50 high school football teams with the most all-time wins

If there's one thing that is certain, it's that nobody is certain exactly how many wins, losses and ties the nation's 50 all-time winningest high school football programs have compiled.

In researching the 50 winningest high school football teams of all-time, it became readily apparent that there is no definitive list. For one thing, not all historians and researchers agree on the amount of all-time wins some of the teams on the list have.

This is not to say that one historian is wrong and the other is right. Who can say for sure who is right when it comes to researching such a topic? High school football finds its origins in the 19th century and researching data over that amount of time can lead to differing results.

That's because researching high school football is hard, especially prior to World War II. Schedules weren't standardized as they are today. Results for A teams and B teams get mixed together due to a lack of information. Sometimes games simply weren't reported. As a result, historians with access to better information will have better results compiling this type of high school information.

However that does not stop MaxPreps from presenting the 50 winningest high school football programs of all-time. The list hopes to include information from a number of sources while allowing the reader to decide which is the most accurate information.

Among the resources we included was the work of Robert Fawcett, a Texas historian who researched high school all-time wins records for each state before discontinuing his research in 2007. Since then, the website Football Friday Night has continued compiling the all-time lists where Fawcett left off.

We also consulted Randy Wilson, a Pennsylvania historian who has researched all-time wins for over 30 years. His totals and Fawcett's totals were very comparable. Any differences were usually by just a win or two, which is not unusual for teams that have been playing for over 100 years.

We've also included the totals presented by the National Federation of State High School Associations Record Book. While the totals presented by the record book were also close to Fawcett's and Wilson's totals, the record book was missing 18 schools that were on both of the other lists.

We've also tried to include records from state association websites, such as those in Ohio, Kentucky and Illinois, state historians, such as Bruce McIntosh and Mark Tennis in California, Dave Campbell and Joe Lee Smith in Texas and Roger Saylor in Pennsylvania, and school websites, such as Valdosta, Parkersburg and Brockton.

All this is to say that nothing is certain, but we've gotten as close as possible.

Topping the list of the 50 winningest programs is Valdosta (Ga.), however its win total is in question. The Georgia Football Historians website lists Valdosta with 858 total wins, but according to historian Todd Holcomb, that's because the wins only account for games that are listed in the site's database. The Valdosta High School football website lists the team with 882 wins while Fawcett and the NFHS concur and Wilson has the Wildcats at 883.

The intriguing season for Valdosta comes in 1929, when the Valdosta website lists the team at 11-0 and the Georgia Historians list Valdosta at 7-4 with four forfeit losses. According to the Georgia Historians message board, Valdosta forfeited three games for using an illegal player that season and forfeited another for walking off the field to protest biased officiating. Whether or not those forfeits were later changed to wins is unknown, thus the all-time wins total could actually be 878 and not 882.

Unless it's actually 904. That's the total that the Illinois High School Activities Association lists as East St. Louis' all-time win total. However neither Fawcett's nor Wilson's list shows a total close to 904. The NFHS Record Book also lists the Flyers with 134 fewer wins.

With that in mind, here's the 50 winningest high school football teams of all time. Each team is listed with its overall win total, as compiled by Fawcett's list. The team's all-time record is also included, along with its record listed by the NFHS Record Book. Randy Wilson's totals are also included, along with any other historical information that was available. None of the win totals listed below include games from the 2014 season.


1. 882 - Valdosta (Ga.)
All-time record: 882-214-34 (matches NFHS; matches Valdosta football website, Georgia Football Historians 858-215-34, Randy Wilson 883-213-34)

2. 855 - Highlands (Fort Thomas, Ky.)
All-time record: 855-215-26 (NFHS 855-227-26; KHSAA 855-215-26, Wilson 855-227-26)

3. 833 - Male (Louisville, Ky.)
All-time record: 833-321-49 (NFHS 833-320-49; KHSAA 833-321-49, Wilson 831-320-35)

4. 830 - Washington (Massillon, Ohio)
All-time record: 830-251-35 (NFHS 830-252-35; OHSAA 842-273-36, Wilson 830-251-35)

