Video: Top 10 Games of the WeekFive Top 25 head-to-head matchups headline monster high school football weekend.Get ready for, pound for pound, what could be the most interesting week of high school football all season.
All of the MaxPreps Top 10 Games of the Week feature at least one Xcellent 25 team – and half of this week's games are head-to-head matchups of nationally ranked squads
No team is able to win a national title the second week of the season, but the winners of these three games – No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas vs. No. 19 Booker T. Washington, No. 2 Grayson vs. IMG Academy and No. 3 Bishop Gorman vs. Cedar Hill – will have gained a huge resume builder before the month of August has concluded.
Photo by Jann Hendry and Gordon DeLoach
Friday 7:00 PM (EDT)Why it's big: The Bill Dee era at Oscar Smith begins with a big challenge against a nationally ranked DeMatha program that is 22-0 against Virginia opponents since 2004. Dee, who won four state titles at Phoebus (Va.) last decade, inherited an Oscar Smith program with two state crowns during the last eight years and at least a share of 12 consecutive district titles.
Players to watch: DeMatha's perennially loaded roster includes six of the Top 40 Class of 2017 prospects in Maryland, according to 247Sports. That includes five-star Ohio State-committed defensive end
Chase Young. … Leading the way for Oscar Smith is senior quarterback
Shon Mitchell. The William & Mary commit has over 8,100 career passing yards.
No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) at No. 19 Washington (Miami)
Friday 7:30 PM (EDT)Why it's big: Top-ranked
St. Thomas Aquinas's quest for a third national championship could
easily be derailed in August if it's not ready to play a highly
motivated Booker T. Washington squad. The Tornadoes swept into the
latest Xcellent 25 after recording a 20-point win against highly
regarded American Heritage (Plantation) in a kickoff classic scrimmage
last week. Aquinas also was impressive in its tune-up game, crushing
Dillard (Fort Lauderdale), 51-0.
Players to watch: St. Thomas Aquinas four-star receiver
Trevon Grimes
made recruiting headlines earlier this week with his verbal commitment
to Ohio State. Grimes is one of 11 Aquinas players on 247Sports' list of
the Top 247 seniors in the state of Florida. … Booker T. Washington
landed six players on 247Sports' list, headed up by 6-foot-7, 300-pound
Florida-bound offensive tackle
Kadeem Telfort.
No. 12 Katy (Texas) at No. 25 Westlake (Austin, Texas)
Friday 7:30 PM (CDT)Why it's big: Katy must a survive a road test against No. 25 Westlake in order to win its eighth consecutive season opener. The No. 12 Tigers return only eight starters – including just three on defense -- from the team that went 16-0 and finished ranked No. 1 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 last year.
Players to watch: Texas-committed senior quarterback
Sam Ehlinger and four-star linebacker
Levi Jones are among 12 returning starters from a Westlake team that went 14-2 last year. … Katy's most exciting player might be running back
Deondrick Glass, a member of the MaxPreps Freshman All-American team last season.
No. 14 Central Catholic (Pittsburgh, Pa.) vs. St. John's (Washington, D.C.)
Saturday 12:30 PM (EDT)Why it's big: St. John's kicks off the most difficult opening five-game stretch any team will face this season. Following Saturday's season opener against No. 14 Central Catholic, the Cadets have four more games stacked up against teams that appeared in the MaxPreps preseason Top 50 rankings.
Players to watch: Notre Dame commits
David Adams (LB) and
Kurt Hinish (DL) and Penn State-bound offensive lineman
C.J. Thorpe lead a cast of 16 returning starters from a Central Catholic team that went 15-1 with a state title last season. … St. John's has a lot of new faces on a roster supercharged by several notable transfers. The talented newcomers include quarterback Kasim Hill and defensive tackle Cam Spence – both four-star prospects committed to Maryland – as well as Auburn-bound senior offensive lineman Calvin Ashley.
Warren Central (Indianapolis) vs. No. 13 Colerain (Cincinnati, Ohio)
Saturday 1:00 PM (EDT)Why it's big: Warren Central knocked off Indiana's preseason No. 1 team last week, and now has its sights set the top squad in Ohio. The Warriors were a 21-16 winner over defending 6A state champion Center Grove last week. Colerain's mission is to defeat Warren Central in its season opener for the second consecutive year.
Players to watch: Colerain returns the majority of its top defensive players from a team that went 12-2 and reached the Division I state semifinals. The unit includes all-state linebacker
Kyle Bolden (son of head coach Tom Bolden) and third-year starting junior linebacker
Dan Bolden (Bolden's nephew.) … Warren Central's
David Bell, one of the top Class of 2019 receiver prospects in the Midwest, opened his sophomore season with seven catches for 53 yards and a touchdown against Center Grove.
