North Carolina High School Football Top 25 State Rankings - Sept. 28, 2025

Many members last week's of the North Carolina High School football Top 25 Rankings were idle last week and most of the others had easier match-ups. One Top 25 game, however, was a battled of ranked teams as then- No. 23 West Charlotte throttled then No. 11-Mallard Creek, 32-9.
Those teams saw their standing in the rankings change dramatically, but not much else was altered.
1. Grimsley (5-0)
Previous rank: 1
Defeated Western Guilford 66-6; next vs. Varina (Va.)
2. Providence Day (6-0)
Previous rank: 2
Defeated Cannon School 55-21 next idle
3. Hough (6-0)
Previous rank: 3
Defeated West Mecklenburg 43-0; next idle
4. Cleveland (5-0)
Previous rank: 4
Defeated South Garner 42-28; next vs. Fuquay-Varina
5. Cardinal Gibbons (4-1)
Previous rank: 5
Idle; next at Ambassador Christian
6. Weddington (4-1)
Previous rank: 6
Defeated Sun Valley 21-6; next at Marvin Ridge
7. Jacksonville (4-0)
Previous rank: 7
Idle; next at New Bern
8. Hoggard (5-0)
Previous rank: 8
Defeated West Brunswick 34-7; next at New Hanover
9. Tarboro (5-0)
Previous rank: 9
Idle; next at Greene Central
10. Seventy-First (4-1)
Previous rank: 10
Idle; next vs. Douglas Byrd
11. Independence (4-1)
Previous rank: 12
Idle; at West Charlotte
12. Freedom (5-0)
Previous rank: 13
Idle; next vs. Watauga
13. Ashbrook (6-0)
Previous rank: 14
Defeated North Gaston 20-14; next idle
14. West Charlotte (4-2)
Previous rank: 23
Defeated then-No. 11 Mallard Creek 32-9; next vs. Independence
15. Clayton (5-1)
Previous rank: 15
Defeated Smithfield-Selma 43-7; next at Southeast Raleigh
16. Myers Park (4-1)
Previous rank: 16
Idle; next vs. Garinger
17. Watauga (5-0)
Previous rank: 17
Defeated Asheville 49-7; next at No. 12 Freedom
18. Mallard Creek (4-2)
Previous rank: 11
Lost 32-9 to then-No. 23 West Charlotte; next vs. North Mecklenburg
19. Jordan (6-0)
Previous rank: 18
Defeated Apex Friendship 28-7; next vs. Green Hope
20. East Lincoln (6-0)
Previous rank: 19
Defeated Bunker Hill 57-0; next vs. West Iredell
21. Crest (3-1)
Previous rank: 20
Game postponed; next vs. Forestview on Monday, vs. South Point on Friday
22. Hickory (5-1)
Previous rank: 23
Defeated North Lincoln 49-6; nexr vs. Maiden
23. South Point (4-1)
Previous rank: 23
Defeated Huss 53-6; next at No. 21 Crest
24. Millbrook (5-0)
Previous rank: 24
Defeated Rolesville 28-7; next vs. Leesville Road
25. Kings Mountain (4-1)
Previous rank: 25
Idle; next vs. North Gaston

Mike Duprez became a freelance sports journalist for Scorebooklive.com several months after retiring from the newspaper business. A native of Oakland, California, Duprez moved around as a child due to his father’s service in the United States Marine Corps. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1981. Duprez, who lives in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, had 30 years of experience in newspapers as well as other endeavors before retiring at the end of 2021. He covers stories in both North Carolina and South Carolina for Scorebooklive.com.