5. 819 - Mayfield (Ky.)
All-time record: 819-250-32 (NFHS 818-250-32; KHSAA 819-250-32, Wilson 816-249-32)

6. 816 - Mount Carmel (Pa.)
All-time record: 816-299-57 (NFHS 820-305-59; PA Historian Roger Saylor 820-305-58, Wilson 820-306-59)

7. 802 - McKinley (Canton, Ohio)
All-time record: 802-334-42 (NFHS 802-335-42; OHSAA 803-333-42, Wilson 803-335-42)

8. 801 - Easton (Pa.)
All-time record: 801-338-52 (NFHS 786-331-54; PA Historian Roger Saylor 791-332-54, Wilson 801-339-54)

9. 793 - Hampton (Va.)
All-time record: 793-258-45 (NFHS 767-252-43, Wilson 792-259-45)

10. 789 - Central (Little Rock, Ark.)
All-time record: 789-334-48 (NFHS 772-314-43; AHSAA 781 wins, Wilson 790-332-48)

11. 785 - Muskegon (Mich.)
All-time record: 785-271-43 (matches NFHS; MHSAA Record Book 786-271-43, Wilson 783-271-43)

12. 781 - Parkersburg (W. Va.)
All-time record: 781-301-33 (NFHS 799-301-33; Parkersburg history website 800-317-40, Wilson 780-303-33)

13. 779 - Summerville (S.C.)
All-time record: 779-204-25 (not listed by NFHS, Wilson 758-200-25)

14. 773 - Clinton (Okla.)
All-time record: 773-265-37 (NFHS 765-262-38, Oklahoma City Oklahoman 773 wins, Wilson 762-259-35)

15. 771 - Brockton (Mass.)
All-time record: 771-364-64 (NFHS 769-364-64; Brockton Public Schools 770-364-64, Wilson 765-362-64)

15. 771 - Berwick (Pa.)
All-time record: 771-315-43 (NFHS 771-320-43; PA Historian Roger Saylor 771-320-43, Wilson 771-315-43)

17. 766 - Ada (Okla.)
All-time record: 766-312-24 (not listed by NFHS, Oklahoma City Oklahoman 769 wins, Wilson 768-310-24)

18. 760 - Everett (Mass.)
All-time record: 760-364-79 (NFHS 776-364, Wilson 731-358-79)

19. 758 - Pine Bluff (Ark.)
All-time record: 758-330-53 (NFHS 750-328-53; AHSAA 770 wins, Wilson 758-323-52)

20. 755 - Dobyns-Bennett (Kingsport, Tenn.)
All-time record: 755-223-28 (matches NFHS, matches High School Football Database, Wilson 739-216-28)

20. 755 - Ansonia (Conn.)
All-time record: 755-233-57 (not listed by NFHS; Conn. Sports Writers Record Book 760-234-57, Wilson 747-250-55)

22. 754 - Long Beach Poly (Calif.)
All-time record: 754-310-52 (not listed by NFHS, Cal-Hi Sports 732 wins, Wilson 726-300-52)

23. 752 - Steubenville (Ohio)
All-time record: 752-312-34 (NFHS 753-311-34; OHSAA 754-310-34; Big Red Football 754-310-35, Wilson 754-311-34)

24. 750 - Paducah Tilghman (Ky.)
All-time record: 750-308-25 (NFHS 751-308-25; KHSAA 750-308-25, Wilson 751-314-25)

25. 749 - Bakersfield (Calif.)
All-time record: 749-251-43 (NFHS 753-247-43, Cal-Hi Sports 749-251-43, Wilson 721-241-43)

26. 746 - New Britain (Conn.)
All-time record: 746-326-51 (matches NFHS; matches state record book, Wilson 747-325-51)

27. 744 - Amarillo (Texas)
All-time record: 744-334-22 (NFHS 695-304-19; Dave Campbell's 745 wins; Texas HS Football History 744 wins, Wilson 731-419-22)

28. 742 - Steelton-Highspire (Steelton, Pa.)
All-time record: 742-412-58 (NFHS 715-412-58; PA Historian Roger Saylor 715-406-55, Wilson 745-412-58)

