ESPNRISE.com Pre-Season High School Football Regional Rankings

Yes, it's hard to rank high school football teams, but don't tell that to all of the pollsters out there that are scurrying to post their pre-season prognostications!

While most consider USA Today to be the messiah of national rankings, ESPN has just come out with a set of regional rankings with a Top 20 for five regions. The rankings will come out every week during the regular season at part of ESPNRISE.com.

Here are the pre-season rankings...

East Region Top 20

(Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia)


1. Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.) 12-0
2. Gateway (Monroeville, Pa.) 11-2
3. Oscar Smith (Chesapeake, Va.) 13-1
4. St. Joseph's Prep (Philadelphia, Pa.) 10-3
5. Quince Orchard (Gaithersburg, Md.) 14-0
6. Phoebus (Hampton, Va.) 13-1
7. DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) 10-2
8. St. Joseph (Montvale, N.J.) 9-2
9. West Springfield (Springfield, Va.) 10-3
10. Penn Hills (Pittsburgh, Pa.) 6-5
11. Parkland (Allentown, Pa.) 15-1
12. William Floyd (Mastic Beach, N.Y.) 11-0
13. Good Counsel (Olney, Md.) 10-2
14. Central Catholic (Pittsburgh, Pa.) 16-0
15. Dartmouth (North Dartmouth, Mass.) 11-2
16. St. Peter's Prep (Jersey City, N.J.) 11-1
17. Neshaminy (Langhorne, Pa.) 11-2
18. Stone Bridge (Ashburn, Va.) 14-1
19. Everett (Everett, Mass.) 13-0
20. St. Anthony's (South Huntington, N.Y.) 10-1

Southeast Region Top 20

(Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee)

1. Lowndes (Valdosta, Ga.) 14-1
2. St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) 14-1
3. Deerfield Beach (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) 11-3
4. Byrnes (Duncan, S.C.) 15-0
5. Armwood (Seffner, Fla.) 13-1
6. Plant (Tampa, Fla.) 11-2
7. Camden County (Kingsland, Ga.) 12-2
8. John Curtis (River Ridge, La.) 12-2
9. South Panola (Batesville, Miss.) 15-0
10. Prattville (Prattville, Ala.) 15-0
11. Lakeland (Lakeland, Fla.) 10-2
12. Maryville (Maryville, Tenn.) 15-0
13. Bastrop (Bastrop, La.) 15-0
14. Miami Northwestern (Miami, Fla.) 15-0
15. Pahokee (Pahokee, Fla.) 14-0
16. Northside (Warner Robins, Ga.) 15-0
17. North Gwinnett (Suwanee, Ga.) 13-2
18. Brentwood Academy (Brentwood, Tenn.) 11-2
19. Madison County (Madison, Fla.) 13-1
20. Hoggard (Wilmington, N.C.) 15-0

Midwest Region Top 20

(Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin)


1. St. Xavier (Cincinnati, Ohio) 15-0
2. St. Ignatius (Cleveland, Ohio) 8-3
3. St. Xavier (Louisville, Ky,) 13-1
4. Carmel (Carmel, Ind.) 13-2
5. Joliet Catholic (Joliet, Ill.) 13-1
6. Arrowhead (Hartland, Wis.) 14-0
7. East St. Louis (East St. Louis, Ill.) 11-2
8. Glenville (Cleveland, Ohio) 10-3
9. Colerain (Cincinnati, Ohio) 12-1
10. Cretin-Derham Hall (St. Paul, Minn.) 13-1
11. St. Mary's (Orchard Lake, Mich.) 10-3
12. Center Grove (Greenwood, Ind.) 9-2
13. Naperville North (Naperville, Ill.) 13-1
14. Valley (West Des Moines, Iowa) 11-1
15. Trinity (Louisville, Ky.) 12-2
16. Eisenhower (Shelby Township, Mich.) 6-4
17. Male (Louisville, Ky.) 10-3
18. Warren Central (Indianapolis, Ind.) 8-4
19. Highlands (Fort Thomas, Ky.) 15-0
20. Eden Prairie (Eden Prairie, Minn.) 14-0

Southwest Region Top 20

(Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas)

1. Trinity (Euless, Texas) 15-1
2. Jenks (Jenks, Okla.) 13-1
3. Lake Travis (Austin, Texas) 15-1
4. Rockhurst (Kansas City, Mo.) 13-0
5. Plano (Plano, Texas) 13-2
6. Southlake Carroll (Southlake, Texas) 11-2
7. Union (Tulsa, Okla.) 13-1
8. Katy (Katy, Texas) 16-0
9. Permian (Odessa, Texas) 12-1
10. Blue Springs South (Blue Springs, Mo.) 9-1
11. Hutchinson (Hutchinson, Kan.) 13-0
12. Rider (Wichita Heights, Texas) 12-2
13. Lake Hamilton (Pearcy, Ark.) 12-1
14. North Shore (Galena, Texas) 14-1
15. Guthrie (Guthrie, Okla.) 14-0
16. Eisenhower (Houston, Texas) 8-4
17. Abilene (Abilene, Texas) 12-2
18. Mehlville (St. Louis, Mo.) 10-3
19. Lee's Summit West (Lee's Summit, Mo.) 14-0
20. Allen (Allen, Texas) 10-1

