Garner’s victory over previously unbeaten Clayton last Friday night shook up the latest North Carolina high school football rankings heading into the final week of the regular season.
The Trojans climbed six spots to No. 10 in the NC Football News statewide composite rankings following their 31-21 victory over the Comets. Clayton, meanwhile, suffered the week’s biggest drop, falling eight places into a tie for 17th.
The rankings feature the Fabulous 15, our top 15 teams statewide, followed by the Next Ten, covering positions 16-25. The rankings combine results from HighSchoolOT, The Charlotte Observer, Massey Ratings and MaxPreps into a single composite score.
While Garner and Clayton were moving in opposite directions, the top of the rankings remained remarkably stable. Hough retained its unanimous hold on No. 1, and the same seven teams occupied the top seven spots. The only change was Grimsley moving ahead of Weddington into sole possession of third place after being tied with the Warriors the previous two weeks.
Elsewhere, Rolesville made the week’s biggest climb, jumping seven spots to No. 12, while Myers Park tumbled seven places following a shutout loss to top-ranked Hough.
Jacksonville and Southeast Raleigh joined the Next Ten, replacing Mooresville, East Forsyth and South Point.
To see how we built our Fabulous 15 and Next Ten lists – including how HighSchoolOT, The Observer Super 25, Massey Ratings and MaxPreps ranked each school – visit our NC high school football rankings hub
NC High School Football Rankings
After Week 10 games (Oct. 23). Each team’s composite score is included along with movement from last week’s rankings.
Fabulous 15
1. Hough (9-0) — 1.00
2. Providence Day (9-1) — 2.50
3. Grimsley (9-0) — 2.75
4. Weddington (10-0) ▼1 — 3.75
5. Chambers (9-0) — 7.25
6. Millbrook (8-0-1) — 7.50
7. Lake Norman (9-0) — 7.75
8. Reagan (8-1) ▲3 — 9.50
9. Mallard Creek (7-2) ▲1 — 10.25
10. Garner (7-2) ▲6 — 12.50
11. West Forsyth (7-2) ▼3 — 13.00
12. Rolesville (6-2-1) ▲7 — 15.50
13. Crest (8-1) — 16.50
14. J.H. Rose (9-0) — 17.25
15. Hoggard (8-1) ▲1 — 18.00
The Next Ten
16. Cleveland (8-1) ▼1 — 18.25
T-17. A.L. Brown (9-0) ▲3 — 18.50
T-17. Clayton (8-1) ▼8 — 18.50
T-19. Jay M. Robinson (9-0) ▼1 — 19.00
T-19. Myers Park (6-3) ▼7 — 19.00
21. Cardinal Gibbons (6-3) ▼1 — 19.75
22. Northside-Jacksonville (9-0) ▲1 — 22.25
T-23. Jacksonville (6-2) NEW — 24.00
T-23. Southeast Raleigh (6-3) NEW — 24.00
T-23. West Charlotte (5-4) ▼1 — 24.00
Dropped out: South Point (24), East Forsyth (T-25), Mooresville (T-25)
Composite scores represent the average ranking across HighSchoolOT, The Charlotte Observer/News & Observer Super 25, Massey Ratings and MaxPreps. Lower averages indicate higher rankings. Teams outside a human poll’s top 25 receive a ranking of 26 for composite purposes. Arrows indicate movement from the previous week.
What is the Fabulous 15 and Next Ten?
Our Fabulous 15 and Next Ten rankings are a little different than everyone else’s. Our method is to use a composite of four of the most trusted ranking systems already out there.
Two of those systems employ human voters – HighSchoolOT’s Statewide 25 and the NC Super 25 from the Charlotte Observer/News & Observer. The other two use computer models – MaxPreps and Massey Ratings.
We take an average of where each school shows up in those four rankings and then create a composite list based on the best numbers – presto, the best 25 teams land in the Fabulous 15 and Next Ten!
Notes and observations
The top 7 holds steady
We’ve written a lot about Hough, Providence Day, Grimsley and Weddington, who have practically written their names in ink at the top of our rankings. Chambers, Millbrook and Lake Norman also held their positions at Nos. 5, 6 and 7, respectively, after convincing victories Friday night.
Only Providence Day has a loss among our top seven teams. That defeat was to No. 1 Hough early in the season.
Greater Neuse River 7A showing its strength
The conference featuring Garner, Clayton, Cleveland and Southeast Raleigh has four teams in our rankings. Garner enters the final Friday of the regular season with the upper hand in the race for the league title.
