40 Of The Best High School Football Teams On Record

There may not be much (or indeed any) footage of the 1940 Massillon team available, but sometimes the numbers are all you need. The team went 10-and-0 for the season, racking up an incredible 477 points along the way. But the team’s defense was legendary, giving up only six points in total across the entire season. It’s difficult to believe. Six! And no wonder all 22 starting players were picked all-state that season. Incredible stuff, and well deserving of a place on this list.

Way back in 1956 a high school team from Abilene defeated all-comers in going 14-and-0. But the truth was that season came in the middle of an incredible 49-game streak of wins for the Texans. With numbers like that it’s no surprise that newspaper the Dallas Morning News dubbed Abilene the ‘Team of the Century’ in 1999. It’s difficult to argue.

Portland’s Jefferson High School went 12-0 in 1958 under coach Tom DeSylvia. The team secured the state title for the second season in a row in the process. But what stands this team out from the rest was the quality of its backfield. Quarterback Terry Baker went on to claim the Heisman Memorial Trophy – awarded annually to college football’s leading light – while tailback Mel Renfro later became an NFL Hall of Fame member. Renfro’s younger brother Raye was also a standout at either flanker or fullback. Was this the best backfield line-up ever to grace a high school football field? You decide.

Florida has always been a hotbed of football talent. But the story of the 1967 Coral Gables team is about far more than just sport. The school integrated that year. Legendary coach Nick Kotys was one of those who stood at the school gates to get the students in. He subsequently named one of those students – Craig Curry – as his starting quarterback, and Curry delivered a state a national title. The Florida High School Athletic Association subsequently named that outfit the state’s ‘Team of the Century’ in 2007.

You couldn’t have this list without Valdosta. This Georgia school has produced no fewer than 23 state champion teams to date as well as six winners at national level, with the 1971 incarnation being as good, if not better, than any of them. The team’s numbers were great – they were national champions no less – but it is the background of the ’71 Wildcats that truly inspired. Newly integrated, the team uniquely named no fewer than six captains. Playing amid a background of turbulent times, this team just wouldn’t quit and went all the way under coach Wright Bazemore for a story that could – and perhaps should – have been a Hollywood movie.

The T.C. Williams high school team of 1971 may not boast a record to match many, if any, of the other teams on this list. But sometimes greatness cannot be measured simply by how many games you won. As anyone who has seen the Denzel Washington movie Remember the Titans can attest, this is a team that transcended its sport for reasons of social importance. It’s an incredible story, and one that makes the players and staff of the ’71 T.C. Williams team more than deserving of their place among the greats.

If you only allow 86 points across a whole season, you know you’re in for something special. That is exactly what Warner Robins did in 1976, securing an incredible eight shutouts in 13 games along the way. In fact, in three postseason games the team only allowed 7 points, making this national champion one of the best defensive teams of all time. Although having a running back in the shape of four-time Pro-Bowler James Brooks was pretty handy too.

Archbishop Moeller out of Cincinnati features regularly among the rankings for the top high school football teams, but the 1976 season began an unprecedented era of success for head coach Gerry Faust. This was the school’s first national title in a sequence of four in five years. Going 12-and-0, the team secured the state title for the second year in a row and quarterback Tim Koegel was voted Offensive Player of the Year in the state. Honors aplenty for a truly great high school team.

This was Archbishop Moeller High School’s and coach Gerry Faust’s fourth national title since 1976. Yet the 1980 team was arguably the best of the lot. A 34-7 demolition of Massillon in the state championship game proves how dominant this unit was. With a team this well coached, it’s no surprise that Faust left at the end of this successful campaign to become the top man at Notre Dame.

One player doesn’t make a team, but East St. Louis High School did have Bryan Cox. The linebacker won a Super Bowl with New England and made the All-Pro team no fewer than four times. Cox could well be the best defensive player in any of the teams on this list. Meanwhile 1985 was East St. Louis High’s third successive state title, and it claimed national honors too, so is well deserving of its place among the greats.

The Lions – the Jack Yates High School football team out of Houston, Texas – had a special season in 1985. The team went an incredible 16-and-0 and in doing so racked up 659 points in the process. No fewer than eight of the games saw the Lions shut out their opponents. In the state championship game against heavily fancied Odessa Permian – the defending champions – the Lions once again strangled on defense and ran out comfortable 37-0 winners. It’s little wonder the Texas media dubbed Yates the state ‘Team of the Decade’.

Georgia’s Valdosta is a legend of the high school football circuit. The 1986 team was a particularly fine vintage, as their 28-0 victory over Clarke Central in the state championship game will affirm. As well as in this year, coach Nick Hyder also led the team to national championship titles in 1984 and 1992, but this was arguably the best unit of the lot.

Harold Clark’s Vigor charges had won the state title the year before and managed to bring back its whole defensive unit from that campaign, in which they lost a solitary game. So it was no surprise when the team swept the board in ’88, securing shutouts in an incredible eight games. A source of Alabaman pride, this Vigor team is the only team from the state to have won the national championship since 1929.

