One of the biggest games of the high school football season takes place Friday at the Santa Ana Bowl between No. 1
Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) and No. 2
St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.). This will be the sixth time since 2018 the league rivals will square off as the top two ranked teams in the MaxPreps Top 25 with Bosco holding a 3-2 edge in those meetings.
The last time Mater Dei and St. John Bosco faced each other as No. 1 and No. 2 was in the 2022 Southern Section Division 1 championship at the Rose Bowl. Bosco handed
Elijah Brown his first career loss with a 24-22 win to claim their fourth section title.
Mater Dei holds a 9-6 edge in the series over the past decade.
Another MaxPreps Top 25 showdown is going down in Texas as No. 16
Atascocita (Humble) hosts No. 8
North Shore (Houston) on Friday. North Shore has won eight in a row in the series since Atascocita last notched a victory in 2017.
One of the biggest rivalries in Texas takes place on Friday as
Lake Travis (Austin) hosts
Westlake (Austin), which has won four in a row in the series. However, Lake Travis holds an 11-8 edge in 19 meetings since 2006.
Oregon commit Jordon Davison played a big role in the last meeting between Mater Dei and St. John Bosco, a 35-7 win for the Monarchs in the Southern Section Division 1 championship game at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. (Photo: Antoine Belote)
Top players
This is the biggest and best rivalry in high school football with both programs finishing ranked in the top 10 every season over the last eight years excluding 2020 due to the pandemic. The winner of this game controls its own destiny when it comes to finishing No. 1 in the MaxPreps Top 25. Mater Dei was crowned MaxPreps National Champs in 2017 and 2021 while St. John Bosco took home that honor in 2019 and 2022.
Top players
North Shore has been on a roll this season and could be on a collision course with No. 4
Duncanville to face each other for the sixth time over the last seven years in the Class 6A Division 1 state championship game. The Mustangs are 7-0 and winning by an average margin of 40.7 points per game. Atascocita has notable wins over
Katy, Westlake (Austin) and
Summer Creek (Houston).
Top players
East St. Louis always plays legit competition and faces its biggest test of the season against a red-hot IMG Academy squad. The Flyers have played Atascocita,
St. Frances Academy (Baltimore) and St. John Bosco since 2021. This will be the second meeting against IMG Academy with the Ascenders winning 49-8 in 2021 as
Kaytron Allen rushed for 153 yards and three scores.
Top players
Don't let American Heritage's 4-4 record fool you. The Patriots have played a brutal schedule and are a few plays away from being undefeated. Bell is putting together a tremendous junior campaign as he enters Friday's matchup with 2,079 yards passing and 24 touchdowns to go with 392 yards rushing and three more scores. They will be one of the favorites in 4A. St. Thomas Aquinas' only two losses came against No. 5 Bishop Gorman and No. 17 Chaminade-Madonna. They will be one of the favorites in 5A with No. 14
Lakeland being their biggest threat.
Top players
Servite played St. John Bosco tough last week but dropped its second game in a row with a 27-17 loss at SoFi Stadium. The Friars lost to Mater Dei 28-6 the week prior and have been without starting quarterback
Leo Hannan since Sept. 6. They have one of the best running backs in the state in Carr, who enters Friday's game with 1,031 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns. Orange Lutheran has won two in a row since a 28-24 loss at St. John Bosco. The Lancers beat
JSerra Catholic (San Juan Capistrano) 23-17 and followed that up with a 13-10 win over
Santa Margarita (Rancho Santa Margarita) last week.
Top players
Enjoying its first 7-0 start since 2015, Lake Travis is trying to do something it hasn't since 2019 and that is beat Westlake.
Hudson Card led the Cavaliers to a 20-19 win throwing for 211 yards and three touchdowns. The last meeting came in last year's Class 6A Division 1 quarterfinals with Westlake winning 21-14, clinching its seventh straight appearance in the state semifinals.
Top players
St. Frances Academy has played one of the toughest schedules and its three losses came at No. 1 Mater Dei, No. 4 Duncanville and No. 15 Orange Lutheran. The Panthers are riding a three-game win streak heading into Friday's matchup and are looking to maintain the momentum before facing No. 6 IMG Academy on Nov. 1. CCC lost its first game of the season 27-20 against No. 18
Venice (Fla.) last week.
Saturday, 1 p.m.
Top players
Three-time defending Non-Public A state champ Bergen Catholic has won six in a row since a season-opening 27-14 loss against No. 6 IMG Academy. Porter and Calhoun headline a talented offense. Porter has 32 receptions for 594 yards and seven touchdowns while Calhoun has rushed for 726 yards and eight scores. St. Joseph Regional bounced back with a 41-14 win over
Pope John XXIII (Sparta) after a 35-28 loss against
Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey). St. Joseph Regional is looking to snap its four-game skid against the Crusaders.
Saturday, 2 p.m.
Top players
St. Edward, winners of three straight Division I state titles, is looking for momentum as it gets ready for the playoffs next week. The Eagles have dropped three of their last five games with tight losses against
Massillon,
Glenville (Cleveland) and
Archbishop Moeller (Cincinnati). Hoban has won back-to-back games after a 19-14 loss against
Walsh Jesuit (Cuyahoga Falls). This will be the fifth straight year these two Ohio powers square off and the Eagles hold a 3-1 edge.
Top players
Gainesville's only two losses have come against No. 3
Milton and No. 7
Carrollton. Roswell's only loss came against No. 12
Buford and it has won five in a row since. Both teams are still in contention to claim the AAAAA Region 7 crown. Roswell would need to run the table beating Gainesville on Friday then Milton next week. The Red Elephants need to win Friday plus a Milton loss for a three-way tie if the Eagles beat an 0-8
Johns Creek squad on Friday. They would need Roswell to knock off the defending AAAAAAA state champs on Nov. 1. This will be the second meeting since 2022 and Gainesville won the previous one 35-28 to advance to the AAAAAA state championship game.