West Region Top 20

(Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming)

1. De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) 13-0
2. Poly (Long Beach, Calif.) 13-1
3. Lutheran (Orange, Calif.) 10-2
4. Skyline (Sammamish, Wash.) 14-0
5. Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) 10-2
6. Bellarmine Prep (San Jose, Calif.) 11-1
7. Bear Creek (Lakewood, Colo.) 10-3
8. Desert Vista (Phoenix, Ariz.) 9-5
9. Sheldon (Eugene, Ore.) 12-1
10. Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) 14-0
11. Centennial (Corona, Calif.) 13-2
12. Bothell (Bothell, Wash.) 13-1
13. Bingham (Salt Lake City, Utah) 11-2
14. Brophy Prep (Phoenix, Ariz.) 12-2
15. Oceanside (Oceanside, Calif.) 12-1
16. Crespi (Encino, Calif.) 11-3
17. St. Bonaventure (Ventura, Calif.) 14-1
18. Timpview (Provo, Utah) 13-0
19. Saguaro (Scottsdale, Ariz.) 14-0
20. Los Alamitos (Los Alamitos, Calif.) 7-3

ESPN RISE editors Mark Tennis, Doug Huff, Sheldon Shealer, Jon Mahoney and Ronnie Flores contributed to these rankings.

2008 High School Football Season Kicks-Off Tonight in Alaska

By Jeff Fisher
The High School Football Huddle

While the Lower 48 and Hawaii will have to wait a little bit for the regular season games to start, they're strapping on the helmets for real tonight and Saturday in Alaska.

How does footbal in Alaska differ? While most schools are sweating out two-a-days, there's already been snow at the Barrow Whalers practices. For those of you that don't know, Barrow is the only school above the Arctic Circle, and is the northernmost city in the country. In fact, the team's blue astroturf field sits only 100 yards from the Arctic Ocean.

Barrow and 27 other schools from around the state open their eight week regular season this week, and The High School Football Huddle is here to keep you up-to-date with news and scores from around the state at the Alaska High School Football Huddle.



Alaska crowns two state champs, one in the Big Schools classification and one in Small Schools. Juneau, which was a perfect 11-0 last year, will be going after its third Big Schools' title in four years. The Soldotna Stars will be going for the three-peat in Small Schools.



Both teams will be in action this week. Below is this weekend's entire slate of games.

For a previews of the games, please click here to go to the Alaska High School Football Huddle.

Tonight's Games

Kenai at Lathrop, 7PM
Palmer at Anchorage East, 7PM
Wasilla at Chugiak 7PM
Soldotna at Nikiski 6PM

Saturday Games

Barlett at Anchorage West, 7PM
Colony at North Pole, 6PM
Delta Junction at Houston, 1PM
Eagle River at Dimond, 1PM
Juneau at West Valley, 1PM
Monroe Catholic at Homer, 2PM
Service at Anchorage East, 4PM
Seward at Kodiak, 2PM
Skyview at Barrow, 2PM
Valdez at Eielson 1PM

PrepNation.com Pre-Season Top 25 Poll

PrepNation.com has released its pre-season Top 25 High School Football Poll.

Trinity High School from Euless, Texas sits at the top of the poll. The Trojans are the defending Class 5A Division I champs and have won two state titles since 2005. With 11 starters returning from last year's squad, head coach Steve Lineweaver (89-16, 8 years at Trinity) expects his team to challenged for back-to-back state titles.

Here's the rest of the Prep Nation High School Football Poll with 2007 records

1. Trinity (Euless, TX) 15-1
2. Byrnes (Duncan, SC) 15-0
3. Lowdnes (Valdosta, GA) 14-1
4. South Panola (Batesville, MS) 15-0
5. St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) 14-1
6. De La Salle (Concord, CA) 13-0
7. Gateway (Monroeville, PA) 11-2
8. Armwood (Seffner, FL) 13-1
9. Centennial (Corona, CA) 13-2
10. North Shore (Houston, TX) 14-1
11. St. Ignatius (Cleveland, OH) 8-3
12. Jenks (OK) 13-1
13. Bastrop (LA) 15-0
14. Oscar Smith (Chesapeake, VA) 13-1
15. Trinity (Louisville, KY) 13-2
16. Lutheran (Orange, CA) 10-2
17. Skyline (Sammanish, WA) 14-0
18. St. Xavier (Cincinnati, OH) 15-0
19. Prattville (AL) 15-0
20. Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, NJ) 12-0
21. Mount Carmel (Chicago, IL) 12-1
22. Rockhurst (Kansas City, MO) 13-0
23. Plano (TX) 13-2
24. Apopka (FL) 12-2
25. Desert Vista (Phoenix, AZ) 9-5

Texas Two-A-Days

The heat continues in Texas as we head into Day 3 of high school football practice in the Lone Star State. Tuesday temperatures hit triple digits for the 12th straight day!

