No Surprise: St. Frances Unanimous No. 1 in Maryland Media Preseason State Poll

St. Frances earns all 10 first-place votes as the state’s top 25 features 20 teams from last year’s final poll.

St. Frances Academy collected all 10 first-place votes to start the season No. 1 in the 36th Annual Maryland Media State Poll. | Overtime

The 2026 Maryland high school football season will open with St. Frances Academy, DeMatha and Archbishop Spalding ranked 1-2-3 in the Maryland Media State Poll — the same order in which they finished the 2025 season.

This marks the 36th year of the Maryland Media State Poll, which is based on a statewide vote of sports reporters, including High School On SI’s Maryland rankings.

St. Frances collected all 10 first-place votes to outpace No. 2 DeMatha, No. 3 Archbishop Spalding, No. 4 McDonogh School, and No. 5 Quince Orchard.

No Real Surprises in the Top 25

Twenty of the ranked teams finished in last year's Top 25, including all six public-school defending state champions: 4A champion Quince Orchard at No. 5; 4A-3A champion Mergenthaler Vo-Tech at No. 17; 3A champion Linganore at No. 8; 2A champion Huntingtown at No. 13; 2A-1A champion Dunbar at No. 16; and 1A champion Patuxent at No. 19.

Week 0 Showdown

The Maryland public-school season does not begin until the Sept. 4-5 weekend, but most private-school programs kick off this week. The featured matchup is No. 3 Archbishop Spalding against No. 2 DeMatha on Friday at PG Learning Center.

Spalding defeated DeMatha 26-10 in 2024 in the lone regular-season meeting between these programs. The victory propelled Spalding to a 12-0 season and the final No. 1 ranking in the state. It also marked DeMatha's most recent loss.

The Stags have since won 21 consecutive games, closing the 2024 season with 10 straight victories before going 11-0 last year. DeMatha carries the state's longest active winning streak into Friday's showdown.

Maryland Media Preseason State Poll

Schools are ranked by points received. The number in parentheses reflects first-place votes. LY is last year’s final ranking. Sheldon Shealer compiles the rankings.

Rank, School, Record, Points, LY

1. St. Frances Academy (10), 0-0, 250, 1

2. DeMatha, 0-0, 240, 2

3. Archbishop Spalding, 0-0, 230, 3

4. McDonogh, 0-0, 216, 6

5. Quince Orchard, 0-0, 209, 4

6. Good Counsel, 0-0, 188, 7

7. Wise, 0-0, 182, 8

8. Linganore, 0-0, 174, 5

9. St. Mary’s-AA, 0-0, 154, 10

10. Sherwood, 0-0, 139, 14

11. North Point, 0-0, 138, 18

12. Calvert Hall, 0-0, 123, 16

13. Huntingtown, 0-0, 100, 20

14. Broadneck, 0-0, 94, NR

15. Oakdale, 0-0, 86, 21

16. Dunbar, 0-0, 82, 13

17. Mergenthaler Vo-Tech, 0-0, 81, 9

18. St. Mary’s Ryken, 0-0, 75, 11

19. Patuxent, 0-0, 63, 24

20. Georgetown Prep, 0-0, 61, NR

21, Mount St. Joseph, 0-0, 58, 17

22, Old Mill, 0-0, 51, NR

23. Guilford Park, 0-0, 50, NR

24. Bishop McNamara, 0-0, 44, NR

25. Winston Churchill, 0-0, 41, 19

Others Receiving Votes: Loyola Blakefield (0-0, 25 points), Westminster (0-0, 18), Paint Branch (0-0, 16), Flowers (0-0, 12), Great Mills (0-0, 8), Northwest (0-0, 8), Bullis School (0-0, 7), Northern-Calvert (0-0, 6), St. Paul's School (0-0, 6), Eleanor Roosevelt (0-0, 4), Fort Hill (0-0, 3), Milford Mill Academy (0-0, 3), St. Charles (0-0, 3), Oxon Hill (0-0, 2).