The Trojans beat Clayton on Friday and also have a victory over Cleveland. The three schools own 4-1 conference records. If Garner can beat Fuquay-Varina, it will win the title. If not, the door is open to the winner of Friday’s Cleveland vs. Clayton clash.
Southeast Raleigh is the only Greater Neuse River team to beat Garner in conference play. It will be interesting to see how the final week affects playoff seeding in the 7A bracket.
Two Jacksonville schools now in the Next Ten
Two schools separated by roughly four miles in Onslow County now occupy spots in our Next Ten. Northside-Jacksonville (9-0), a 5A program, sits at No. 22, while 6A Jacksonville (6-2) enters the rankings tied for 23rd.
Two newcomers, three departures
Jacksonville and Southeast Raleigh enter the rankings, replacing Mooresville, East Forsyth and South Point. Because last week’s No. 25 spot featured two teams who were tied, we lose one more than we gain back.
Interestingly, Mooresville, East Forsyth and South Point all won on Friday night. But our consensus format, taking into account humans and computers, dropped all three out of the Top 25. Mooresville missed the cutoff by just one-quarter of a point, finishing No. 26 with a composite score of 24.25.
Cardinal Gibbons keeps hanging around
The Crusaders are 6-3 but remain No. 21. Their three defeats have come against stout competition – Hough, Archbishop Hoban of Ohio and Middle Creek. Two were decided by six points or fewer. MaxPreps ranks Cardinal Gibbons No. 10 statewide, helping the Crusaders remain in the composite despite their three losses.
Archbishop Hoban, a traditional Ohio powerhouse, is only 3-6 this season but still considered the No. 16 team in Ohio by MaxPreps’ own rankings system.
A.L. Brown’s contrasting rankings
The unbeaten Wonders are No. 9 in the Observer Super 25 poll and No. 15 in MaxPreps, but aren’t ranked at all in HighSchoolOT’s Top 25. That’s a significant difference in how the sources view a 9-0 team.
Crest remains the highest-ranked 5A school
At No. 13 overall, Crest from Cleveland County leads the smaller-classification contingent, followed by fellow 5A schools Jay M. Robinson (tied for 19th) and Northside-Jacksonville (22nd).
Where do we go from here?
The regular season ends for both NCHSAA and NCISAA schools on Friday night. Playoff brackets will be released over the weekend, and the playoffs will kick into high gear next Friday.
We’ll release our last regular season Fabulous 15 and Next Ten in the middle of next week. Then we’ll come back in December, once the playoffs are completed, to lock in the final 2026 Fabulous 15 and Next Ten.
👉 Visit our NCHSAA Playoff Hub for the latest from the 1A-8A tournaments.
👉 Visit our NCISAA Playoff Hub for the latest on the 11-man and 8-man tournaments.
Small-School Super Six
North Carolina’s largest 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 fewer). Here is this week’s Super Six, with last week’s results:
1. Shelby (8-1) – beat Bessemer City 55-6
2. Tarboro (8-1) – beat Ayden-Grifton 41-0
3. North Stanly (9-0) – beat Bonnie Cone 60-0
4. Corvian Community (8-1) – beat Christ the King 54-6
5. Hendersonville (9-0) – beat Mountain Heritage 48-44
6. Northeastern (8-1) – beat Martin County 54-19
Honorable Mention:
- Warren County (9-0) – beat KIPP Pride 52-0
- Whiteville (8-0) – beat Red Springs 40-0
- Lincolnton (6-3) – bye week
- Northside-Pinetown (9-0) – beat Southside 40-0
- Chatham Central (9-0) – beat South Stokes 20-19
- James Kenan (7-1) – beat Princeton 35-15
- Midway (7-1) – bye week
- Starmount (8-1) – beat Wilkes Central 28-7
- Murphy (7-2) – beat Hayesville 42-12
- Thomasville (8-1) – beat East Davidson 63-10
- Walkertown (8-1) – beat Carver 59-14
- Holmes (7-1) – beat Perquimans County 55-6
Winning is fun, and the top 3A, 2A and 1A teams in the state did a lot of it this past Friday night. All six teams in our Small-School Super Six emerged victorious, including No. 5 Hendersonville, which survived a 48-44 thriller against Mountain Heritage. The other five ranked teams won by at least 13 points.
The success extended to the honorable mention list, where returning teams continued to pile up victories. Lincolnton and Midway had open dates.
Three teams join the honorable mention list this week: Thomasville and Walkertown, both 8-1 in the 3A classification, and Holmes, which improved to 7-1 among 2A programs.
