Massachusetts may have the deepest collection of contenders for the No. 1 position in the High School on SI New England High School Football Preseason Top 25, but the region is loaded with championship-caliber teams from all six states that could have a say in how the rankings shake out in 2026.
Xaverian Brothers has the strongest resume entering 2026, having captured three consecutive Massachusetts Division 1 championships. Catholic Memorial has been nearly as dominant in Division 2, while King Philip Regional and Scituate also enter the season with recent championship pedigree. But none of those teams can afford to overlook the challengers in these rankings coming from beyond the Bay State.
Connecticut’s New Canaan and Greenwich are the top teams with a chance of breaking the Massachusetts logjam near the top of these rankings, but teams from Rhode Island and New Hampshire could also have a say.
Some of those teams got under way last weekend, and No. 9 La Salle Academy (R.I.) made the biggest impression in a 35-7 rout of a North Kingstown squad that also made the cut here. New Hampshire’s defending Division I champs from Bedford also enter the season here at No. 10, and they looked strong in a 48-14 blowout of Nashua South.
There were several surprises, however, involving teams that received consideration here for the initial New England Top 25.. Rhode Island’s defending Division 1 champions from Bishop Hendricken lost a close call to New York’s Chaminade, 18-17, while New Hampshire’s defending Division I runner-up Pinkerton was blasted by Salem (N.H.). Maybe even more surprising than either of those results was the manner in which Vermont’s defending Division I champion Middlebury was manhandled in a 49-0 season-opening loss to Burr & Burton.
Bishop Hendricken still made the cut here and figures to be a force as always against its Little Rhody rivals, but the losses by Middlebury and Pinkerton ended up costing both schools a spot here as we roll out the initial edition of the High School On SI New England High School Football Top 25.
1. Xaverian Brothers (MA)
Record: 0-0
Last Week: Idle
The defending Massachusetts Division 1 champions are the best in New England, having won three straight state championships in the Bay State’s top division. That includes last fall’s 41-35 win over St. John’s Prep. There’s no reason to doubt the Hawks’ ability to make it four in a row in 2026, and they’ll kick off the season Friday night by hosting No. 16 Bishop Feehan.
2. Catholic Memorial (MA)
Record: 0-0
Last Week: Idle
Catholic Memorial is the two-time defending state champion in Massachusetts Division 2, where the Knights have won four titles in five years. Last year, it was a 41-14 rout over Bishop Feehan in the finale, and they remain among the favorites to win the title again. They’ll visit Andover Thursday night in Week 1.
3. New Canaan (CT)
Record: 0-0
Last Week: Idle
New Canaan has won four straight state championships in Connecticut, and even though the Rams compete in the state’s second-highest Class L division, nobody would dispute their supremacy among the Constitution State’s high school football programs. Until somebody proves otherwise, they are the team to beat in Connecticut, and they’ll open the season Thursday night at home against Trumbull.
4. St. John’s Prep (MA)
Record: 0-0
Last Week: Idle
If anybody can knock Xaverian Brothers off its perch atop the Massachusetts Division 1 ranks, it’s the boys from St. John’s Prep, who lost to their traditional Thanksgiving rivals twice in a span of 10 days last fall by a total of nine points. They lost the Thanksgiving week matchup, 21-18, before falling 41-35 in the title game nine days later. They did beat their nemesis as recently as 2024 in the Thanksgiving matchup, 23-6, and the Hawks remain the biggest obstacle in their path as pursue a state title in 2026. They open the season Friday on the road at No. 7 Central.
5. Greenwich (CT)
Record: 0-0
Last Week: Idle
Greenwich is the back-to-back defending Connecticut Class LL champion, and the Cardinals figure to be in the mix again after blowing out Southington, 45-6, in last year’s title tilt. They get under way Thursday night at home versus Bridgeport Central.
6. King Philip Regional (MA)
Record: 0-0
Last Week: Idle
King Philip Regional won its second Massachusetts Division 3 state title in three years, defeating North Attleborough, 21-10, in last year’s championship contest. The Warriors have won 38 of their past 39 games, and they’ll open the season Friday at Walpole.
7. Central (MA)
Record: 0-0
Last Week: Idle
Central accounted for one of Xaverian Brothers’ two losses a year ago, and the Eagles entered the postseason with only a one-point loss in the 2025 season opener to the eventual Division 1 runner-up St. John’s Prep in a 36-35 shootout. Unfortunately, the route to a state title ran through Xaverian Brothers again in the Division 1 semifinals, where Central lost 36-22 to the eventual champs. They have a tough test right out of the gate Friday night hosting No. 4 St. John’s Prep.
