Football rankings are supposed to be volatile. Teams climbing and falling. Upsets and upstarts. Yet that has been far from the case in 2026 as we’ve compiled our weekly North Carolina high school football rankings – at least among our most elite teams.
Things have been remarkably stable at the top. Hough has been the No. 1 team wire-to-wire. Grimsley, Providence Day and Weddington have settled in behind the Huskies.
Coming out of Week 8 games, the top seven teams remain unchanged. Rolesville is the lone newcomer to the Fabulous 15 this week, climbing four positions to No. 14.
But the race to join the top rungs is getting increasingly crowded. Four teams are deadlocked for the No. 16 spot this week, including Cleveland, which slipped just out of the Fabulous 15 following its first loss, and unbeaten J.H. Rose, which made the week’s biggest jump.
Every Fabulous 15 and Next Ten team that played a game last week won aside from Cleveland, which fell to another ranked team in Garner.
Shutouts were common last week, too. Teams like Hough, Grimsley, Weddington, Lake Norman, Chambers, Reagan and West Forsyth all held opponents completely off the scoreboard.
We have just three more weeks left in the regular season, then it’s off to the playoffs. Can the frontrunners hold their Fab 15 positioning to the finish line or will some volatility finally knock our rankings for a loop? Stay tuned.
NC High School Football Rankings
After Week 8 games (Oct. 9). Each team’s composite score is included along with movement from last week’s rankings.
Fabulous 15
1. Hough (7-0) — 1.00 (—)
2. Providence Day (6-1) — 2.50 (—)
T-3. Grimsley (7-0) — 3.25 (—)
T-3. Weddington (8-0) — 3.25 (—)
5. Lake Norman (7-0) — 5.75 (—)
6. Chambers (7-0) — 7.50 (—)
7. Reagan (6-1) — 8.50 (—)
T-8. Millbrook (6-0) — 10.25 (▲1)
T-8. West Forsyth (6-1) — 10.25 (▲2)
10. Clayton (8-0) — 12.00 (▼2)
11. Cardinal Gibbons (4-2) — 12.50 (—)
12. Mallard Creek (5-2) — 14.00 (▲2)
13. Crest (6-1) — 15.75 (▼1)
14. Rolesville (4-2) — 18.00 (▲3)
15. Myers Park (5-2) — 19.00 (—)
The Next Ten
T-16. Cleveland (6-1) — 19.50 (▼3)
T-16. Hoggard (6-1) — 19.50 (—)
T-16. J.H. Rose (7-0) — 19.50 (▲7)
T-16. Jay M. Robinson (7-0) — 19.50 (▲3)
20. Garner (5-2) — 20.00 (▲1)
21. Northside-Jacksonville (7-0) — 21.25 (▲2)
22. West Charlotte (4-4) — 21.50 (—)
T-23. A.L. Brown (7-0) — 23.25 (NEW)
T-23. Palisades (6-1) — 23.25 (▼5)
T-23. Southeast Raleigh (6-2) — 23.25 (▼3)
Composite scores represent the average ranking across HighSchoolOT, The Charlotte Observer, Massey Ratings and MaxPreps. Lower averages indicate higher rankings. Arrows show 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 on the Fabulous 15 + Next Ten
The upper class has become remarkably stable
For the second consecutive week, the same seven teams occupy the same seven positions. What’s particularly interesting is how much agreement exists at the very top among human voters and computer formulas:
- Hough: A perfect 1.00 average. All four rankings agree the Huskies are the leaders of the North Carolina pack. That’s about as definitive as a composite ranking can get.
- Providence Day: Three No. 2 rankings and a No. 4 from MaxPreps.
- Grimsley and Weddington: Still deadlocked with a 3.25 composite average, but the computers slightly favor Weddington while the human polls favor Grimsley.
- Lake Norman: An exceptionally tight range of fifth through seventh across all four rankings.
- Six of the top seven are undefeated. Providence Day is the only exception, and the Chargers’ lone loss came to Hough early in the season.
👉 To see the Fab 15 + Next Ten list with how each school was ranked by HighSchoolOT, Observer 25, Massey and MaxPreps, visit our Fabulous 15 Hub Page.
Clayton is the most fascinating statistical outlier
The undefeated Comets have a 12.00 composite average. Both the Observer Super 25 and HighSchoolOT rank them in the top eight. Massey lists them ninth, yet MaxPreps ranks them 26th.
That one ranking is dragging Clayton down significantly in our Fabulous 15. Without MaxPreps, Clayton’s average across the other three rankings would be 7.33. Still, the Comets are 8-0 and looking strong in the 7A East.
Rolesville returns to the Fabulous 15
The only change within the top 15 spots this week is Rolesville, who jumps up three spots to No. 14. The Rams have an interesting profile and are part of why we love doing a composite ranking for our Fabulous 15 and Next Ten.
HighSchoolOT (20th) and the Observer 25 (26th) are cooler on the Rams, while Massey (11th) and MaxPreps (15th) continue to rank them among the top teams in the state.
Rolesville (4-2) has had a strange season thus far. After losing to Mallard Creek and Providence Day to start the year, the Rams went nearly three weeks without playing a game, then a game with Millbrook was suspended right at the start of overtime with the teams tied 10-10.
The Rams’ four wins have been impressive – 48-7 over Corinth Holders, 35-0 over Richmond Senior, 49-7 over Broughton and 64-0 over Wakefield. The schedule looks favorable for Rolesville to win out, though it is unclear what will happen with the Millbrook game.
A four-way tie at No. 16 is extraordinary
Typically teams start separating themselves by this point in the season. We’re fascinated that four teams arrived at exactly the same point – the No. 16 spot in our composite rankings – though from completely different directions.
Cleveland lost to Garner 34-20 and slipped a few spots out of the Fabulous 15. Meanwhile, J.H. Rose and Jay M. Robinson are undefeated and moving upward. And Hoggard didn’t move at all.
Rose jumped up seven spots this week, our biggest upward mover. The Rampants just joined the Next Ten last week.
Notable Week 9 (Oct. 16) matchups
- Hough (7-0) at South Mecklenburg (3-4)
- Page (7-0) at Grimsley (7-0)
- Weddington (8-0) at Porter Ridge (3-5)
- Hickory Ridge (6-1) at A.L. Brown (7-0)
- Southeast Raleigh (6-2) at Cleveland (6-1)
- Jay M. Robinson (7-0) at West Rowan (6-1)
- Middle Creek (5-2) at Cardinal Gibbons (5-2)
- Butler (4-3) at West Charlotte (4-3)
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 (6-1) – beat Lincolnton 9-7
2. Tarboro (7-1) – beat Farmville Central 75-27
3. North Stanly (8-0) – beat South Stanly 62-0 ▲3
4. Corvian Community (6-1) – beat Langtree Charter 65-7 ▼1
5. Lincolnton (6-2) – lost to Shelby 9-7 ▼1
6. Hendersonville (7-0) – beat Owen 56-24 ▼1
Honorable Mention:
- Warren County (7-0) – beat Northampton County 35-0
- Whiteville (7-0) – beat South Brunswick 41-20
- Northeastern (6-1) – idle
- Northside-Pinetown (7-0) – beat Pamlico County 68-0
- Chatham Central (7-0) – beat College Prep & Leadership 43-6
- James Kenan (5-1) – beat Goldsboro 55-0
- Midway (6-1) – beat Wallace-Rose Hill 19-16
- Starmount (6-1) – beat West Wilkes 9-0
