Mater Dei (CA) Survives in 3 OT Battle With Carson on ESPN 2

By Jeff Fisher
The High School Football Huddle


It took three overtimes, but 2007 Gatorade National Player of the Year Matt Barkley and his Mater Dei (Santa Ana, CA) teammates were finally able to shake Carson 46-43 in a game that was nationally televised on ESPN 2 Wednesday night.

Barkley, who looked good-and-bad at times, tossed six touchdown passes to go along with four interceptions, including one in the second scoreless overtime for the Monarchs, who entered the game ranked #29 in the ESPN Rise Fab 50. Barkley, who has verbally committed to USC, ended the game 15-of-31 for 301 yards. His top receiver was senior Ario Winston who caught six balls for 143 yards and three touchdowns.

To read more from the Orange County Register, click here.

Lastest ESPN Rise Fab 50 High School Football Rankings

By Jeff Fisher
The High School Football Huddle

The top seven teams held firm in the first regular season ESPN Rise Fab 50 high school football rankings, while six teams fell-out of the poll.

Trinity (Euless, TX) held on to its #1 pre-season poll ranking with a solid 28-12 win over former #23 John Curtis (River Ridge, LA) Sunday in the Kirk Herbstreit Varsity Football Series. Trinity collected all five first-place votes.

The biggest mover in Week 1 is Glenville (Cleveland, OH), which jumps 30 spots from #48 to #18 after season opening wins over former #17 St. Ignatius (Cleveland, OH) and 2007 Pennsylvania Class AAA champ Thomas Jefferson. Another Ohio team, Cincinnati Colerain announced its entrance into the Fab 50 in a big way. The formerly unranked Cardinals enter the poll at #26 after wins over former #9 St. Xavier (Cincinnati, OH) and western Pennsylvania power McKeesport.

The highest rank team to fall out of the poll was former #27 Joliet Catholic (Chicago, IL)

Here's the Fab 50... with 2008 records, number of votes and previous rankings.

1 Trinity (Euless, Texas) 1-0 250 pts, 5 First-Place Votes 1
2 Lowndes (Valdosta, Ga.) 1-0 245 pts 2
3 De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) 0-0 240 pts 3
4 St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) 1-0 235 pts 4
5 Jenks (Jenks, Okla.) 0-0 230 pts 5
6 Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.) 0-0 225 pts 6
7 Gateway (Monroeville, Pa.) 1-0 220 pts 7
8 Byrnes (Duncan, S.C.) 1-0 213 pts 10
9 Poly (Long Beach, Calif.) 1-0 210 pts 11
10 Rockhurst (Kansas City, Mo.) 1-0 201 pts 13
11 Armwood (Seffner, Fla.) 1-0 197 pts* 14
12 Deerfield Beach (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) 0-0 197 pts* 9
13 Lutheran (Orange, Calif.) 0-0 186 pts 14
14 Oscar Smith (Chesapeake, