him by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission. The suspension was a response to Propst head-butting a player on the sidelines during a Class AAAAAA playoff game last December. Because of the successful appeal, Propst will continue on in full force leading Colquitt County's quest to win a third straight state championship and extend a 30-game winning streak.

Jenks (Okla.): Allan Trimble, who has led Jenks to 13 state titles in 20 years (including the last four seasons) abruptly announced his retirement in June then rescinded the decision a few days later. Shortly thereafter, it was reported by multiple media outlets that the 52-year-old had been diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), aka Lou Gehrig's Disease. ALS is a fatal disease that attacks nerve cells, causing the gradual dysfunction and failure of motor neurons needed for muscle action.



Martin Luther King (Detroit, Mich.): The defending Division 2 state champions' summer preparations were dealt a crushing blow in late July when longtime head coach Dale Harvel collapsed and died of a heart attack at a 7-on-7 event. Harvel, 57, led King to a 14-0 record last season and was inducted into the Michigan High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame this spring.

MaxPreps contributor Jamie DeMoney has covered high school sports and recruiting for more than two decades. He is a Regional Content Manager and Product Specialist for XOS Digital and has compiled the National Prep Poll (PrepNation.com) since 1999.