Here are some practice stories from around the state...

Click here for camp story for Brownsboro, which is coming off a 5-5 season last year.

Click here to check-out how things are going for first year head coach Jeff Cordell at Andrews.

Click here for a story on El Paso High School. Last year the Tigers struggled to a 2-8 mark.

Football or Basketball in the Hoosier State??

With high school football opening across the Hoosier State, the Indy Star took the time to look at whether high school football has surpassed high school basketball in popularity. Click here to read a story that suggests that the state that gave us Larry Bird and Oscar Robertson, may be more football than basketball crazy.

More States Hit The Practice Field

Practice began in four more states today as two-a-days began in Alabama, Indiana, Texas and West Virginia.

In the Lone Star State, excessive heat warnings greeted players. Forecast highs for the day were 107. Not all began practicing today in Texas as workouts were for Class 5A and 4A public schools that did not have spring practice, and Class 3A and lower schools. Class 5A and 4A schools that held spring practice must wait until next Monday.

Mississippi Dandy Dozen

The Clarion Ledger is Jackson, Mississippi unveiled its annual Dandy Dozen on Sunday. To make this list is pretty special, but it's not perfect just ask NFL running back Deuce McAllister, who didn't make the list. Walter Payton, Jerry Rice and Brett Favre also didn't make the list, but that's because the Dandy Dozen didn't exist when they were in high school.

Here's this year's list...

Josh Boyd - Philadelphia, DL
Chad Bumphis - Tupelo, WR
David Conner - South Panola, LB
Fletcher Cox - Yazoo City, DL
Chris Garrett - Tupelo, QB
Kendrick Hardy - Lawrence County, RB
Cameron Lawrence - Magnolia Heights, QB/DB
Clayton Moore - Louisville, QB
Pat Patterson - Noxubee County, WR
Tyler Russell - Meridian, QB
Dennis Thames - Louisville, RB/LB
Rod Woodson - Olive Branch, DB

To hear how the Dandy Dozen is picked from Clarion-Ledger sports editor Rusty Hampton, click here.

Ohio Two-A-Days

Two-a-days are going full speed in Ohio since camps opened on Thursday. The Buckeye State's first games will be played August 21st, and The High School Football Huddle will be with fans throughout the month providing previews here, plus at the Ohio High School Football Huddle.

To kickoff our Ohio coverage, here's a great video piece from The Plain Dealer on the start of practice at Lakewood High School.

High school football two-a-days begin

South Carolina High School Football Practice Begins

South Carolina high school football practice is underway, and to get you started, click here for the Charleston Post and Courier's high school football A to Z.

Trinity Hits the Practice Field Thinking About Kentucky Four-Peat

Trinity's (Louisville, KY) run for a fourth straight Kentucky Class 6-A title will rest on the right arm of senior quarterback Cameron Smyth, who has some big shoes to fill. Smyth and the Shamrocks hit the practice field this morning as practice began across the state of Kentucky.

Smyth takes over for Will Stein, who led the Shamrocks to the schools 18th over Kentucky high school football championship while throwning for 3,697 yards and 54 touchdowns. Head coach Bob Beatty also has to replace wide receiver twins Nathan and Alex Dutton, who were the team's top two pass catchers. On the good side, the other two starting receivers from last year's squad, Scott Radcliff and William Leach are back.

Trinity finished 13-2 in 2007 and ranked #23 in the final USA Today high school football rankings.

To read more about the outlook for 2008, please click here for a story from the Courier-Journal in Louisville.

To keep up with Kentucky high school football throughout the 2008 season, please go to the Kentucky High School Football Huddle

First Day of Practice in Georgia

Hot and humid weather welcomed teams to the practice fields around Georgia this morning for the first day of practice. After living two years in Atlanta, I know that football reigns supreme, and the fans love and want a winner!

That's why a story on head coaching changes in the Atlanta Journal Constitution caught my eye. There are 95 new head coaches this year, which equates to a 25-percent turnover rate.

To read the rest of the stats and the story, click here.

North Wins Texas High School Coaches Association All-Star Game

It was a wild finish to Tuesday night's Texas High School Coaches Association All-State Football Game in San Antonio.

Argyle's Ben Parks, who will play his college ball at Baylor, booted a 41-yard field goal with 25-seconds left to lead the North to a 16-15 over the South. Aside from the winning kick, Parks executed two onsides kicks in the final 1:38 and also made a touchdown saving tackle on the final kickoff of the game.

To read a game wrap-up, click here.