We’re nearing the halfway point of the North Carolina high school football season, and the state’s top teams are starting to sort themselves out – or more succinctly continuing to entrench themselves at the top of our NC Football News statewide rankings.
Our Fabulous 15 and Next Ten lists have been rearranged some from last week, but only one team dropped out of the top 25 entirely – East Forsyth, which sits just outside in the No. 26 overall spot. Otherwise, everyone else is a familiar face from Week 4.
Hough remains the consensus No. 1 team as it has all season. The Huskies (5-0) played out-of-state this past weekend, dispatching Green Run from Virginia Beach by a 45-0 score. Computers and humans agree Hough remains the standard in our state.
Providence Day and Grimsley flip-flopped places again right behind the Huskies. This week, Providence Day is at No. 2 and Grimsley at No. 3. Weddington stands pat at No. 4, while Lake Norman and Chambers both slide up two spots to the No. 5 and No. 6 slots.
Mallard Creek is our biggest forward mover. The Mavericks jumped six spots to rejoin the Fab 15. Palisades also made a strong move within our Next Ten, going from No. 23 to No. 18 after beating Independence 41-12 last week.
It should be noted that Hough is making waves nationally, too, garnering a No. 11 overall ranking in the Rivals Composite, No. 15 by MaxPreps and No. 19 in the High School Football American 300. Hough is keeping lofty company in these national rankings, listed in the midst of noted programs like Bishop Gorman (NV), Mater Dei (CA), St. John Bosco (CA), Chaminade-Madonna (FL) and Don Bosco Prep (NJ).
In our state, the high school season continues this Friday, Sept. 25 with Week 6 action. To find scores, visit our North Carolina High School Football Scoreboard, which also contains links to past weeks’ results as well.
NC High School Football Rankings
After Week 5 games, played on Sept. 17-21. Each team’s composite score is included as well as movement from last week’s rankings.
The Fabulous 15
1. Hough (5-0) – 1.00
2. Providence Day (4-1) – 2.50 ▲1
3. Grimsley (4-0) – 3.25 ▼1
4. Weddington (5-0) – 4.25
5. Lake Norman (5-0) – 5.75 ▲2
6. Chambers (5-0) – 8.00 ▲2
7. Millbrook (4-0) – 8.25 ▼2
8. Cardinal Gibbons (3-2) – 9.75 ▼3
9. Reagan (4-1) – 10.75
10. Southeast Raleigh (4-1) – 12.25
11. West Forsyth (4-1) – 13.00
12. South Point (5-0) – 15.75 ▲1
13. Mallard Creek (3-2) – 16.00 ▲6
14. Clayton (5-0) – 16.25 ▼2
15. Cleveland (4-0) – 16.50 ▼1
The Next Ten
16. Crest (3-1) – 17.25 ▲2
17. West Charlotte (3-2) – 18.50 ▼3
18. Palisades (4-1) – 19.50 ▲5
T-19. Myers Park (2-2) – 19.75 ▲1
T-19. Hoggard (3-1) – 19.75 ▼2
21. Ambassador Christian (4-0) – 22.0 ▲4
22. Jay M. Robinson (4-0) – 23.50
23. Garner (3-2) – 23.75 ▼2
T-24. Rolesville (1-2) – 24.00 ▲1
T-24. J.H. Rose (5-0) – 24.00 ▼1
👉 Want to see how each of the teams stand with each of the four rankings systems? Visit our Fabulous 15 Hub for the full table.
Notes & Observations
- Mallard Creek continues to be the most polarizing team among our four sources. The Mavericks (3-2) don’t appear in either human poll (HighSchoolOT or the Observer 25). But Massey ranks them fifth in the whole state (!), while the MaxPreps formula puts them seventh. The human voters may be waiting to see what Mallard Creek does against more North Carolina teams since the Mavs have played foes from Virginia, Georgia and Tennessee thus far and only two in-state contests.
- Lake Norman beat Reagan in a battle of elite unbeaten teams last week and moved into the top five for the first time. The Observer 25 poll has Lake Norman fourth in the state behind our big three of Hough, Providence Day and Grimsley. That is elite company.
- MaxPreps isn’t nearly as high on Millbrook as the rest of our ranking sources. The Wildcats are listed 17th by MaxPreps, while appearing in the top six in each of the other three.
- Ambassador Christian continues to gain steam. The Lions from Huntersville play as an independent within the NCISAA and have jumped out to a 5-0 start with wins over Independence and High Point Christian Academy. They don’t yet appear in either human poll but MaxPreps ranks them 16th and Massey 20th. Ambassador Christian will play Rabun Gap-Nacochee, one of the top NCISAA 4A teams, this week.
- Three of our top teams will play on the road this Friday – Hough visits West Meck (0-5), Grimsley travels to Western Guilford (2-3) and Weddington visits Sun Valley (2-2). Providence Day will be home against 4-0 Cannon-Concord Academy.
- Rolesville at Millbrook and Mallard Creek at West Charlotte are the lone Top 25 showdowns this week.
Small-School Super Six
North Carolina’s biggest high schools aren’t the only ones playing great football. Each week, we rank who we believe are the top football teams in the state competing at the 1A, 2A and 3A levels (schools with roughly 800 students or less). Here is this week’s Super Six:
1. Shelby (4-1)
2. Tarboro (4-1)
3. Corvian Community (3-1)
4. Lincolnton (4-1)
5. Hendersonville (5-0)
6. North Stanly (3-0)
Honorable Mention: Whiteville (5-0), Midway (5-0), Warren County (4-0), Starmount (4-0), Northside-Pinetown (5-0), Chatham Central (5-0), Martin County (4-0)
Week 5 was truly a Super week for our Super Six and honorable mention teams. EVERY team from last week’s list won their games. The only exception was North Stanly, whose contest with Mountain Island Charter was postponed due to inclement weather.
Not only did every team win last week. Every team aside from Warren County won on the road. And most teams posted blowout scores – Shelby 48-13 over Cherryville, Tarboro 50-0 over Northampton County, Lincolnton 48-6 over East Gaston, Starmount 58-0 over Battle of the Bridge rival Elkin. You get the picture
As such, we know better than to touch our rankings this week. We’ll let everything stand pat aside from two additions. Whiteville, which improved to 5-0 with its 34-21 win over Clinton, joins our honorable mention list. So, too, does Martin County (4-0), which beat Greene Central 40-23.
Shelby will tackle an unbeaten Stuart W. Cramer team (4-0) this Friday night. Starmount also faces an unbeaten rival when it hosts Alleghany (4-0) in Boonville.
More North Carolina High School Football
Follow NC Football News high school coverage throughout the 2026 season:
- North Carolina High School Football Scores & Schedules — Find this week’s statewide schedule, scores and results.
- Fabulous 15 Rankings Hub — See the complete composite rankings, including how HighSchoolOT, the Charlotte Observer/News & Observer, Massey Ratings and MaxPreps rank each team.
- North Carolina High School Football News — Catch up on the latest rankings, scores, schedules and stories from around the state.
