Mater Dei (Calif.) finishes as nation's No. 1 team in On3 Composite High School Rankings

After a season that saw them go wire-to-wire as the top team in the state of California, Santa Ana Mater Dei again reigns over high school football across the country.

The Monarchs, who finished 13-0 and won both the CIF-Southern Section and CIF-Open Division crowns, are ranked No. 1 in the final On3 Composite High School Football Team Ranking. It is a proprietary algorithm that compiles rankings listed in the public domain by respected High School media and data companies. It includes Massey, Max Preps, HSRatings (formerly Cal Preps), ESPN and SI, creating the industry’s most comprehensive and geographically balanced High School Team Ranking.

Mater Dei finishes just ahead — by four one-hundredths of a point — of Texas 6A Division I state champion North Crowley, Nevada powerhouse Bishop Gorman and Georgia AAAAA state champion Milton.

They beat Gorman 31-15 in a head-to-head matchup in September and also knocked off Maryland No. 1 St. Frances Academy and Hawaii’s No. 2 team, Kahuku. And that arguably wasn’t even the toughest part of MD’s schedule.

In the gauntlet that is the Trinity League, they routed top-25 national teams and rivals St. John Bosco and Orange Lutheran, winning by a combined score of 97-28.

They blew past nationally ranked Centennial, first in Week 1 and then in the semifinals of the Southern Section playoffs. Bosco gave them a much closer game in the rematch, but the Monarchs ultimately come out on top 31-24 to claim another section title. And they closed it out with a dominant 37-15 wim over Northern California powerhouse De La Salle to claim their spot as the state’s unquestioned top team.

It also marked the second straight Open Division championship and fifth since 2017 for Mater Dei.