High school football rankings: Mater Dei, St. John Bosco showdown could reshape composite top 25

The other big game pits Buford and Mill Creek in Georgia battle.

Thumbnail image of this articles writer: Steve Montoya

By Steve Montoya

Oct 11, 2023, 11:00am

MaxPreps National Football Editor Zack Poff takes a look at this week's MaxPreps Top 25 football rankings.

MaxPreps Top 25 Football Rankings | 2023 Regular Season Update #5 1,550,111 views 1:05

A pair of monster matchups this week could alter the national landscape and the top 25 media composite high school football rankings.

In Southern California, top-ranked Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) travels to play Trinity League rival St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.). The Monarchs are the No. 1 pick by all six media outlets. The Braves have an average rank of 7.

In Georgia, No. 7 Buford heads to No. 16 Mill Creek (Hoschton, Ga.) in a battle of 6-0 teams. The Wolves have an average rank of 7.6 while the Hawks' average ranking is 18.

Cocoa (Fla.) has moved into the top 25 rankings this week. The Tigers lone loss was a controversial 37-36 defeat to ninth-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas.

Additionally, Westlake (Austin, Texas) climb one spot to No. 24 after their first appearance in the rankings last week. The Chaparrals are 6-0 and averaging nearly 48 points per game.

The composite top 25 takes into account a wide range of approaches to high school football rankings by six different media outlets. That includes computer algorithms by CalPreps and High School Football America as well as expert rankings from MaxPreps, SBLive, Blue Star Media and National HSFB.

To be considered for the rankings a team must be recognized 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.

The Trinity League showdown between St. John Bosco and Mater Dei could shape the top 25 composite rankings as well as the race for the MaxPreps National Championship. (Photo: Christopher Harris)

Top 25 composite football rankings

1. (No. 1 last week) Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.)

Average rank: 1
MaxPreps Top 25: 1
CalPreps: 1
High School Football America: 1
SB Live: 1
Blue Star Media: 1
National HSFB: 1

2. (2) Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas)

Average rank: 2.3
MaxPreps Top 25: 2
CalPreps: 2
High School Football America: 2
SB Live: 2
Blue Star Media: 2
National HSFB: 4

3. (3) IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.)

Average rank: 3.5
MaxPreps Top 25: 4
CalPreps: 4
High School Football America: 4
SB Live: 3
Blue Star Media: 4
National HSFB: 2

4. (4) Chaminade-Madonna (Hollywood, Fla.)

Average rank: 4.3
MaxPreps Top 25: 3
CalPreps: 6
High School Football America: 3
SB Live: 5
Blue Star Media: 6
National HSFB: 3

5. (5) Duncanville (Texas)

Average rank: 6.8
MaxPreps Top 25: 6
CalPreps: 3
High School Football America: 9
SB Live: 6
Blue Star Media: 3
National HSFB: 14

6. (5) St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.)

Average rank: 7
MaxPreps Top 25: 9
CalPreps: 7
High School Football America: 6
SB Live: 7
Blue Star Media: 5
National HSFB: 8

7. (7) Buford (Ga.)

Average rank: 7.6
MaxPreps Top 25: 5
CalPreps: 11
High School Football America: 8
SB Live: 4
Blue Star Media: 7
National HSFB: 11

8. (8) St. Joseph's Prep (Philadelphia)

Average rank: 9.8
MaxPreps Top 25: 11
CalPreps: 13
High School Football America: 10
SB Live: 9
Blue Star Media: 10
National HSFB: 6

9. (9) St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)

Average rank: 11.5
MaxPreps Top 25: 12
CalPreps: 15
High School Football America: 7
SB Live: 16
Blue Star Media: 9
National HSFB: 10

10. (10) DeSoto (Texas)

Average rank: 11.8
MaxPreps Top 25: 14
CalPreps: 10
High School Football America: 13
SB Live: 8
Blue Star Media: 11
National HSFB: 15

11. (12) North Shore (Houston)

Average rank: 12.5
MaxPreps Top 25: 7
CalPreps: 14
High School Football America: 20
SB Live: 10
Blue Star Media: 8
National HSFB: 16

T12. (14) Kahuku (Hawaii)

Average rank: 14.6
MaxPreps Top 25: 8
CalPreps: 5
High School Football America: 5
SB Live: 23
Blue Star Media: NR
National HSFB: 7

T12. (13) Colquitt County (Norman Park, Ga.)