No. 24 Saguaro (Scottsdale, Ariz.) at No. 23 Valor Christian (Highlands Ranch, Colo.)
Saturday 3:30 PM (MDT)Why it's big: After opening with a 35-20 home win over SoCal power Serra (Gardena), No. 24 Saguaro hits the road for this nationally televised Xcellent 25 showdown against Valor Christian. Last week was Saguaro's first game versus a non-Arizona opponent (at least since MaxPreps began keeping records in 2004). Conversely, this will be Valor Christian's ninth out-of-state game in just five seasons. The Eagles are 5-3 in their previous out-of-state matchups.
Players to watch: Michigan commit
Dylan McCaffrey will lead Valor Christian's offense for his third season as starting quarterback. The four-star prospect is the third-ranked pro-style passer in the Class of 2017 by 247Sports. … Saguaro senior
Stone Matthews had 92 rushing yards against Serra, snapping a streak of 10 straight games in which the running back had rushed for over 100 yards.
No. 9 St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) vs. St. Xavier (Cincinnati, Ohio)
Saturday 5:00 PM (EDT)Why it's big: No. 9 St. John Bosco must be ready for a physical battle on the road against an always tough St. Xavier program. St. John Bosco seeks its eighth win in its last nine games against out-of-state opponents. St. Xavier enters Saturday's contest with a 31-11 record against non-Ohio teams since 2004.
Players to watch: St. John Bosco senior
Wyatt Davis, the nation's top-rated offensive guard prospect by 247Sports, will be playing in his future home state of Ohio for the first time. The St. John Bosco senior is committed to Ohio State.
No. 4 IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) at No. 2 Grayson (Loganville, Ga.)
Saturday 6:00 PM (EDT)Why it's big: It's only August, but realistically this game and No. 3 Bishop Gorman's battle against No. 5 Cedar Hill are quasi elimination games for the national-title hunt. In this one, No. 4 IMG Academy begins a 12-game, regular-season-only gauntlet against teams from seven states plus D.C. Grayson has three more out-of-state games coming up against opponents from Florida and Alabama. That's on top of a likely run into the newly formed Georgia Class 7A state playoffs.
Players to watch: There will be no lack of star power here. IMG linebacker
Dylan Moses (No. 4) and Grayson defensive back
DeAngelo Gibbs (No. 42) are just two of the 14 combined players in this game who appear on the 247Sports list of the Top 247 prospects in the Class of 2017.
No. 3 Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) at No. 5 Cedar Hill (Texas)
Saturday 8:00 PM (CDT)Why it's big: If Bishop Gorman goes undefeated for the third consecutive season, there's a great chance the Gaels will accrue enough prestige points along the way to garner a second national championship in three years. Saturday's matchup with Cedar Hill is the first of three games Bishop Gorman will play against teams currently in the Top 10 of the MaxPreps Xcellent 25. Cedar Hill would also be very much in the national-title hunt with a win against Bishop Gorman followed up with a possible 16-0 record and Texas Class 6A state championship.
Players to watch: Ohio State-bound quarterback
Tate Martell begins his third season at the helm of Bishop Gorman's offense. The four-star prospect has amassed 5,145 passing yards with 72 touchdowns and only eight interceptions along with a perfect 30-0 record as Gorman quarterback. … Cedar Hill has a dynamic senior quarterback of its own in Notre Dame commit
Avery Davis. The three-star prospect was just shy of 2,000 passing and 1,000 rushing yards in 11 games last season.
No. 16 Trinity Christian Academy (Jacksonville, Fla.) at Cocoa (Fla.)
Sunday 2:00 PM (EDT)Why it's big: Trinity Christian Academy puts its state-best (among FHSAA member schools) 22-game winning streak on the line in a Sunday afternoon soiree at always tough Cocoa. Trinity Christian Academy, which is shooting for its fourth consecutive state crown, began the year ranked No. 1 in the preseason Florida Class 3A state rankings. Cocoa checked in at No. 3 in the 4A poll.
Players to watch: Led by Florida State-committed receiver
D.J. Matthews and Ohio State-pledged defensive back
Shaun Wade, Trinity Christian boasts eight players on the 247Sports list of the Top 247 senior prospects in Florida. … Cocoa has only one player on that list in four-star quarterback
Bruce Judson. He's a South Florida commit who earlier planned to attend Ohio State but decommitted after an incident in which
he claims OSU head coach Urban Meyer forgot his name.
MaxPreps contributor Jamie DeMoney has covered high school sports and recruiting for more than two decades. He is a Regional Content Manager and Product Specialist for XOS Digital and has compiled the National Prep Poll (PrepNation.com) since 1999.
