Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 Teams - September 23
The top three of the Florida high school football rankings remain unchanged after week five, but the rest of the Sunshine State top 25 has shuffled following an exciting weekend of games.
Chaminade-Madonna Prep and Venice both won top-10 showdowns, while Miami Central and Nease handled business against ranked opponents.
Below is the updated Florida On3 Massey Ratings top 25, as of Sept. 23.
The On3 Massey Ratings — which were officially used during the BCS era and have generated college high school sports team rankings since 1995 — rank sports teams by analyzing game outcomes, strength of schedule and margin of victory.
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1. IMG Academy
Previous Ranking: No. 1
IMG Academy moved to 4-1 on the season with a dominant 49-6 win against Mandarin last Friday. The Crusaders have 17 blue-chip prospects between the junior and senior classes. The Sunshine State’s No. 2 offense is led by Alabama 4-star IOL commit Michael Carroll, Missouri 4-star WR commit Donovan Olugbode and SMU 4-star QB commit Ty Hawkins. IMG will play Phenix City (Ala.) Central this week in a major out-of-state clash.
2. Venice
Previous Ranking: No. 2
Venice won an absolute thriller against then-No. 6 Cocoa on Friday. The game came down to the final play, and the Indians came out with the 54-51 win to remain at No. 2 in the Florida state rankings. Venice features a pair of speedy athletes in senior four-star receiver Winston Watkins Jr. and junior four-star athlete Asharri Charles. On the schedule for this week is a road game against winless Lehigh.
3. St. Thomas Aquinas
Previous Ranking: No. 3
St. Thomas Aquinas shut out McArthur 56-0 to improve to 4-1. The Raiders’ lone loss came to nationally-ranked Bishop Gorman (Nev.) in week one. Thomas Aquinas’ group of seniors includes three Power 4 commits: Illinois three-star running back commit Cedric Wyche, Maryland three-star safety pledge Travares Daniels and Pitt three-star EDGE commit Trevor Sommers. On deck is Bishop Moore Catholic — the Raiders are again big favorites.
4. Chaminade-Madonna Prep
Previous Ranking: No. 5 (+1)
Chaminade-Madonna Prep featured in the other Florida top-10 matchup of the week in a 45-20 win over Norland on Thursday. The Lions are on a three-game winning streak and 3-2 on the year. This year’s senior class features a pair of blue-chip prospects in Miami four-star cornerback commit Chris Ewald and Penn State four-star wide receiver commit Koby Howard. Junior athlete Derrek Cooper is the top player in the state of Florida for the 2026 class and the No. 14 overall recruit in the country. Western visits Chaminade this week, and the Lions are 30-point favorites.
5. Lakeland
Previous Ranking: No. 4 (-1)
After a lengthy weather delay, Lakeland stomped Booker T. Washington 48-13 last Friday to stay undefeated in 2024. The Dreadnaughts secured two major wins to start the year over Miami Central and Lake Mary, and now are continuing to roll through the Sunshine State. Lakeland has the No. 9 defense in Florida after three weeks, headlined by Ole Miss safety commit Keon Young and four-star junior linebacker Malik Morris. Next up is Lake Gibson on Friday.
6. Miami Central
Previous Ranking: No. 8 (+2)
Miami Central beat No. 12 American Heritage in a 35-32 nailbiter over the weekend to move to 4-1. The Rockets’ lone loss on the year came to No. 4 Lakeland in week one. They are stacked with Power 4 talent with the likes of Naeshaun Montgomery, Amari Wallace, Floyd Boucard, Ezekiel Marcelin, Randy Adirika, Bekkem Kritza, Sekou Smith and Kha’leal Sterling. Miami Central will next play on Oct. 4 against No. 22 Northwestern.
7. Armwood
Previous Ranking: No. 9 (+2)
Armwood stayed undefeated with a 49-7 blowout win over Hillsborough. Armwood has the No. 12 offense and No. 12 defense in Florida, led by Miami four-star running back commit Girard Pringle, Georgia four-star receiver commit Tyler Williams and Florida DB pledge Jaelen Waters. Plant will visit on Friday.
8. Cocoa
Previous Ranking: No. 6 (-2)
Cocoa dropped its second game of the season with a heartbreaking 54-51 loss to No. 2 Venice on Friday. The Tigers are off this week and will next play No. 15 Norland on Oct. 4. Cocoa’s top-5 defense is led by elite EDGE Javion Hilson, who decommitted from Florida State earlier this month. Also featuring for Cocoa are Mizzou four-star wide receiver pledge Jayvan Boggs and Michigan quarterback commit Brady Hart.
9. Lincoln
Previous Ranking: No. 23 (+14)
Lincoln improved to 4-0 with a 10-0 win over Ware County on Friday. The Trojans’ other three wins came against John Paul II Catholic, Madison County and Delaware Valley. They will play Tallahassee Leon later this week.
10. Niceville
Previous Ranking: No. 13 (+3)
Niceville is also undefeated on the year, its latest win coming against Choctawhatchee 42-25. Senior running back Connor Mathews is committed to UMass and senior safety Jon Bocchino is pledged to Troy. On deck for the Eagles is a matchup with 1-3 Gulf Breeze.
Teams 11-25 in latest Florida High School Football Rankings
11. Clearwater Central Catholic
12. American Heritage
13. Bradford (-3)
14. Jones
15. Norland (-8)
16. Cardinal Newman (-1)
17. Nease (NR)
18. Raines (-2)
19. Sanford Seminole (-2)
20. Tampa Bay Tech (NR)
21. Naples (-1)
22. Northwestern (+2)
23. Manatee (NR)
24. F. W. Buchholz (-3)
25. Gadsden County (NR)
Dropped from rankings: Lake Mary, St. Augustine, Bishop Verot, Atlantic