29. 739 - Harlan (Iowa)
All-time record: 739-274-43 (not listed by NFHS, Wilson 746-274-48)

29. 739 - Lawton (Okla.)
All-time record: 739-321-34 (NFHS 763-336-34, Oklahoma City Oklahoman 760 wins, Wilson 753-333-34)

31. 737 - East St. Louis (Ill.)
All-time record: 737-188-36 (NFHS 770-222-45, IHSAA 904 wins, Wilson 770-226-45)

31. 737 - Washington (Tulsa, Okla.)
All-time record: 737-212-30 (not listed by NFHS, Oklahoma City Oklahoman 734 wins, Wilson 704-205-30)

33. 736 - Highland Park (Dallas)
All-time record: 736-275-27 (not listed by NFHS; Dave Campbell's 767 wins; Texas HS Football History 767 wins, Wilson 646-313-27)

34. 735 - Haynesville (La.)
All-time record: 735-171-22 (NFHS 734-170-22; Haynesville Football Facebook Page 755 wins, Wilson 736-273-31)

35. 734 - Gaffney (S.C.)
All-time record: 734-320-32 (not listed by NFHS, Wilson 717-313-32)

35. 734 - Danville (Ky.)
All-time record: 734-238-34 (NFHS 737-238-34; KHSAA 734-234-34, Wilson 737-238-34)

35. 734 - Plano (Texas)
All-time record: 734-330-47 (not listed by NFHS; Dave Campbell's 734 wins; Texas HS Football History 738 wins, 724-318-47)

38. 732 - Nashville (Ark.)
All-time record: 732-324-29 (not listed by NFHS, Wilson 699-319-29)

39. 729 - Maryville (Tenn.)
All-time record: 729-216-34 (not listed by NFHS; High School Football Database 730-215-34, Wilson 730-215-34)

40. 726 - Shelby (N.C.)
All-time record: 726-292-51 (not listed by NFHS, Wilson 714-297-50)

41. 723 - St. Xavier (Louisville, Ky.)
All-time record: 723-280-20 (not listed by NFHS; KHSAA 723-280-20, Wilson 682-271-22)

42. 717 - Lawrence (Kan.)
All-time record: 717-279-38 (NFHS 717-278-38; Lawrence Football Website 715-280-38, Wilson 705-267-40)

43. 714 - Lincoln County (Lincolnton, Ga.)
All-time record: 714-252-23 (not listed by NFHS; GA Football HIstorians 485-95-4 but no data prior to 1970, Wilson 690-247-23)

44. 712 - Gainesville (Ga.)
All-time record: 712-279-23 (not listed by NFHS; GA Football Historians 717-306-25, Wilson 717-295-24)

45. 708 - Mount Carmel (Chicago)
All-time record: 708-227-31 (Not listed by NFHS, Wilson 687-226-30)

46. 707 - New Castle (Pa.)
All-time record: 707-379-69 (NFHS 710-378-69; PA Football Historian Roger Saylor 710-379-69, Wilson 710-379-69)

47. 705 - Temple (Texas)
All-time record: 705-338-52 (NFHS 687-351-51; Dave Campbell's 706 wins; Texas HS Football History 712 wins, Wilson 699-321-52)

48. 703 - Montgomery Bell Academy (Nashville, Tenn.)
All-time record: 703-332-46 (not listed by NFHS, Wilson 685-324-46)

49. 702 - Mart (Texas)
All-time record: 702-341-42 (not listed by NFHS; Dave Campbell's 701 wins; Texas HS Football History 701 wins, Wilson 701-341-44)

50. 701 - Owensboro (Ky.)
All-time record: 701-367-30 (NFHS 699-368-30; KHSAA 701-367-30, Wilson 702-367-30)

Notes:

- Texas High School Football history lists Brownwood (Texas) with 702 all-time wins. Dave Campbell's Texas Football lists Brownwood with 678 and Football Friday Nights lists it with 679.

- Football Friday Night lists Pioneer (Ann Arbor, Mich.) with an all-time record of 699-315-36. The NFHS lists Pioneer at 712-418-38 and the MHSAA lists Pioneer at 709-418-38.