The Pennsylvania high school football has fully turned to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) playoffs as conference\/district championships have concluded. <\/p>\n
La Salle College<\/a>\u00a0had a couple weeks off after beating\u00a0St. Joseph\u2019s Prep School<\/a>\u00a0in the district tournament and looked like they hadn\u2019t missed a beat in a 31-16 win over\u00a0Imhotep Institute<\/a>\u00a0in the opening round of the PIAA postseason. Which other Pennsylvania high school football teams make the list in our latest set of Top 25 rankings as the postseason heads into the second round of play around the Keystone State?<\/p>\n The\u00a0Massey Ratings<\/a>, officially used during the BCS era, is a model that ranks sports teams by analyzing game outcomes, strength of schedule, and margin of victory.<\/p>\n Here is the latest Pennsylvania high school football Top 25 rankings, according to Massey as of Nov. 18.<\/p>\n 1. La Salle College Explorers (10-1)<\/p>\n The La Salle College Explorers (10-1) has effectively avenged a 2024 Class 6A state championship loss to\u00a0St. Joseph\u2019s Prep School<\/a>\u00a0by defeating the Hawks, 24-14, ending their 2025 season.<\/p>\n The Explorers has bounced back nicely after Sep. 26\u2019s loss to\u00a0Roman Catholic<\/a>, 39-36, now having won six games in a row after a 31-16 win over\u00a0Imhotep Institute<\/a>\u00a0in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs. <\/p>\n Senior quarterback\u00a0Gavin Sidwar<\/a>, a\u00a0Missouri<\/a>\u00a0commit, 20 of 34 for 324 yards and four touchdowns in a 31-20 win over No. 4 St. Joseph\u2019s Prep School back on Oct. 4.<\/p>\n Next up for the Explorers is a home matchup against Easton Area<\/a> (13-0) in the second round. <\/p>\n 2. Central Catholic Vikings (12-1)<\/p>\n Make it twelve-straight victories for the Vikings, with the team rolling to a 42-7 win over Vikings\u2019 sophomore quarterback\u00a0Owen Herrick<\/a>, who completed 124 of 222 passes for 1,984 yards and 16 touchdowns. Another player that has had a strong season for Central Catholic is junior running back Roman Thompson, who has rushed for 789 yards and 27 touchdowns.<\/p>\n Next up for Central Catholic in the postseason is a matchup with No. 13 State College Area<\/a>. <\/p>\n 3. Peters Township Indians (12-0)<\/p>\n The\u00a0Peters Township<\/a>\u00a0Indians (12-0) continued on their momentum from the regular season right into the PIAA Class 5A postseason as they are undefeated and averaging 34.6 points per game on offense.<\/p>\n The Indians feature multiple Division I recruits on the team, including seniors\u00a0Reston Lehman<\/a>\u00a0(Pittsburgh commit) and\u00a0Lucas Shanafelt<\/a>\u00a0(Stanford commit).<\/p>\n Peters Township started the 5A playoffs with No. 10 ranked\u00a0Upper Saint Clair<\/a>\u00a0(9-3), winning 31-6 in the opening round. On Saturday might be one of the best high school football games in the Northeast when Peters Township and Pine-Richland<\/a> square off. <\/p>\n 4. St. Joseph\u2019s Prep School Hawks (5-5)<\/p>\n The\u00a0St. Joseph\u2019s Prep School<\/a>\u00a0Hawks won\u2019t be repeating as Class 6A state champions as their season ended at the hands of\u00a0La Salle College<\/a>, 24-14.<\/p>\n Playing a national schedule certainly has impacted the overall win\/loss record for the team, but make no mistake that this is still one of Pennsylvania\u2019s top high school football teams.<\/p>\n St. Joseph\u2019s Prep (5-5) won the Class 6A state championship last year, but won\u2019t get a chance to repeat.<\/p>\n 5. Harrisburg Cougars (12-0)<\/p>\n Rounding out the Pennsylvania Top 5 of the rankings is Harrisburg<\/a>\u00a0Cougars (12-0), which is coming off an impressive 34-7 win over Manheim Township<\/a> in the first round of the 6A playoffs. <\/p>\n The Cougars\u2019 offense has been bolstered by the return of Penn State commitment Messiah Mickens<\/a>, who has rushed for 123 yards and two touchdowns in his last two games. <\/p>\n Next up for Harrisburg is a second round showdown with Central York<\/a> at home. <\/p>\n 6.\u00a0Malvern Prep<\/a> Friars (8-2) 11.\u00a0Avonworth<\/a>\u00a0Antelopes (12-0) 16.\u00a0Imani Christian Academy<\/a>\u00a0Saints (12-0) 21.\u00a0North Allegheny<\/a>\u00a0Tigers (8-4)
<\/a>North Allegheny<\/a> in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs.\u00a0Central Catholic<\/a>\u00a0(12-1) has been one of the state\u2019s hottest teams as they\u2019ve now won twelve consecutive wins since losing to\u00a0La Salle College<\/a>\u00a0at the beginning of the season.<\/p>\n
7.\u00a0Pine-Richland<\/a>\u00a0Rams (11-1)
8.\u00a0Bishop McDevitt<\/a>\u00a0Crusaders (10-2)
9.\u00a0Roman Catholic<\/a>\u00a0Cahillite (9-3)
10.\u00a0Easton Area<\/a>\u00a0Rovers (13-0)<\/p>\n
12.\u00a0Upper Saint Clair<\/a>\u00a0Panthers (9-4)
13.\u00a0State College Area<\/a>\u00a0Little Lions (10-2)
14.\u00a0Central York<\/a>\u00a0Panthers (11-1)
15.\u00a0Chester<\/a>\u00a0Clippers (11-0) <\/p>\n
17.\u00a0Episcopal Academy<\/a>\u00a0Churchmen (9-1)
18.\u00a0Northwestern Lehigh<\/a>\u00a0Tigers (12-0)
19.\u00a0Springfield<\/a>\u00a0Cougars (12-1)
20.\u00a0Pennridge<\/a>\u00a0Rams (12-1)<\/p>\n
22.\u00a0North Penn<\/a>\u00a0Knights (11-2)
23.\u00a0Moon Area<\/a>\u00a0Tigers (9-4)
24.\u00a0Twin Valley<\/a> Raiders (12-0)
25.\u00a0Hollidaysburg Area<\/a> Golden Tigers (13-0)<\/p>\n