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Week 1 is in the books for Florida high school football and to say there’s a few shakeups in this week’s top 25 rankings would be an understatement. After a week that saw plenty of surprising results across the board, it’s safe to say we’re all in for a rollercoaster ride. Below are the top […]

Below are the top 25 teams in Florida high school football, according to the Massey Ratings, as of Aug. 25.

1. IMG Academy Ascenders (2-0)

The undefeated Ascenders sit at the top of our Sunshine State rankings as they’ve started the season off in impressive fashion.

IMG Academy are coming off an impressive 34-13 win over Alabama’s Hoover Buccaneers this past Friday and relied heavily on a stout rushing attack led by Louisville commit Lekhy Thompkins. First-year head coach Greg Studrawa has his group playing stellar defensively along paired with a punishing run game.

The Ascenders have a star-studded roster of four-star athletes like safety Zech Fort (Georgia), edge rusher Jake Kreul, running back Tranard Roberts, cornerback Larry Moon, linebacker Amarri Irvin, athlete Alexander Ward (Alabama), and wide receiver Osani Gayles, among others. You can view more of IMG’s stacked roster here.

Up next for IMG Academy, they’ll take on New Jersey power Winslow Township Thursday afternoon in Ocean City, New Jersey in the Battle at the Beach Classic at the historic Carey Stadium.

2. St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders (0-1)

St. Thomas Aquinas takes the second spot in the Top 25 after what could be labeled the best loss of the weekend as the Raiders fell by just three points to the No. 1 team in the nation, Mater Dei, at the Broward County Classic.

The Raiders showed in the nationally televised game that they can hang with the best of ’em in the country and that the rest of the way could be an undefeated run en route towards attempting to win state championship No. 17.

Stock has to be up on three-star quarterback Mason Mallory, who transferred into St. Thomas Aquinas from West Boca Raton during the off-season, as the senior displayed what he could do as the Raiders’ dual-threat behind center. Mallory made numerous plays with his arm and legs, nearly leading the team back from a 23-point deficit at halftime.

Though Roger Harriott’s group is 0-1, it gave confidence to those around the country that this is a very good St. Thomas Aquinas team.

3. American Heritage Patriots (1-0)

There’s no better way to see your team fly up the charts than in dramatic fashion and that’s how the Patriots got things done Friday night last week.

Five-star Texas commitDia Bell, wide receiverJamar Denson (Troy commit) and unheralded junior running back Jonathan Bueno Jr., all put the team on their shoulders and stormed back for a thrilling 31-28 victory over St. Joseph’s Prep (Pa.) for win No. 1.

Trailing 28-0 at one point, American Heritage displayed grit, fight in their comeback victory over the Hawks. Now The Patriots will take a week off before facing another powerful program, but this time it’ll be against neighboring Chaminade-Madonna (0-1), who fell to St. Frances Academy (Md.) on Saturday night.

4. Northwestern Bulls (0-1)

The Bulls joined the group of South Florida teams that couldn’t figure out the visiting out-of-state team they hosted, as Miami Northwestern fell, 17-13, to Orange Lutheran (Calif.) on Saturday night.

After defeating Lakeland 40-3 in the preseason, it was a humbling loss for the Bulls as they look to bounce back this week.

Despite Teddy Bridgewater not coaching the team anymore and playing quarterback now for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Northwestern remains one of Florida’s top teams. The Bulls will get a chance to redeem themselves quickly right back at home when they face No. 9 Venice, who were stunned by Tampa Bay Tech in a 29-7 rout last week.

There’s a real possibility that Miami Northwestern could run the table the rest of the way as the Bulls play a fairly advantageous schedule from here on out. That and the fact that they dominated last year’s Class 3A playoffs, out-scoring opponents 262-12, we think that there’s a fair chance it could happen again this fall.

5. Tampa Bay Tech Titans (1-0)

There’s probably not many folks who would’ve thought thatTampa Bay Tech could ever make it this high in the rankings, but after a dominating 29-7 win over Venice, the Titans have given everyone no choice.

Cue the WWE’s slogan of star wrestler Roman Reigns and acknowledge them.

Tampa Bay Tech owned every aspect of the game against the visiting Indians and now have a real chance of being a viable contender to St. Thomas Aquinas come December for the 5A Florida high school football championship.

The Titans take a short trip over to play Wharton before hosting No. 7 Armwood in what could be Game of the Year out of the Tampa Bay region. Bring your popcorn for that matchup.

6. Chaminade-Madonna Prep Lions (0-1)

This is not your Chaminade-Madonna PrepLions of the Jeremiah Smith era.

The sooner folks realize that, the better.

Yes, four-star Derrek Cooper (Texas commit) is as good as they come for running backs, but he can not do it alone if Chaminade-Madonna wants to remain in the conversation as one of the nation’s best.

A bright spot is the youth movement at quarterback for the Lions as 13-year old Malik Leonard got the starting nod against St. Frances Academy. The young southpaw threw for over 100 yards and a touchdown against a vaunted Panthers’ defense.

7. Armwood Hawks (1-0)

Rising up the charts in this week’s rankings are the Hawks of Seffner, Florida, coming off a 38-21 win over Gaither last week.

There’s plenty of reasons to like thisArmwood team, including senior three-star quarterbackRhys Brush, who is committed to the University of South Florida.

Looking deeper at this Armwood roster and head coach Evan Davis has a slew of Power Four recruits littered all over, including in the secondary with cornerbacks Jaelen Waters (Miami commit), Larry Warren (UNLV commit) and safeties D’Montae Tims (Colorado commit), Kallen Martinez (UConn commit).

A game we’re looking forward to is a Sept. 5 tilt against No. 5 Tampa Bay Tech.

8. Miami Central Rockets (0-0)

The Rockets didn’t get a chance to start the Derrick Gibson era at Miami Central as their game against Raines was mutually cancelled.

Miami Central won’t have to wait long for the next state power to face off against as an upstart Miami Edison team is on the horizon this upcoming Saturday.

With the Red Raiders having a game already under their belt, it’ll be interesting to see how things go for a Rockets team that had to wait an extra week to play their regular season opener.

9. Venice Indians (0-1)

A game that caught many off guard with how they lost was Venice‘s 29-7 loss toTampa Bay Tech last week.

It’s not the fact that they lost, but how it happened and yes, we know Tyree Manning Jr. didn’t play. We also know that one player doesn’t makeup 22 points when it comes to the scope of a Florida high school football game against a solid opponent.

The Indians struggled to move the ball on offense with quarterback Sean Long, who came away winning the quarterback battle. Now head coach John Peacock has to figure out how to change the team’s fortunes as they face a difficult stretch to start the season.

Up next is a showdown with another top 25 team in Miami Northwestern at Traz Powell Stadium.

10. Jones Tigers (1-0)

Rounding out the Top 10 is the Tigers of Orlando, who started off the season with a 35-0 win over Winter Park.

We picked Jones to win it all out of Florida’s Class 4A classification when the state championships return to Florida International’s Pitbull Stadium and a big reason is the impressive play coming from four-star quarterback Dereon Coleman(Miami commit).

First big test of the Florida high school football season for the Tigers will likely come on Sept. 12 when they face fellow Orlando power, No. 11 Edgewater.