Mater Dei's route is hardest but most-deserving path to 2025 TSN High School Football National Championship

Kendall Webb

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Mater Dei's route is hardest but most-deserving path to 2025 TSN High School Football National Championship image

© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Mater Dei (CA) kicks off the 2025 season on August 23 at St. Thomas Aquinas (FL) in pursuit of a third straight national championship.

The Mater Dei Monarchs debuted at the top of The Sporting News Preseason High School Football Top 25 earlier this week, and the 2025 edition of The Sporting News Roadmap to the National Championship will feature a route that runs through their Santa Ana, California, campus once again.

The Monarchs were the unanimous national champions a year ago when all the major selectors picked the red royals as the country's top high school football outfit. The previous year, Mater Dei was also the consensus national champion with four votes to two for the Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, NV) Gaels. The DeSoto (TX) Eagles also earned a share of the 2023 title after finishing atop the Massey Ratings. All three of those national stalwarts are in our 2025 preseason rankings.

The Monarchs will try for a third straight title against a brutal schedule that is the nation's hardest slate with games against the No. 6 St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, FL) Raiders, No. 11 Centennial (Corona, CA) Huskies, No. 2 Bishop Gorman Gaels, No. 16 Orange (CA) Lutheran Lancers, and No. 2 St. John Bosco (Bellflower, CA) Braves. But it is also the most-deserving measure of any team's worthiness for the title of national champion, and it belongs to Mater Dei if they emerge from that gauntlet unscathed.

It will be another week before the Monarchs walk down the red carpet to make their 2025 debut, but the national high school football season kicked off last weekend in Hawaii. We move into second gear this weekend with several other states joining the fray.

Georgia had about 20 teams in action last night including two teams squaring off in The Sporting News High School Football Game of the Week. The TSN No. 12 Buford Wolves knocked off our No. 14 Milton Eagles, 20-13, in a scrappy but messy duel in Buford's new $62 million football palace. There was at least one game in both Nevada and Utah as well.

Finally, there's action late tonight up on the Last Frontier in Alaska as the prep season there kicks off with a full slate of games on tap.

 

 

Major states like California, Florida, and Texas are still yet to come, but with just a week until Mater Dei's trip to the Sunshine State to take on St. Thomas Aquinas, it's a good time to look at our national championship roadmap. While a loss might not definitively eliminate a top-ranked program like Mater Dei or Bishop Gorman, there's no doubt it will make the national title mountain harder to climb. And, the reality is, for most programs, even in our list of elite teams, a loss is disqualifying.

That starts with those No. 14 Milton Eagles who entered last night's contest riding a 25-game win streak – the 22nd-longest streak in the country. The Eagles also held back-to-back Georgia GHSA state championships in hand at the Class 7A and 5A levels. While the Eagles' loss to Buford stings, they are still very much a threat to make a run at a third straight title in the Peach State's Class 5A ranks. Their hopes of climbing from that No. 14 spot into the national championship conversation, however, were dealt a death blow right out of the gate.

The Sporting News Roadmap to the National Championship

Milton will drop in the rankings this coming week, and we'll sort that out after all the results are in this weekend with the next edition of our Top 25 coming out Tuesday morning. In the meantime, we pulled together a list of all the games featuring head-to-head matchups between our ranked teams this season. Most of these games will also serve as eliminators with the losing teams, for the most part, exiting the national title conversation.

A handful of teams at the bottom of our preseason list don't have any games against other Top 25 teams in our rankings. The No. 23 Mission Viejo (CA) Diablos, No. 24 Southlake (TX) Carroll Dragons, and No. 25 Corner Canyon (Draper, UT) Chargers will all have to do their work against regular season schedules that don't provide as many high-profile opportunities as the teams above them. That, of course, will change for teams in the California, Florida, Georgia, and Texas playoffs as their postseason resumes are built, but that will only matter if those teams make it through the regular season unblemished.

This list is also fluid. It will change from week-to-week as new teams enter the Top 25 and others drop out. We will update it every week with the hope of providing a clearer idea of where things stand heading into each weekend. And we will highlight the games on that week's schedule that could affect the national championship picture.

Of course, there are other games involving highly-regarded but unranked teams that could "muddy up" that picture. And we'll also try to identify those teams trying to play spoiler in our weekly list of "trap" games that provide the best potential for upsets. After all the week's results are in, they will be moved to the bottom of each subsequent edition of our roadmap. By season's end, those results will provide the full story of how we got to where we are on any given week.

The preseason roadmap to the national title

Buford's big win over Milton last night was the first meeting between ranked teams in 2025, and it remains to be seen how far the Eagles will drop. Meanwhile, our preseason No. 5 IMG Academy (Bradenton, FL) Ascenders blew out The First Academy (Orlando, FL) Royals on the road in a 41-7 rout in what was a potential trap game. First Academy was 9-1 last year before being forced to forfeit all their games by Florida's FHSAA due to rules violations. An unknown commodity of sorts, they came up flat against the Sunshine State kingpins from Florida's Gulf Coast.

 

 

Road to the National Championship: National Week 1

High school football start dates vary across the country and, sometimes, even within a single state that may have separate independent associations.

Hawaii generally kicks off the national season on the second weekend in August, one week before any other state, although it's always possible that an independent program like an IMG Academy or St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, MD) could schedule an early game. For our purposes, Hawaii's opening weekend is akin to major college football's Week Zero in late August with the start of the high school grid season in Alaska, Georgia, Nevada, and Utah representing the true start to the national schedule; we've designated that as National Week 1 in our roadmap.

