South Carolina’s Top 5 Public HSFB Programs of the Past 5 Years (2021–2025)

Public Schools Top 25 | National Series — Part 40/50South Carolina turned out to be one of the cleaner states to rank at the top, but once you get past the obvious No. 1, there is still some real nuance.The biggest storyline over the past five years has been the continued dominance of Dutch Fork High School, who has clearly been the standard in public high school football in the Palmetto State. Much like what we saw with Bixby in Oklahoma, the top spot here was never really in question.What did make this state interesting was the structural change that came late in the five-year window.From 2021 through 2023, South Carolina operated under the traditional 5A, 4A, 3A, 2A, and 1A structure. Beginning in 2024, the SCHSL split 5A into Division I and Division II, creating two champions at the highest classification level. That means when evaluating this five-year run, it is important to distinguish between 5A Division I titles, 5A Division II titles, and championships won in lower classifications.For this ranking, 5A Division I carries the most weight, followed by 5A Division II and 4A, then the lower classes. As always in this series, consistency, title-game appearances, deep playoff runs, and classification weight across the full five-year window all matter.Also important for this list: this is public schools only, so Oceanside Collegiate and Gray Collegiate are excluded.With that in mind, here are South Carolina’s top five public high school football programs over the past five seasons.🥇 1. Dutch Fork High SchoolThere was never a real debate here.Accomplishments (2021–2025)2021 5A Runner-Up2022 5A State Champion2023 5A State Champion2024 5A Division I State Champion2025 5A Division I State ChampionDutch Fork reached the state championship game in all five seasons of this stretch and won four state titles, all in the highest classification available.Even more impressive, once 5A split into two divisions, Dutch Fork continued to own the Division I side, which represents the larger schools.Simply put, they have been the dynasty of South Carolina public football.🥈 2. South Florence High SchoolSouth Florence’s résumé is as strong as anyone not named Dutch Fork.Accomplishments (2021–2025)2022 4A State Champion2023 4A Runner-Up2024 4A State Champion2025 4A Runner-UpThat is four straight state title game appearances from 2022–2025 in 4A, with two championships.The consistency is elite, and doing it in one of the state’s larger classifications gives them a very strong No. 2 case.🥉 3. Northwestern High School (Rock Hill)I’m keeping Northwestern at No. 3 because when you zoom out over the full five-year window, the overall consistency and total hardware wins out.Accomplishments (2021–2025)2022 4A Runner-Up2024 5A Division II State Champion2025 5A Division II State ChampionThat gives Northwestern three state title game appearances in four seasons, including back-to-back 5A Division II titles.Northwestern’s high consistency across the five-year span plus two titles gives them the edge over the teams below them.There definitely could be a case made for them to move up to #2, but when factoring in the Classification change, South Florence barely edges them out for that second spot.4️⃣ South Pointe High SchoolThis was the toughest spot on the list, but when you look at the full five-year résumé, South Pointe gets the nod.Accomplishments (2021–2025)2021 4A State Champion2025 4A State ChampionTwo titles in 4A across the five-year window is simply too strong to leave out of the top four.The 2025 championship is especially impressive, coming against a South Florence program that we have ranked No. 2 in the state over this span.While Gaffney’s 2021 peak was arguably higher, South Pointe’s extra championship over the full body of work gives them the edge.For this series, five-year consistency and total hardware matter, and South Pointe checks both boxes.5️⃣ Gaffney High SchoolAccomplishments (2021–2025)2021 5A State Championundefeated seasonfinished No. 1 in South Carolinamultiple deep playoff runs during the stretchThe 2021 season is what pushes them firmly into the top five.They finished undefeated, won the highest classification, and finished as the No. 1 team in the state.More importantly, they are the only other public school besides Dutch Fork to win South Carolina’s top classification during this five-year window.That alone is a massive résumé point.Gaffney does hold the head-to-head edge over South Pointe during this span, but for this series, the extra title over the five-year sample keeps South Pointe just ahead.This is one of the closest 4 vs 5 decisions we’ve had in the entire series so far.Just Outside the Top 5A few programs just missed the cut:Daniel High School — two 3A titlesWestside High School (Anderson) — 4A champion and runner-upClinton High School — 2A titleAbbeville High School — lower-class consistencyFinal Ranking — South Carolina (2021–2025)Dutch ForkSouth FlorenceNorthwesternSouth PointeGaffneySouth Carolina was easier to rank at the very top than many of the states we’ve done so far because Dutch Fork clearly separates itself from the field.The real debate was always going to come in the 2–5 range, where consistency, classification weight, and championship totals all had to be balanced.This is Part 40/50 in our nationwide series breaking down the Top 5 Public HSFB Programs of the Past 5 Years (2021–2025).