Three future NFL players, an undefeated season featuring 14 wins and a daunting schedule makes the Carter team of 1988 a shoe-in in any conversation about the greatest high school football teams. Linebacker Jesse Armstead went on to feature in five NFL Pro Bowls and declared himself that the Carter defense, of which he was a lynchpin, was the “best ever in Texas high school and in the nation”. That’s a big statement, but it might just be true for a team that never gave up more than 24 points in any game.

In 1992 Berwick had one Ron Powlus pulling the strings at quarterback. The future Notre Dame player was a landslide winner of Player of the Year at national level after securing nearly 3,000 passing yards as the team won the national championships. No disrespect to any other member of that team, or highly-regarded head coach George Curry, but Powlus was regularly cited as being one of the most sought-after high school prospects in history at that time. One man doesn’t make a team, but Powlus was one helluva player.

Saint Ignatius coach Chuck Kyle won 11 state championship titles across his illustrious career. This particular success was the third in a streak of five and also marked another national title. The highlight of the season was undoubtedly the team’s win over rivals Saint Edward that preserved that unbeaten record, a game so tight it featured an incredible three overtimes. It was played in front of no fewer than 13,000 spectators too, which is pretty incredible for a high school game.

Cleveland’s Saint Ignatius is another school regularly mentioned in conversations surrounding the most prolific high school football academies. And in coach Chuck Kyle, the school had arguably the greatest high school coach of the lot. This year saw the team secure its fifth state title on the bounce and a second gong at national level. Four members of this team went on to the pro leagues too.

Virginia’s Hampton High School’s team went 14-0 in 1996 under the tutelage of legendary coach Mike Smith, arguably one of the greatest high school football coaches of all time. The star man on the field was Ronald Curry, who went on to represent North Carolina in both basketball and football, and then graced the NFL. Hampton’s points columns that year read 227 for and 47 against. Now that is dominance.

The 1997 Canton McKinley team is arguably the greatest to come out of the state of Ohio. Three members of the team made the NFL after attending Ohio State. But it was the team’s stellar 14-0 season under coach Thom McDaniels that sees the team deserving of a place among the great high school teams.

Due to the nature of high school rankings, the number one and number two teams in the nation very rarely meet. In fact, when second-ranked team De La Salle met top-of-the-list Long Beach Poly in 2001, it was the first time it had ever happened. De La Salle’s 29-15 win was the cherry on top of a 12-and-0 season that saw the team crowned national champions, the second in a streak of four for coach Bob Ladouceur. In fact, between 1994 and 2001, the school won 151 games in a row. Crazy numbers.

Southlake Carroll is a heavyweight in Texan high school football. This incarnation was the unit that won the first of three national titles for coach Todd Dodge and it’s usually a toss-up between this team and the 2006 outfit as to which was the greatest in the school’s history. This team, though, had quarterback Chase Daniel, who threw an incredible 68 touchdowns this year. You won’t be surprised to learn that he won the EA Sports National Player of the Year Award that very same season.

Bill Castle’s Lakeland went 15-and-0 in 2006 to claim the national title, the second year in succession the school had done so. It was also a third consecutive state championship win. The team had standout offensive lineman stars in twin brothers Maurkice and Mike Pouncey, along with Chris Rainey at running back, the last of whom rushed for an incredible 270 yards in the state championship win over St. Thomas Aquinas. That game saw Lakeland win 45-42 but only in the second period of overtime, making it one of the greatest high school matchups of all time.

A stellar 16-0 record from 2006 sees Texan school Southlake Carroll take their place on this list. It was also three national championship wins in a row for the school from Southlake under the astute guidance of Todd Dodge. With coach Dodge’s son Riley pulling the strings at quarterback, this team was unbeatable. And in a nice twist, young Dodge became the school’s football coach in 2018.

Starting the season as the number-one-ranked team in the country can be too much of a burden for many an outfit, but not for Miami’s Northwestern. Not only did the side go through the season undefeated, but that run included a visit to the number-two-ranked Southlake Carroll. A 29-21 win for the visitors in just their third game was a catalyst for the rest of the season. The team secured five shutouts to boot, showcasing the team’s defensive steel.

Cincinnati in particular and Ohio in general are powerhouses of high school football. If you are the top team in Ohio, you are usually in with a shout for the national title, and so it proved for St. Xavier High School in 2007. That year the team went 15-and-0 and secured the state championship for only the second time in the school’s history. Tight end Greg Scuggs went on to win two Super Bowls, emphasizing the quality of player available to the Bombers that year.

St. Thomas Aquinas is a big dog in high school football. But even by this establishment’s standards, 2008 was a stellar campaign. It ended with the team topping no fewer than four polls for national champions at the end of the season. Central to the team’s success was running back pair Giovani Bernard and James White, the latter of whom would win three Super Bowls with the New England Patriots.