Average rank: 14.6
MaxPreps Top 25: 13
CalPreps: 25
High School Football America: 12
SB Live: 13
Blue Star Media: 13
National HSFB: 12

14. (11) Central (Miami)

Average rank: 16.1
MaxPreps Top 25: 10
CalPreps: NR
High School Football America: 11
SB Live: 11
Blue Star Media: 20
National HSFB: 5

15. (15) American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.)

Average rank: 17.6
MaxPreps Top 25: 20
CalPreps: 24
High School Football America: 17
SB Live: 17
Blue Star Media: 19
National HSFB: 9

16. (18) Mill Creek (Hoschton, Ga.)

Average rank: 18
MaxPreps Top 25: 25
CalPreps: 17
High School Football America: 18
SB Live: 12
Blue Star Media: 14
National HSFB: 22

17. (16) Walton (Marietta, Ga.)

Average rank: 18.3
MaxPreps Top 25: 15
CalPreps: 19
High School Football America: 21
SB Live: 22
Blue Star Media: 15
National HSFB: 18

T18. (22) Washington (Massillon, Ohio)

Average rank: 19.8
MaxPreps Top 25: 16
CalPreps: 20
High School Football America: 14
SB Live: 21
Blue Star Media: 23
National HSFB: 25

T18. (17) Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.)

Average rank: 19.8
MaxPreps Top 25: 21
CalPreps: 8
High School Football America: 15
SB Live: NR
Blue Star Media: 16
National HSFB: 19

20. (19) St. Edward (Lakewood, Ohio)

Average rank: 23.1
MaxPreps Top 25: 23
CalPreps: 22
High School Football America: 16
SB Live: 14
Blue Star Media: 24
National HSFB: NR

21. (23) Centennial (Corona, Calif.)

Average rank: 24.1
MaxPreps Top 25: 19
CalPreps: 9
High School Football America: 24
SB Live: NR
Blue Star Media: NR
National HSFB: 13

22. (20) Corner Canyon (Draper, Utah)

Average rank: 25.6
MaxPreps Top 25: 18
CalPreps: 18
High School Football America: NR
SB Live: NR
Blue Star Media: 21
National HSFB: 17

23. (NR) Cocoa (Fla.)

Average rank: 27.5
MaxPreps Top 25: NR
CalPreps: 21
High School Football America: 19
SB Live: 25
Blue Star Media: NR
National HSFB: 20

24. (25) Westlake (Austin, Texas)

Average rank: 32
MaxPreps Top 25: NR
CalPreps: NR
High School Football America: NR
SB Live: 20
Blue Star Media: 12
National HSFB: NR

25. (NR) Saraland (Ala.)

Average rank: 33.1
MaxPreps Top 25: NR
CalPreps: NR
High School Football America: NR
SB Live: 15
Blue Star Media: NR
National HSFB: 24

Ranked by two media outlets

Serra (San Mateo, Calif.) — CalPreps, 16; SB Live, 24

Bergen Catholic (Oradell, N.J.) — SB Live, 18; Blue Star Media, 25

Archbishop Hoban (Akron, Ohio) — CalPreps, 23; High School Football America, 23

McCallie (Chattanooga, Tenn.) — National HSFB, 24; High School Football America, 25

Ranked by one media outlet

Atascocita (Humble, Texas) — CalPreps, 12

Carrollton (Ga.) — MaxPreps Top 25, 17

Bixby (Bixby, Okla.) — Blue Star Media, 17

Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village, Colo.) — Blue Star Media, 18

Belleville (Mich.) — SB Live, 19

Long Beach Poly (Long Beach, Calif.) — National HSFB, 21
Centennial (Peoria, Ariz.) — MaxPreps Top 25, 22
Norland (Miami) — Blue Star Media, 22