Pennsylvania High School Football Rankings: Top 25 Teams — Sept. 30

The Pennsylvania high school football rankings have updated as the month of September comes to a close.

Last week, Malvern Prep took down the top team in Washington (D.C.) while Upper Saint Clair, Monsignor Bonner and Central Catholic each won ranked intra-commonwealth ranked matchups.

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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Below are the updated top 25 teams in the Pennsylvania On3 Massey Ratings, as of Sept. 30.

1. St. Joseph’s Prep School

St. Joseph’s improved to 3-1 on the season with a 42-13 win over Father Judge on Friday. The Hawks have rattled off three consecutive wins — Father Judge, Good Counsel (Md.) and Erasmus Hall (N.Y.) — since falling to St. Edward (Ohio) in week one. St. Joseph’s has the No. 1 offense and No. 2 defense in the commonwealth — led by Ohio State defensive line commit Maxwell Roy, Penn State and Notre Dame linebacker pledges Cam Smith and Anthony Sacca, and Ohio State running back commit Isaiah West. Next up for the Hawks is the Pennsylvania game of the week on the road at No. 2 LaSalle College this Friday.

2. LaSalle College

LaSalle is a perfect 6-0 heading into its massive showdown with No. 1 St. Joseph’s Prep. The Explorers have the No. 3 offense and defense in the commonwealth and have won by multiple scores in five of six games. Last week, LaSalle easily handled Cardinal O’Hara 48-0.

3. Malvern Prep (+5)

After knocking off Gonzaga — Washington, D.C.’s No. 1 team — 13-7, the Friars have shot back up the Pennsylvania rankings to No. 3. They are 3-2 on the year with losses to No. 13 Roman Catholic and No. 2 LaSalle, both by 21-17 scores. While the Friars rank just No. 20 on offense, the commonwealth’s top-ranked defense is led by junior four-star defensive lineman Cameron Brickle. Malvern is off this week before traveling to Episcopal Academy next Friday.

4. Pine-Richland (-1)

Still undefeated in 2024, Pine-Richland put up a mind-boggling 71 points last Friday in a shutout win against Fox Chapel Area. In the last two weeks, the Rams have won by a combined 114-7. The highlight of Pine-Richaldn’s resume is an early-season 22-17 win over No. 5 Central Catholic. This week should prove to be a tougher test than the last two games, as the Rams host top-50 Penn Hills.

5. Central Catholic (+1)

Central Catholic earned one of the three wins over a ranked team in Pennsylvania last week. The Vikings took down No. 11 North Allegheny 27-14 to improve to 4-2 on the season. Ranking in the top 5 in both offense and defense, Central Catholic is led by a pair of Power 4 commits in Duke four-star athlete pledge Bradley Gompers and Penn State cornerback commit Xxavier Thomas. On deck for the Vikings is Franklin Regional.

6. Manheim Township (-1)

The Blue Streaks fell a spot in this week’s rankings but are still undefeated after a 48-point shutout win over McCaskey last week. Manheim’s defense has not allowed a single point in the last two weeks — last doing so in a 20-18 win over Plymouth-Whitemarsh on Sept. 13. A road matchup against Cedar Crest as 30-point favorites is on the schedule for this Friday.

7. Upper Saint Clair (+5)

After upsetting then-No. 4 Peters Township 21-7 last Friday, Upper Saint Clair has jumped five spots to No. 7 in the Pennsylvania high school football rankings. The Panthers are 6-0 this year with wins over Mt. Lebanon, Canon-McMillan, Franklin Regional, Hampton and McKeesport in addition to Peters Township. USC is idle this week before a ranked showdown with No. 12 Bethel Park on Oct. 11.

8. Freedom (+2)

Also 6-0 on the year, Freedom moved up two spots after a 40-14 blowout win against East Stroudsburg South. The Patriots have scored at least 38 points in their last four games and have a top-25 offense and defense in the commonwealth. Freedom will travel to Bethlehem Catholic on Thursday.

9. Harrisburg (+2)

Harrisburg is 5-1 with its only loss the year coming to No. 2 LaSalle in week one. Since then, the Cougars have rattled off five straight against No. 19 McDevitt (overtime), No. 21 State College, Chambersburg, Cedar Cliff and Carlisle. This Friday, Harrisburg will head to Altoona as big favorites, per the On3 Massey Ratings.

10. Peters Township (-6)

Peters Township dropped its first game of the season last weekend in an upset loss to Upper Saint Clair. The Indians will look to bounce back this Friday against Moon Area. Maryland defensive line commit Dante Recker and Sanford linebacker Mickey Vaccarello lead what is the No. 4 defense in Pennsylvania.

Teams 11-25 in latest Pennsylvania High School Rankings

11. North Allegheny (-4)
12. Bethel Park (+1)
13. Roman Catholic (-4)
14. Parkland (+1)
15. Imhotep Institute (+2)

16. Downingtown West (+3)
17. Central Bucks South (-1)
18. Thomas Jefferson
19. Bishop McDevitt (-5)
20. North Penn (+1)

21. State College Area (+1)
22. Central York (-2)
23. Strath Haven
24. Monsignor Bonner (NR)
25. Nazareth

Dropped from ranking: Aliquippa