Here are The Sporting News' CIF-Southern Section top 25 football team rankings for Week Six of the 2025 season (Sep. 29 - Oct. 5).
The rankings will be updated every week throughout the season.
PREVIOUS RANKINGS: Week One | Week Two | Week Three | Week Four | Week Five
1. St. John Bosco (5-0 – 1st last week)
Like half the rest of the teams in these rankings, St. John Bosco is coming off a bye week. It opens Trinity League play at JSerra, which enters on a three-game winning streak.
2. Mater Dei (3-1 – 2nd)
Bishop Gorman beat Santa Margarita 14-0 on Saturday, which was eight days after Mater Dei beat Bishop Gorman 27-24. With the Monarchs possessing a win over Bishop Gorman and Santa Margarita possessing a win over Centennial which beat Mater Dei, the Bishop Gorman-versus-Santa Margarita outcome was basically a wash for Mater Dei's stock, if not a slight boost. The Monarchs now head to Orange Lutheran, which just had a week off to think about the 41-9 demolition it suffered at the hands of Sierra Canyon.
3. Corona Centennial (4-1 – 3rd)
As usual, the big question entering league play for the Huskies is not whether or not they're the overwhelming favorite but simply if anyone has a nonzero chance of dethroning them. When you beat Mater Dei, your stock is probably in good shape late in the regular season even if your league experiences a bit of a down year.
4. Sierra Canyon (5-0 – 4th)
Similarly to Centennial, Sierra Canyon's league is having a relative down year but won't stop the Trailblazers from staying near the top of the rankings due to a win over a Trinity League power. The fact that Sierra Canyon not only beat Orange Lutheran but utterly destroyed the Lancers is enough to consider them a full-blown national title contender if they enter the postseason unbeaten.
5. Mission Viejo (5-1 – 6th)
Santa Margarita was unable to score one touchdown in a loss for the second time this season on Saturday when it lost 14-0 to Bishop Gorman. Granted that's Bishop Gorman, but given that Mission Viejo was the first team to shut down Santa Margarita like that, it only makes sense for Mission Viejo to jump back ahead of Santa Margarita despite its McCallie loss. Last week's 36-21 win over Chaparral, which they led 28-7 and 36-14, was another day at the office.
6. Santa Margarita (3-2 – 5th)
The blurb under Mission Viejo one spot above pretty much tells you everything you need to know for Santa Margarita this week. The Eagles have a chance for a meaningful win this week at Servite, a team that's generally given them fits in recent years but not in 2024 when Santa Margarita rolled to a 44-8 win.
7. Orange Lutheran (3-2 – 7th)
It might be the hardest three-game stretch in all of high school football this season: Sierra Canyon, bye week, Mater Dei, St. John Bosco. That's life in the Trinity League. Can Orange Lutheran show more resistance against Mater Dei than it did in Week Four against Sierra Canyon?
8. Servite (4-1 – 8th)
With half a season to prepare for Trinity League play behind them, it's time to see what the Friars are made of. With only a loss to Corona Centennial holding them down, a win against Santa Margarita would establish them not only as a Southern Section D2 championship threat but actually, more likely, as a projected Division 1 selection as well. If Servite is unable to pull the upset, it wouldn't fall in the rankings unless Santa Margarita won by a huge margin, but it would be a deflating end to Servite's four-game winning streak.
9. Los Alamitos (6-0 – 9th)
For one last week, Los Alamitos stands alone with the best record in California high school football, which its had since coming from behind to beat Inglewood 20-12 in Week Double Zero. But on Friday, its run as the clear-cut top team in the standings will end. Does that mean we're guaranteeing a Los Al loss? Nope – it's time for the Griffins' bye week, and they'll still be tied atop the standings after a small handful of teams that are currently 6-0 get a chance to catch up.
10. Serra-Gardena (3-2 – 10th)
The Cavaliers would've liked to come into Mission League play with a resume that, on paper, gives them a shot against Sierra Canyon. With Sierra Canyon being their first Mission League test, it's too late to build a full head of steam. But that doesn't mean Serra doesn't have another gear it can reach.
11. Damien (5-0 – 11th)
Like the teams in the Mission League and West Catholic a bit higher in the rankings, Damien too has what might be its league championship in its very first league game. It hosts Rancho Cucamonga on Friday and has to like its chances in one of the top games of the week.