8. Central Catholic (MA)
Record: 0-0
Last Week: Idle
Central Catholic was responsible for the other loss to Xaverian Brothers, defeating the Hawks, 28-27, in early October. Unfortunately for the Raiders, they had a much more difficult time against St. John’s Prep in 2025, losing to the Eagles 47-21 in the regular season before falling even harder in the Division 1 semifinals in a 48-7 loss to their nemesis. They’ll open the season Friday at home against Boston College High.
9. La Salle Academy (RI)
Record: 1-0
Last Week: La Salle Academy 35, North Kingstown 7
Speaking of La Salle Academy, the Rams enter 2026 having lost to Bishop Hendricken in each of the past two state title games. The Rams haven’t won a championship, in fact, since claiming the 2022 title with a 38-29 win over, you guessed it, those same pesky Hawks. But at least for now, they check in at No. 9 after blowing out North Kingstown, 35-7, to kick off the season while Hendricken suffered that tough loss to Chaminade. That may not matter down the road when they meet head-to-head, but for now, it’s the different between an undefeated La Salle Academy squad and a Bishop Hendricken team that already has a blemish on its record.
10. Bedford (NH)
Record: 1-0
Last Week: Bedford 48, Nashua South 14
Bedford enters the season as the top-ranked team from New Hampshire, and the Granite State kingpins have actually won three of the past four Division 1 titles. Last year, they picked up the trophy after thrashing Pinkerton in the finale, 35-7, and after a 48-14 win over Nashua South last weekend, they’ve now won 37 out of their last 38 games.
11. Bishop Hendricken (RI)
Record: 0-1
Last Week: Chaminade (N,Y.) 18, Bishop Hendricken 17
The top team in Rhode Island checks in here at No. 9 after winning the Ocean State’s Division 1 title a year ago. The Hawks did it by avenging a 21-20 regular-season loss to La Salle Academy, winning 13-3 in the state championship game rematch. The win allowed Hendricken to complete the three-peat for its third straight title. As noted above, they lost to Chaminade, 18-17, last weekend to kick off the 2026 season, but the Hawks still figure to be one of the best teams in the New England region.
12. Scituate (MA)
Record: 0-0
Last Week: Idle
The two-time reigning Massachusetts Division 4 champions from Scituate survived a 42-41 shootout against Tewksbury Memorial to defend their 2024 title. The Sailors figure to be in the thick of the title chase again this fall. Scituate will host Duxbury Friday night to kick off the season.
13. Cheshire (CT)
Record: 0-0
Last Week: Idle
Cheshire finished as the runner-up to New Canaan in Connecticut’s Class L ranks after losing 34-13 in a battle between two schools nicknamed the Rams. But for these Rams, it was still a giant leap forward for a program that finished 5-5 in 2024. They’ll be hard-pressed to get past New Canaan, but that’s likely what it will take to win a title this fall. The Rams will open the season Friday at West Haven.
14. Tewksbury Memorial (MA)
Record: 0-0
Last Week: Idle
Tewksbury Memorial spent a long time pondering all the “what-ifs” in a season that ended on the short end of a wild 42-41 shootout against Scituate. Even worse, the loss was the Redmen’s first of the season, and it came in the state championship game. That’s the kind of loss that can be a motivator, however, and if the Redmen can build on the foundation they established last year, there’s a chance they could be good enough to earn a chance at redemption. They’ll start that journey Friday night at Foxborough.
15. Southington (CT)
Record: 0-0
Last Week: Idle
Connecticut’s Class LL runner-up lost to Greenwich, 45-6, in the state championship game, and that means the Blue Knights have to find a way to close that gap in 2026, as the road to a title could run through Greenwich again. Southington hosts Bristol Central Thursday night.
16. Bishop Feehan (MA)
Record: 0-0
Last Week: Idle
Bishop Feehan was blown out 41-14 by Catholic Memorial in the Massachusetts Division 2 state championship game, and the Shamrocks will get a quick progress report on where they stand early in 2026, opening at defending Division 1 champion Xaverian Brothers on Sept. 11.
17. St. Joseph (CT)
Record: 0-0
Last Week: Idle
St. Joseph was a Class M semifinalist in Connecticut a year ago, losing a 6-3 defensive slugfest to Brookfield in a rematch of the 2024 state championship game. St. Joseph won a title in that previous game by virtue of a 21-20 win, and the question now is whether those two squads will meet to settle their differences for a third time in the postseason this fall. St. Joseph will visit Darien Thursday night.
