Pennsylvania High School Football Rankings: Top 25 Teams - September 9
The latest Pennsylvania high school football top 25 rankings are in for September 9th as the weekend concluded.
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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Let’s dive into the latest rankings in high school football across the state of Pennsylvania.
1. St. Joseph’s Prep School
The Hawks remained the top school in Pennsylvania despite a loss to open the season, Ohio’s top school St. Edward. They bounced back with a win over Rasmus Hall (N.Y.), 44-16.
That score was actually pretty close to the Massey Rating prediction, which was 47-6 in favor of St. Joseph. Coming up next is No. 3 Good Counsel (M.D.) on September 20th.
2. LaSalle College
After beating No. 4 Malvern Prep before September, LaSalle beat No. 10 Calvert Hall College (M.D.) 28-10. So basically, another solid week for the Explorers.
It helps when you have Syracuse wide receiver commit Julian McFadden. They’ll need him again when they go on the road to the Haverford School this coming Friday.
3. Pine-Richland
Pine-Richland is still 2-0 on the season with a matchup with North Hills (Pa.) coming up on Friday. After edging out No. 11 Central Catholic on 8/30, this team garners a lot of attention.
If you’re wondering what happened Friday night, there was no game. The game was canceled due to severe weather.
4. Malvern Prep (+9)
This weekend, Malvern Prep showed off for Pennsylvania and beat No. 9 Delbarton (N.J.) 27-17 on the road. In this one, the Friars trailed by 17 and rallied in the fourth quarter.
As in, Malvern Prep trailed 17-0 going into the final 12 minutes and scored 27 unanswered. It was an epic victory to vault the team into the top five of the state rankings.
5. Manheim Township (+1)
It was a dominant display from the Blue Streaks as they won 42-0 to improve their record to 3-0 on the season. That includes a top 20 win over Central York (20).
Maheim doesn’t have a current ranked matchup the rest of the way and based on the Massey Ratings, could go undefeated. Pennsylvania has a great team here but the strength of schedule might prevent them from being a little higher.
6. Peters Township (-1)
Peters improved to 3-0 on the year with a 28-0 win over Mt. Lebanon. Coming up next, Trinity takes a visit to take on the Indians.
Going back to the opener, the Indians struggled before reeling off a 42-17 win over Canon-McMillan. But over the course of the last two weeks, this has become one of Pennsylvania’s best teams.
7. North Allegheny (-3)
The Tigers dropped a bit this week despite another win going into the weekend. They beat Penn Hills 18-14 on the road.
And while this is still a top 10 team in Pennsylvania, this is why you play the game. The Massey Ratings had North Allegheny winning 41-14 over Penn Hills. Not so fast my friend!
8. Harrisburg (+1)
Close wins are the name of the game for the Cougars over the last two weeks. After a blowout loss to No. 2 LaSalle College on August 24th, Harrisburg beat No. 13 Bishop McDevitt and No. 24 State College Area 35-33 and 7-6, respectively.
Penn State commit Messiah Mickens caught the lone touchdown in the game and it proved to be the difference. This game will be remembered for a while.
9. Roman Catholic (-2)
Roman Catholic only dropped in the Pennsylvania rankings based on other teams moving up. They dominated A Philip Randolph Campus (N.Y.) 67-0 on Saturday.
But, the Cahillite schedule does include a 52-21 win over St. Johns College, the No. 2 team in the Washington D.C. area. Coming up next is a road date with No. 4 Malvern Prep.
10. Freedom (-2)
Freedom improved to 3-0 on the season but dropped two spots in the Pennsylvania rankings. Still, the Patriots are a top 10 team in the state.
They dominated Central Catholic 49-15 on Friday after beating No. 19 Parkland in Week 2. So far so good. Next up is a matchup with No. 12 Nazareth on Friday.
Teams 11-25 in latest Pennsylvania High School Football Rankings
11. Central Catholic (+4)
12. Nazareth (-2)
13. Bishop McDevitt (+1)
14. Aliquippa (-3)
15. Imhotep Institute (-3)
16. Upper Saint Clair (+2)
17. Thomas Jefferson (-1)
18. Downingtown West (+1)
19. Parkland (+1)
20. Central York (+5)
21. Bethel Park
22. Cathedral Prep (Previously Unranked)
23. Central Bucks West (+1)
24. State College Area (-7)
25. Garnet Valley (-3)