Head coach Carson Palmer's Eagles benefited from a 28-20 loss by
St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, Md.) to
The St. James Performance Academy (Springfield, Va.).
St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) remains No. 1 in the media composite top 25 after earning the top ranking in three of the six media outlets included in the composite.
Santa Margarita junior quarterback Fletch Palmer has thrown for 1,084 yards and eight touchdowns. This week Palmer and the 7-0 Eagles take on St. John Bosco. (PHOTO: Amy de Traversay)
No. 2
IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) and Santa Margarita were the other programs receiving No. 1 acclaim.
In Florida, No. 6
Columbus (Miami) meets No. 23
Central (Miami) on Friday in the Greater Miami Athletic Conference championship game. Columbus took down then-No. 1
Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) earlier this season and narrowly fell to current No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas the following week.
Schools from California, Florida and Texas combined to produce 14 of the top 25 spots in the rankings.
The composite rankings incorporate a wide spectrum of methodologies including the
MaxPreps Top 25,
National HSFB,
SB Live,
SC Next,
USA Today and
High School Football America rankings.
To be considered for the media composite top 25, a team must be included in the rankings by two or more media outlets. Teams were assigned a score of 40 for each media outlet that did not recognize them as part of their top 25, rewarding teams that received consensus acclaim.
MEDIA COMPOSITE TOP 25
1. St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
Average rank: 1.5
MaxPreps Top 25: 1
National HSFB: 2
USA Today: 2
SC Next: 1
SB Live: 2
HSFA: 1
T2. Buford (Ga.)
Average rank: 3.0
MaxPreps Top 25: 4
National HSFB: 3
USA Today: 3
SC Next: 2
SB Live: 4
HSFA: 2
T2. IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.)
Average rank: 3.0
MaxPreps Top 25: 3
National HSFB: 1
USA Today: 5
SC Next: 3
SB Live: 1
HSFA: 6
4. Santa Margarita (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.)
Average rank: 3.3
MaxPreps Top 25: 3
National HSFB: 4
USA Today: 1
SC Next: 6
SB Live: 3
HSFA: 3
5. Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.)
Average rank: 7.0
MaxPreps Top 25: 7
National HSFB: 8
USA Today: 8
SC Next: 5
SB Live: 6
HSFA: 8
6. Columbus (Miami, Fla.)
Average rank: 9.3
MaxPreps Top 25: 6
National HSFB: 6
USA Today: 7
SC Next: 12
SB Live: 18
HSFA: 7
T7. Baylor (Chattanooga, Tenn.)
Average rank: 9.5
MaxPreps Top 25: 10
National HSFB: 12
USA Today: 15
SC Next: 10
SB Live: 5
HSFA: 5
T7. Carrollton (Ga.)
Average rank: 9.5
MaxPreps Top 25: 11
National HSFB: 17
USA Today: 11
SC Next: 4
SB Live: 10
HSFA: 4
9. St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.)
Average rank: 9.6
MaxPreps Top 25: 8
National HSFB: 9
USA Today: 12
SC Next: 11
SB Live: 9
HSFA: 9
10. Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.)
Average rank: 9.8
MaxPreps Top 25: 5
National HSFB: 10
USA Today: 14
SC Next: 7
SB Live: 8
HSFA: 15
11. Allen (Texas)
Average rank: 11.5
MaxPreps Top 25: 9
National HSFB: 18
USA Today: 4
SC Next: 13
SB Live: 12
HSFA: 13
12. St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, Md.)
Average rank: 11.8
MaxPreps Top 25: 15
National HSFB: 7
USA Today: 9
SC Next: 9
SB Live: 7
HSFA: 24
13. Thompson (Alabaster, Ala.)
Average rank: 12.0
MaxPreps Top 25: 12
National HSFB: 15
USA Today: 10
SC Next: 14
SB Live: 11
HSFA: 10
14. Thomas County Central (Thomasville, Ga.)
Average rank: 15.6
MaxPreps Top 25: 13
National HSFB: 16
USA Today: 17
SC Next: 17
SB Live: 15
HSFA: 16
15. North Shore (Houston, Texas)
Average rank: 18.1
MaxPreps Top 25: 24
National HSFB: 19
USA Today: 20
SC Next: 16
SB Live: 19
HSFA: 11
16. Hough (Cornelius, N.C.)
Average rank: 18.5
MaxPreps Top 25: 18
National HSFB: 22
USA Today: 21
SC Next: 15
SB Live: 14
HSFA: 21
17. North Crowley (Fort Worth, Texas)
Average rank: 18.6
MaxPreps Top 25: 14
National HSFB: 23
USA Today: 13
SC Next: 18
SB Live: 24
HSFA: 20
18. De La Salle (Concord, Calif.)
Average rank: 19.3
MaxPreps Top 25: 19
National HSFB: 20
USA Today: 19
SC Next: 23
SB Live: 21
HSFA: 14
19. Brownsburg (Ind.)
Average rank: 20.5
MaxPreps Top 25: 16
National HSFB: N/A
USA Today: 18
SC Next: 24
SB Live: 13
HSFA: 12
20. Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.)
Average rank: 25.5
MaxPreps Top 25: 21
National HSFB: 11
USA Today: 24
SC Next: N/A
SB Live: N/A
HSFA: 17
21. Chaminade-Madonna (Hollywood, Fla.)
Average rank: 26.1
MaxPreps Top 25: 20
National HSFB: 13
USA Today: N/A
SC Next: 19
SB Live: N/A
HSFA: 25
22. Hamilton (Chandler, Ariz.)
Average rank: 26.5
MaxPreps Top 25: 17
National HSFB: 24
USA Today: 16
SC Next: N/A
SB Live: 22
HSFA: N/A
23. Central (Miami, Fla.)
Average rank: 29.8
MaxPreps Top 25: 22
National HSFB: 14
USA Today: N/A
SC Next: N/A
SB Live: N/A
HSFA: 23
24. Centennial (Corona, Calif.)
Average rank: 33.1
MaxPreps Top 25: N/A
National HSFB: 21
USA Today: N/A
SC Next: N/A
SB Live: N/A
HSFA: 18
T25. Central Catholic (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Average rank: 33.8
MaxPreps Top 25: 23
National HSFB: N/A
USA Today: N/A
SC Next: N/A
SB Live: 20
HSFA: N/A
T25. Edna Karr (New Orleans, La.)
Average rank: 33.8
MaxPreps Top 25: N/A
National HSFB: N/A
USA Today: N/A
SC Next: 21
SB Live: N/A
HSFA: 22
Ranked by two media outletsEast St. Louis (Ill.)Trinity (Louisville, Ky.)Ranked by one media outletBishop Watterson (Columbus, Ohio)Bixby (Okla.)Cass Tech (Detroit, Mich.)Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.)Raines (Jacksonville, Fla.)Randle (Richmond, Texas)Waxahachie (Texas)