12. JSerra (3-2 – 12th)
If there's any good news for JSerra this week, it's that it opens Trinity League play on a three-game winning streak with plenty of adversity already under its belt. It's hard not to count the Lions out on Friday against the consensus No. 1 team in the country, St. John Bosco, but remember when they unexpectedly gave Mater Dei a run for its money to open Trinity League play in 2022?
13. Murrieta Valley (4-1 – 14th)
The Nighthawks are likely to open Big West - Upper play in style this week at Norco, but at 5-0, Norco is too good for them to overlook. Last week's 26-14 win over San Clemente showed that Murrieta Valley can grind out low-scoring wins even on nights when its offense is functioning but not scintillating.
14. San Juan Hills (4-1 – 13th)
For the second year in a row, San Juan Hills enters Bravo League play with four in-state wins, one loss to out-of-state competition, and Corona del Mar and Yorba Linda up first. In last year's league race, the Stallions were home free and CIF-SS D2-bound after outlasting CdM 31-28 and Yorba Linda 26-16.
15. Crean Lutheran (5-0 – Bubble)
For what we believe to be the first time in the program's history, Crean Lutheran is ranked top-25 in California and top-15 in the Southern Section. The Saints haven't played any state-ranked foes, but they've manhandled some very good competition. Week Four's 38-14 rout of La Serna, which is now fresh off an upset of Edison (Huntington Beach), adds to a list of lopsided wins that also includes St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy and Capistrano Valley.
16. Leuzinger (3-1 – 15th)
After a 61-6 annihilation of Hawthorne, Leuzinger heads into what's probably its biggest game of the regular season – a game at Inglewood with a Bay League title on the line. Whomever wins isn't out of the woods, however, with Mira Costa and other dangerous teams coming up afterwards.
17. Long Beach Poly (3-2 – 16th)
Despite a tough offensive night, Long Beach Poly stayed unbeaten in Moore League play without too much of a problem by beating Lakewood 21-7. Poly pauses Moore League this week, however, to take a swing at an old rival in nationally-ranked Mission Viejo.
18. Tustin (3-2 – 17th)
It appears to be time for Tustin's second straight sweep of the Delta League, but some of its foes are too strong to count out. The Tillers begin the quest on Thursday at Cypress.
19. Vista Murrieta (5-0 – 19th)
Another week, another impressive win. The Broncos made quick work of a solid El Camino (Oceanside) team, winning 38-17 to follow up their wins against Bishop Amat and Beaumont. Vista Murrieta is now allowing just 15.6 PPG heading into its Big West - Upper opener at Chaparral, which should be one of the best games of the week.
20. Beaumont (4-1 – 21st)
After a bye week to regather itself, Beaumont looks to regain momentum heading into next week's matchup with Cajon, which will probably constitute the Citrus Belt League title game. Beaumont is the heavy favorite at home this week against Redlands.
21. Pacifica-Oxnard (5-0 – 22nd)
After last week's 42-14 win against Hamilton (Los Angeles), the Tritons' scoring average is "down" to 55 PPG. How ever will they live? Things will likely get much more interesting this week, however, as they begin Marmonte League play against Oaks Christian.
22. Yorba Linda (4-1 – 18th)
A 21-17 win over Edison carried substantial weight for Yorba Linda's stock for a few weeks, but the Mustangs' signature win is suddenly worth a bit less after Edison got upset by La Serna. With that said, the reigning Bravo League champions might only be getting ready to start showing us all what they can really do. Despite Newport Harbor and Tesoro having down years so far, sharing a league with San Juan Hills, Villa Park, and Corona del Mar is a surefire way to give yourself ample opportunity to leap in the rankings.
23. San Clemente (3-3 – 23rd)
A competitive 26-14 loss to No. 13 Murrieta Valley drops San Clemente down to .500, but it doesn't hurt its stock. This week, San Clemente heads to Nevada to play Coronado in practically its only game of the season that isn't against big-name competition.
24. Chaparral (2-3 – 24th)
Like San Clemente, Chaparral too doesn't drop despite a two-score loss after taking a shot at Mission Viejo. Chaparral didn't give Mission Viejo a close game but still managed not to get dismantled in a 36-21 defeat.
25. Downey (4-1 – 25th)
It's a down year for the Gateway League outside of Downey, so we are expecting the Vikings to roll without a lot of resistance. They kick off conference play this week at winless Mayfair.
ON THE BUBBLE:
Rancho Cucamonga, Oak Hills, Inglewood, Mira Costa, Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks), Bishop Amat, Valencia (Valencia), Norco
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