The Elite Matchups of the first full Weekend: 49 Games, 55 T25PS Top 100 Teams in Action
The 2026 high school football season reaches its first major weekend with 49 games involving 55 preseason T25PS Top 100 teams from Aug. 19 through Aug. 22.
Top 25 Public HSFB8/17/20266 min read
The Elite Matchups of the first full Weekend: 49 Games, 55 T25PS Top 100 Teams in Action
The 2026 high school football season reaches its first major weekend with 49 games involving 55 preseason T25PS Top 100 teams from Aug. 19 through Aug. 22.
The slate includes undefeated state champions, ranked matchups, interstate tests and several games that could immediately affect the national public-school rankings.
Creekside and Clay-Chalkville headline the weekend
Creekside enters the season after a perfect 15-0 championship run and finished No. 2 in the 2025 T25PS Public Schools Top 25. The Seminoles return 16 starters, including nine on defense, and allowed fewer than seven points per game last season.
Quarterback Savoy “Slim” Nichols is expected to take over the offense, while Clemson commit Gary Walker leads the backfield and Boston College commit Armani Hill gives Creekside another major weapon at receiver.
Clay-Chalkville also finished 15-0 last season and won Alabama’s 6A championship. The Cougars move to 5A this year and must replace quarterback Aaron Frye, running back Joshua Woods and receiver Corey Barber, all of whom produced more than 1,000 yards last season.
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The experience returning along Clay-Chalkville’s offensive line and defense should help ease those losses. The Cougars will also face #3 Thompson in their next major test, making this one of the toughest opening stretches in the country.
The game is a rematch of last year’s Alabama 7A semifinal, when Central-Phenix City lost by one point to eventual state champion Thompson.
Thompson returns 17 starters and is led by quarterback Trent Seaborn, a fifth-year starter and Alabama commit who has already thrown for more than 10,000 career yards.
Central-Phenix City enters its first season under head coach Cody Flournoy. Quarterback Bobby Coleman returns after throwing for more than 3,000 yards and 33 touchdowns last season, while 2027 Miami commit Jatori Williams anchors the offensive line.
Centennial went 11-2 last season, reached the CIF Division 1 championship game and returns 11 starters. The matchup with Servite opens a challenging schedule that also includes games against Santa Margarita, Mater Dei, De La Salle and Chaparral.
Friday’s 40-game schedule features the largest collection of ranked teams in action.
#2 Thomas County Central travels to #66 Colquitt County after completing a perfect 15-0 season and winning the Georgia 5A championship. Thomas County Central returns 11 starters and begins the season with one of the toughest games in the state.
In Florida, #14 West Boca Raton travels to American Heritage. West Boca finished 13-2 last season, won a state championship and returns 14 starters. The Bulls are looking to make another run at the title, but American Heritage provides an immediate challenge.
One thing to note before I get killed in the comments over this, Last week was a preseason game for West Boca, it will not be factored into the rankings by the end of the year, and will have marginal if any change on it now. More importantly, these are still the preseason rankings that were released on July 1st. The first edition of the in-season Public Schools Top 25 will be released on the morning of 8/24. Be sure to create your FREE T25PS account and click the newsletter button to be notified as soon as they are released.
Also a good time to mention that we are still looking for sponsors across all three brands in our T25PS Portfolio. Reach out today to see how we can feature your business in front of a National, Western PA, or Southeast audience. We have packages for every level from sponsored articles to presenting partners of our live shows and PA Today live feed. Please reach out to me at alex@t25ps.com for more information.
#20 Miami Central travels to California to face Orange Lutheran. Miami Central returns East Carolina quarterback commit James Perrone and running back Nino Joseph, who rushed for 1,955 yards last season.
One of the weekend’s most important ranked matchups takes place in the Carolinas when #27 Northwestern faces #32 Hough. These are currently the top ranked teams in their respective states heading into the season, so state bragging rights could definitely be on the line here.
Northwestern quarterback Xavier Means accounted for more than 4,100 total yards and 52 touchdowns last season. Hough counters with Marshall commit Ethan Royal, running back Jamarion Morrison and an experienced secondary.
Ohio features another ranked matchup with #43 Massillon Washington facing #58 Glenville. Massillon returns 17 starters and 26 lettermen as the Tigers begin another championship run.
Buford went 15-0 last season, won the Georgia 6A championship and finished as the consensus public-school national champion. The Wolves must replace quarterback Dayton Raiola, but their defense remains one of the most talented units in the country.
Gainesville brings plenty of talent of its own, including Clemson quarterback commit Kharim Hughley, two 1,000-yard rushers and Miami offensive line commit Tyler Ford.
Saturday also includes #35 East St. Louis vs. Mount Carmel, a huge showdown in Illinois.
Teams already in action
Not every team on the weekend schedule is playing its first game.
#15 Grayson opened against North Gwinnett and now travels to Sandy Creek. #16 Corner Canyon opened against Davis and faces Timpview in its next regular-season matchup, and #83 Kahuku takes on Kamehameha.
Those games provide an early look at how both teams respond after their opening performances, especially for Grayson who has already taken a hit in week 1.