It was a clean sweep in the national polls for the 2009 Don Bosco team that went 12-and-0 under coach Greg Toal. Okay, sure, the Ironmen got a little help when the number-one-ranked team for much of the season, St. Thomas Aquinas, were upset by Manatee, but the boys from Don Bosco had put themselves firmly in the frame. Standout wins against De La Salle and at Prattville saw the New Jersey team more than deserving of its national title.

Coach Lance Pogue took his charges to 15 wins without defeat in the 2010 season. Yet much of the team’s success was courtesy of its outstanding defense, as well as one Qyen Griffin at running back. The team only conceded more than 13 points in a single game, while Griffin rushed for 37 touchdowns, securing 2,670 years along the way. Magical numbers, and yet not one player from that team went on to grace the NFL.

When your high school team has seven players who will go on to grace the professional leagues, you know you’ve got something special. And when your school is an established high school football powerhouse, success is expected. That said, Fort Lauderdale’s St. Thomas Aquinas High School still did something special in 2010 with star players Phillip Dorsett and Joey Bosa giving opponents nightmares in an outstanding national-championship-winning 15-and-0 season.

Don Bosco Preparatory High School’s 2011 team went 11-0 under coach Greg Toal in what was their second national title in just three short years. It was a tough schedule for the team too, but Bosco boasted no fewer than 12 players who would go on to grace fields at Division 1 level. Don Bosco Prep also boasted one Jabrill Peppers at free safety – a player who is now in the NFL with the New York Giants.

The only football team from Louisiana on this list, the boys of John Curtis Christian High School secured a memorable 14-0 season in 2012 under the astute leadership of J.T. Curtis. Some may remark that the school had a relatively friendly schedule that year, but the team was also playing against the weight of expectation in what was the school’s 50th anniversary and a bid for a 25th state championship. Confidently secured, the team were then subsequently voted as national champions.

Florida is such a hotbed of football talent and the 2013 Booker T. Washington side just proves the point. The team went 14-0 in what is widely acknowledged as being one of the most difficult schedules in high school football history. The 2013 team defeated no fewer than three state champions on its way to the national championship. Three players, unsurprisingly, later made it all the way to the NFL draft.

It’s little surprise that the bulk of Allen’s team went on to make waves at college. The team had no fewer than 18 prospects for Division 1 and were particularly fierce in offense, not being held to fewer than 31 points in any of its 16 games – all won, obviously. Led by star quarterback Kyler Murray, the team secured notable wins over the likes of Carroll and Cedar Hill. In truth, most of Allen’s games this year weren’t even close.

The Bishop Gorman team of 2014 started a streak of three consecutive national championships for the Las Vegas school, which is some feat. The 2014 incarnation went 15-and-0 under coach Tony Sanchez as the number-one-ranked team that season. Along the way the unit defeated the number-two-ranked St. John Bosco, while in the process racked up a sixth straight state title. This Bishop Gorman team is another among those to be considered the greatest high school football team of all time.

Katy High School went 16-and-0 in their memorable 2015 season which saw the school claim the only national title in its history. The bedrock of the team’s success was its defense: ten shutouts across the season tells the story. In fact, the team only conceded 62 points all campaign, making Katy’s 2015 defensive unit one of the greatest in high school history.

The 2016 Bishop Gorman team playing out of Las Vegas may just about lay claim to being the greatest high school team in U.S. football history. Why? Well, as well as the caliber of players this team could boast, it was also the caliber of opposition that it overcame to go 15-and-0 to become national champions. Cedar Hill, Coca and St. Thomas Aquinas were all vanquished in what was arguably the toughest schedule of any team with a perfect record in high school football history.

Sweeping all of the polls at national level for team of the year is always a strong claim for inclusion on this list, and so it is with the 2017 Mater Dei team out of Santa Ana. The school were national champions the following year too, but the 2017 team defeated no fewer than ten teams who were ranked at that time in the national top 100 teams. One of those victories was over 2016 national winners Bishop Gorman. This team was truly a champion of champions.

Newspaper USA Today may have given its number-one ranking to Mater Dei, but North Shore from Houston have every reason to feel they were the team of 2018. Unlike Mater Dei, North Shore went through the season undefeated and were declared national champions in two other polls. And then there was the team’s state championship game. A Hail Mary pass saw North Shore defeat the number-three-ranked Duncanville in the very last second. That play will surely be remembered as one of the most dramatic ever seen on a football field at any level.

St. Thomas Aquinas may have gone the season 15-and-0, but St. John Bosco’s 2019 season saw the school voted national champions in no fewer than five polls. A major reason for that was the team’s stunning state championship win over De La Salle. Led by quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei, the Braves ran out 49-28 winners over their much-vaunted rivals.

IMG Academy is a private boarding school in Florida that originally grew out of the famed Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy. In 2010 the school added the John Madden Football Academy and has since become a regular inclusion in national top-ten rankings. But the 2020 season was the peak of IMG’s football success so far with an 8-and-0 record, seeing the team named national champions for the first time.