NATIONAL WEEK 1

The Sporting News National High School Football Game of the Week

Thu, 8/14/25 — No. 12 Buford (GA) Wolves 20, No. 14 Milton (GA) Eagles 13

Other Games featuring Top 25 Teams

UNR - UNRANKED

Thu, 8/14/25 — No. 5 IMG Academy (Bradenton, FL) Ascenders 41, UNR The First Academy (Orlando, FL) 7

Upcoming National Week 1 Games

7 p.m. local EST — UNR Clarkson Football North (Canada) at No. 4 St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, MD) Panthers

Trap Games

7:30 p.m. EST — No. 8 Grayson (Loganville, GA) Rams at UNR Collins Hill (Suwanee) Eagles

7 p.m. local MST/9 p.m. EST — UNR Bingham (South Jordan, UT) Miners at No. 25 Corner Canyon (Draper, UT) Chargers

 

 

The Future Roadmap to the National Championship

This future roadmap is updated weekly, depending on results in previous games. As teams fall out of the Top 25, their games here will be deleted (although they may resurface in our weekly trap games). As new teams enter the Top 25, any matchups against other Top 25 teams will be added.

NATIONAL WEEK 2

The Sporting News High School Football Game of the Week

Sat, 8/23/25 — No. 1 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, CA) Monarchs at No. 6 St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, FL) Raiders

Other National Championship Roadmap Games

Fri, 8/22/25 — No. 21 St. Joseph’s Prep (Philadelphia, PA) Hawks at No. 9 American Heritage (Plantation, FL) Patriots
Sat, 8/23/25 — No. 10 Chaminade-Madonna (Hollywood, FL) Lions vs. No. 4 St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, MD) Panthers
Sat, 8/23/25 — No. 16 Orange (CA) Lutheran Lancers at No. 15 Northwestern (Miami, FL) Bulls

All of these games are season openers for both teams except for No. 4 St. Frances Academy

NATIONAL WEEK 3

Thu, 8/28/25 — No. 20 Bergen Catholic (Oradell, NJ) Crusaders at No. 19 East St. Louis (IL) Flyers

This is the season opener for both teams.

Fri, 8/29/25 — No. 17 Thompson (Alabaster, AL) Warriors at No. 8 Grayson (Loganville, GA) Rams

NATIONAL WEEK 4

Fri, 9/5/25 — No. 4 St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, MD) Panthers at No. 3 St. John Bosco (Bellflower, CA) Braves
Fri, 9/5/25 — No. 18 DeSoto (TX) Eagles at No. 13 North Crowley (TX) Panthers
Fri, 9/5/25 — No. 10 Chaminade-Madonna (Hollywood, FL) Lions at No. 9 American Heritage (Plantation, FL) Patriots

NATIONAL WEEK 5

Fri, 9/12/25 — No. 1 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, CA) Monarchs at No. 11 Centennial (Corona, CA) Huskies
Fri, 9/12/25 — No. 19 East St. Louis (IL) at No. 2 Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, NV)
Fri, 9/12/25 — No. 9 American Heritage (Plantation, FL) Patriots at No. 22 Edna Karr (New Orleans, LA) Cougars
Sat, 9/13/25 — No. 4 St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, MD) Panthers at No. 21 St. Joseph’s Prep (Philadelphia, PA) Hawks

NATIONAL WEEK 6

Fri, 9/19/25 — No. 1 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, CA) Monarchs at No. 2 Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, NV) Gaels

NATIONAL WEEK 7

Fri, 10/3/25 — No. 1 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, CA) Monarchs at Orange (CA) Lutheran Lancers

NATIONAL WEEK 8

There are currently no games involving Top 25 teams scheduled for National Week 8.

NATIONAL WEEK 9

Fri, 10/10/25 — No. 18 DeSoto (TX) Eagles at No. 7 Duncanville (TX) Panthers
Fri, 10/10/25 — No. 16 Orange (CA) Lutheran Lancers at No. 3 St. John Bosco (Bellflower, CA) Braves

NATIONAL WEEK 10

There are currently no games involving Top 25 teams scheduled for National Week 10.

NATIONAL WEEK 11

Fri, 10/24/25 — No. 6 St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, FL) Raiders at No. 9 American Heritage (Plantation, FL) Patriots
Sat, 10/25/25 — No. 19 East St. Louis (IL) Flyers at No. 5 IMG Academy (Bradenton, FL) Ascenders

NATIONAL WEEK 12

Fri, 10/31/25 — No. 1 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, CA) Monarchs at No. 3 St. John Bosco (Bellflower, CA) Braves
Fri, 10/31/25 — No. 10 Chaminade-Madonna (Hollywood, FL) Lions at No. 6 St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) Raiders

NATIONAL WEEK 13

Fri, 11/7/25 — No. 4 St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, MD) Panthers at No. 5 IMG Academy (FL) Ascenders

 

Previous Roadmap to the National Championship Results

NATIONAL WEEK ZERO: Kahuku, Hawaii

Both of these teams were unranked, but as our national game of the week, it was still a stop on our 2025 Roadmap to the National Championship. Kahuku also had an opportunity to get into the national title conversation with games later in the season against the No. 1 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, CA) Monarchs and the No. 2 Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, NV) Gaels. The loss to Saint Louis in shutout fashion ended those faint dreams, but if the Red Raiders somehow managed to win those games down the road, they'd still be in the Top 25 conversation.

The Sporting News High School Football Game of the Week

Sat, 8/9/25 — UNR Saint Louis (Honolulu, HI) Crusaders 20, Kahuku (HI) Red Raiders 0

MORE HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL HEADLINES

Kendall Webb

Kendall Webb is a freelance writer with The Sporting News and the former publisher of the College Football America Yearbook. He is a proud alumnus of Kilgore College (AA), the University of Texas at Austin (BJ), Middle Tennessee State University (BS), and Harvard University (ALM). Webb has attended a high school or college football game in more than 40 states during his career as a freelance journalist, and he remains an avid follower of team sports at all levels.