You could make a case that three North Carolina high school football teams stood out from the rest in 2025.
Hough finished 14-0 and won the NCHSAA 8A state championship, shutting out its final two playoff opponents. Grimsley went 15-0 on the way to the 7A title. Providence Day School finished 13-0 and captured the NCISAA Division I championship.
Pick a final statewide ranking from outlets like HighSchoolOT or the Charlotte Observer – or take a computer rating like MaxPreps or Massey – and some combination of those three schools occupied the top three spots.
Flash forward to August 2026. In the eyes of human voters and computer models, our big three has now become one top dog. With the first kickoff of the 2026 high school season coming this Friday, the Hough Huskies look resoundingly like the No. 1 high school team in the state.
HighSchoolOT votes Hough that way in its first Statewide Top 25. So, too, does the Charlotte Observer/News & Observer. The MaxPreps algorithms put the Huskies on top. So does the Rivals Composite as well as the computer driven Massey Ratings.
High School Football America has Hough ranked ahead of every other North Carolina team in its preseason Elite 300 (41st nationally).
So it’s no surprise that Hough will lead the way in our inaugural NC Football News Fabulous 15 High School Football rankings.
We’ve been doing a Fabulous 15 for our state’s college teams since 2023. Those rankings are mostly decided on vibes – who in our eyes is having the most special season from among our 30+ collegiate programs.
We’ll be much more scientific with our high school Fab 15. Each week during the season we’ll look at human sources (polls from places like HighSchoolOT and the Charlotte Observer/N&O) and computer models (MaxPreps and Massey Ratings).
We’ll throw all the numbers into a spreadsheet and rank teams based on the composite outcome.
We’ll update our Fabulous 15 every week through the regular season and then crown a post-season champ after the high school playoffs conclude in December. We’ll also include The Next 10 to show you who else is in the running after our top 15 schools.
You can always find the latest rankings on our Fabulous 15 hub page.
Without further ado, let’s introduce our preseason lineup:
Fabulous 15 High School Football Rankings: Preseason
Rank. Team (2025 Record, Classification)
1. Hough (14-0, 8A)
2. Providence Day School (13-0, NCISAA)
3. Grimsley (15-0, 7A)
4. Weddington (12-2, 7A)
5. Millbrook (13-1, 8A)
6. Cardinal Gibbons (12-2, 7A)
7. Mallard Creek (7-4, 8A)
8. Hoggard (12-1, 8A)
9. West Charlotte (10-3, 8A)
10. West Forsyth (10-3, 8A)
11. Rolesville (9-4, 8A)
T-12. Crest (13-2, 5A)
T-12. Southeast Raleigh (9-4, 7A)
14. Independence (10-3, 7A)
15. Clayton (12-3, 7A)
The Next Ten
Rank. Team (2025 Record, Classification)
16. Reagan (10-3, 7A)
17. Lake Norman (8-4, 7A)
T-18. Cleveland (10-2, 7A)
T-18. Myers Park (9-3, 8A)
20. Mooresville (9-3, 7A)
21. Garner (9-4, 7A)
22. Charlotte Christian (7-6, NCISAA)
23. East Forsyth (7-5, 7A)
24. Sun Valley (9-4, 6A)
25. Richmond Senior (9-3, 7A)
Notes and Observations
Hough is the unanimous No. 1
Every outlet we polled, human and computer, put the Huskies on top in their preseason rankings. It’s hard not to put there considering Hough won the state’s largest NCHSAA classification last season and appears to be assembling a war machine team for 2026.
By our count, Hough already has had eight players from its 2026 roster make commitments to Division I programs. Among them are defensive backs Davion Jones and Joshua Dobson, who both pledged to South Carolina, and offensive tackle Moreno Fisher Jr., who committed to Virginia. All three have transferred to Hough for the 2026 season, per HighSchoolOT.
Providence Day and Grimsley aren’t going anywhere – and Weddington wants to crash the party
Most outlets we reviewed put the Chargers and Whirlies at second or third in their statewide rankings, not quite on Hough’s level but not far behind either. Providence Day gets the nod for the No. 2 spot in our Fabulous 15, but not by much.
But the Massey Ratings put Weddington as the state’s No. 2 team behind Hough. The Warriors made the 7A West Region final a year ago before being ousted by Grimsley, 13-7.
Computers and humans disagree sharply on West Charlotte, Southeast Raleigh
West Charlotte, the 2024 champions from the old 3A classification, are ranked fifth in the state by both MaxPreps and the Massey Ratings, the computer generated models. But human voters have a more modest appraisal of West Charlotte, which will be under new leadership this fall (coach DJ McFadden) and which lost roughly a dozen transfers.
The Observer polls West Charlotte at No. 22 in its preseason Top 25, while HighSchoolOT has the Lions at No. 15.
Meanwhile, the scenario is flipped for Southeast Raleigh. The Bulldogs come in at No. 21 and 27 in the Massey and MaxPreps ratings, respectively. Meanwhile, HighSchoolOT and The Observer human generated polls both have the Bulldogs at No. 9.
Crest High making early waves
Every public school in our Fabulous 15 competes in the NCHSAA 8A or 7A levels. Crest, from Cleveland County, is the exception.
The Chargers went 13-2 a season ago and beat Wilson Hunt in the Class 5A state title game. Crest ranks as high as No. 11 statewide (Massey Ratings) among the sources we polled. They can certainly compete with the “big boys” in our state and will be tough to unseat in the 5A ranks.
Which is the stronger classification, 7A or 8A?
Conventional wisdom would tell you 8A is best. The “Big 32” division features the largest schools in the state, enrollment-wise. But the 7A classification can certainly hold its own. Grimsley and Weddington are ranked third and fourth in our Fab 15, with Cardinal Gibbons at No. 6.
While the 8A division has seven teams in our Fab 15, the 7A classification offers six. Out of our top 25 teams, more than half play at the 7A level.
Circle your calendars
The first few weeks of the season will give us some blockbuster matchups featuring Fabulous 15 teams.
Hough will put its preseason standing on the line right away, visiting one of South Carolina’s best on Friday – Northwestern High, the 5A runner-up in 2025. Hough will then host Cardinal Gibbons and Providence Day before traveling to Mooresville. If the Huskies are 4-0 after that gauntlet, the No. 1 ranking will have been earned, not just bestowed.
Grimsley will open its season hosting West Charlotte. Myers Park will visit Providence Day this Friday, while Millbrook will travel to Garner.
👉 View the complete Friday night high school schedule and scoreboard
Small-School Super Six
North Carolina high school football is much more than just our biggest programs from the biggest cities. We also have a rich tradition in several places along the backroads of our state.
Using criteria similar to what we used with our Fabulous 15, we’ve also created the Super Six rankings exclusively for NCHSAA schools that compete at the 1A, 2A and 3A levels (roughly under 800 students enrolled).
Here is our preseason list:
1. Tarboro (2A)
2. Shelby (3A)
3. Mount Airy (3A)
4. Eastern Randolph (3A)
5. Lincolnton (3A)
6. Murphy (2A)
Honorable Mention: Northeastern, James Kenan, Mountain Heritage, Robbinsville, Kinston, Corvian Community.
Shelby and Tarboro won state titles a season ago. Murphy, Kinston and Robbinsville each were state runners-up. Mount Airy captured state titles in 2022 and 2023, and played deep into the playoffs last year and in 2024.
