The 2021 Pennsylvania high school football season kicks off next week and MaxPreps has your look at the state's top teams. St. Joseph's Prep owns the No. 1 spot in our preseason Top 25 and come it at No. 22 nationally.
The Hawks have won three straight Class 6A state titles and four in five years. St. Joseph's Prep is the first Philadelphia school to win three straight state titles and the first school to three-peat in the Pennsylvania's big school classification since Central Bucks West (1997-99). The Hawks enter the season riding a 17-game win streak. St. Joseph's played just six games last year, which was the program's least in a season since 1932.
Southern Columbia Area is riding one of the state's most successful waves ever. The Tigers have won four straight 2A state titles, own a state-record 11 titles overall and were named the 2020 MaxPreps Small School National Champions. SCA enters the season riding a 60-game win streak, which is the second longest in state history. They've won a PIAA record 88 regular season games in a row dating back to 2011.
SCA Head coach Jim Roth (456 wins in 37 years) is the state's all-time winningest coach and has led the Tigers to 28 District IV titles in the last 30 years. Roth was named MaxPreps National Coach of the Year last season.
Additional state champions in 2020 included Pine-Richland (5A), Thomas Jefferson (4A), Central Valley (3A) and Steelton-Highspire (1A).
A pair pf Pennsylvania seniors - Imhotep Charter's
Enai White (undecided) and Governor Mifflin's
Nick Singleton (Penn State commit) - are considered the country's No. 1 prospects at edge and running back, respectively.
See the complete Top 25 list below.
Pine-Richland and Cathedral Prep (Erie) are both among Pennsylvania's Top 25 teams.
Photo by Paul Burdick
1.
St. Joseph's Prep (Philadelphia), 6-0 in 2020
2.
La Salle College (Wyndmoor), 5-1
3.
Pine-Richland (Gibsonia), 11-0
4.
Malvern Prep, 4-0
5.
Governor Mifflin (Shillington), 8-1
6.
Central Catholic (Pittsburgh), 6-3
7.
Imhotep Charter (Philadelphia), 1-0
8.
Harrisburg, 4-1
9.
Central York (York), 10-1
10.
Penn-Trafford (Harrison City), 6-2
11.
North Allegheny (Wexford), 6-1
12.
Peters Township (McMurray), 8-1
13.
Thomas Jefferson (Jefferson Hills), 10-1
14.
Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia), 1-0
15.
Central Valley (Monaca), 12-0
16.
Southern Columbia Area (Catawissa), 12-0
17.
Gateway (Monroeville), 5-1
18.
Bedford, 10-1
19.
Cathedral Prep (Erie), 10-1
20.
Central Dauphin (Harrisburg), 5-1
21.
Northeast (Philadelphia), 0-0
22.
Coatesville, 4-1
23.
Archbishop Wood (Warminster), 3-4
24.
Downingtown West, 2-2
25.
Montoursville, 8-1