18. Fairfield Prep (CT)
Record: 0-0
Last Week: Idle
Connecticut’s Fairfield Prep only lost three games in a 10-3 campaign a year ago, but two of those came to the Class LL champions from Greenwich. Both games ended in a similar fashion, with the Jesuits losing 31-14 early in the regular season before crashing out of the state semifinals in a 31-10 loss to the Cardinals. That’s an obstacle Fairfield will have to figure out if it wants to win a state title in Connecticut’s top division in 2026, and the Jesuits will take their first step toward that goal Friday night at Scranton Prep.
19. Thornton Academy (ME)
Record: 1-0
Last Week: Thornton Academy 56, Scarborough 0
Thornton Academy is always a threat to win a state championship, and the Trojans will go for their 10th Class A trophy in defense of the title they won last year in a 28-0 rout of Portland. That marked their third title since 2021, and a good measuring stick of where the Trojans stand will come on Sept. 19, when they host New Hampshire’s No. 1 Bedford — ranked No. 11 on this list. Thornton lost 26-14 in last year’s meeting between these two neighboring state frontrunners, but this time, the Trojans are the hosts.
20. North Kingstown (RI)
Record: 0-1
Last Week: La Salle Academy 35, North Kingstown 7
North Kingstown proved to be a handful for eventual Division 1 state champion Bishop Hendricken, losing a wild 38-34 affair in the semifinals. The Skippers should be among the teams capable of challenging the Hawks again in 2026.
21. Cranston West (RI)
Record: 1-0
Last Week: Cranston West 33, Coventry 6
The Division 1 semifinalists from Rhode Island’s Cranston West split two games with our preseason No. 10 La Salle Academy, but unfortunately, the Falcons lost the one that counted the most. After beating the Rams 19-14 to end the regular season, they came up short two weeks later in a 28-14 loss that sent La Salle to the state title game against Bishop Hendricken.
22. Phillips Exeter Academy (NH)
Record: 0-0
Last Week: Idle
Phillips Exeter Academy competes in the Northeast Prep league against other exclusive prep schools from Connecticut and Massachusetts, so you won’t see the Lions taking the field against any of the top public schools from New Hampshire. But this Granite State powerhouse is still acknowledged as one of the state’s top programs, with a history that dates back to 1878. They’re looking to bounce back from a 6-3 campaign that ended in a 44-42 loss to Choate Rosemary Hall in the NEPSAC Leon Modeste Bowl. The Lions will host St. Sebastian’s School Friday evening.
23. Salem (NH)
Record: 1-0
Last Week: Salem 28, Pinkerton 7
Salem lost to Pinkerton twice last year in a 33-19 setback in the regular season and a 33-13 loss in the playoffs. So, the Blue Devils’ big 28-7 win to open the season last weekend is a sign that maybe they’ve got a team that can make a run at the Division I title in the Granite State.
24. Bonny Eagle (ME)
Record: 1-0
Last Week: Bonny Eagle 14, South Portland 7
Maine’s Class A runner-up is one of the state’s undisputed powers, but Bonny Eagle has taken a backseat to its rivals from Thornton Academy, which has won three state titles in the post-COVID era. The Scots, meanwhile, haven’t added a state championship trophy to their case since 2019, the final season before COVID-19 wiped out the 2020 season in its entirety. They lost both meetings with Thornton Academy last year, including a 42-21 setback in the regular season before falling 40-28 in the Class A finale. In fact, they’ve lost seven straight to the Trojans, with their previous win against the Trojans coming during their 2019 title run — a 34-21 win in the state championship game that year. That’s the hurdle the Scots have to clear in 2026 to get back into the winner’s circle, and they cleared a big hurdle on opening night in a 14-7 win over South Portland.
25. Burr & Burton (VT)
Record: 0-0
Last Week: Burr & Burton 49, Middlebury 0
This spot would have gone to the defending Division I champions from Middlebury if not for a 49-0 loss to this Burr & Burton eleven on opening night. It was sweet revenge for these Bulldogs who lost to Middlebury twice a year ago, including a 27-7 defeat in the state semifinals.
Massachusetts may have the largest collection of teams in these rankings, but Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont all have programs capable of making noise here in New England’s preseason rankings. There are some worthy teams on the fringe, some of whom will almost certainly join this list when some of the frontrunners inevitably stumble. For now, though, these 25 teams represent the best of what New England has to offer.
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