North Carolina High School Football Top 25 State Rankings - Sept. 14, 2025

Top-ranked teams stand their ground, while Hickory and Rabun Gap-Nacoochee crash the Top 25

Crest football hosted Weddington in a non-conference matchup on Sept. 12, 2025 in Boiling Springs. Weddington won, 31-10. | Joe L. Hughes II / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Another week has gone by in the 2025 North Carolina High School Football season and there has been little change in the Top 25 state rankings other than a couple of new entries, as Hickory and Rabun Gap-Nacoochee join our poll.

1. Grimsley (3-0)

Previous rank: 1

Idle; at Southwest Guilford

2. Cardinal Gibbons (4-0)

Previous rank: 2

Defeated Southeast Raleigh 30-22; vs. Mallard Creek

3. Providence Day (4-0)

Previous rank: 3

Defeated Butler 39-0; next vs. Rabun Gap-Nacoochee

4. Hough (4-0)

Previous rank: 4

Defeated Mooresville 28-21; next vs. New Bern

5. Cleveland (4-0)

Previous rank: 5

Defeated New Bern 46-6; next idle

6. Jacksonville (3-0)

Previous rank: 7

Defeated Topsail 46-6; next at East Duplin

7. Weddington (3-1)

Previous rank: 8

Defeated Crest 31-10; next at Charlotte Catholic

8. Hoggard (4-0)

Previous rank: 9

Defeated Panther Creek 40; next idle

9. Tarboro (4-0)

Previous rank: 10

Defeated SouthWest Edgecombe 14-0; vs. Northampton County

10. Seventy-First (3-1)

Previous rank: 11

Defeated Hoke County 32-15; next vs. Jack Britt

11. South Point (3-0)

Previous rank: 12

Defeated Mount Pleasant 32-7; next at Ashbrook

12. Independence (3-1)

Previous rank: 13

Defeated Lake Norman 26-7; next at Palisades

13. Freedom (4-0)

Previous rank: 14

Defeated T.C. Roberson 20-14; next vs. A.C. Reynolds

14. East Forsyth (3-1)

Previous rank: 17

Defeated Ragsdale 38-0; next vs. Mooresville

15. Mallard Creek (3-1)

Previous rank: 18

Defeated then-No. 6 Myers Park 20-13; next at Cardinal Gibbons

16. Clayton (3-1)

Previous rank: 19

Defeated West Johnston 55-2; next vs. Fuquay-Varina

17. Charlotte Catholic (3-1)

Previous rank: 20

Defeated Kings Mountain 28-21

18. Myers Park (3-1)

Previous rank: 6

Lost 20-13 to Mallard Creek; next at Charlotte Christian

19. Watauga (3-0)

Previous rank: 21

Idle; at Erwin

20. Jordan (4-0)

Previous rank: 23

Defeated Riverside-Durham by forfeit; at Apex

21. East Lincoln (4-0)

Previous rank: 24

Defeated Bandys 56-34; next at North Lincoln

22. Southeast Raleigh (3-1)

Previous rank: 16

Lost 30-22 to No. 2 Cardinal Gibbons; next at Garner

23. Crest (3-1)

Previous rank: 16

Lost 31-10 to No, 8 Weddington; next idle

24. Hickory (3-1)

Previous rank: Not ranked

Defeated Newton-Conover 42-14; next vs. Foard

25. Rabun Gap-Nacoochee (2-2)

Previous rank: Not ranked

Defeated Ambassdor Christian 42-0; next at No. 3 Providence Day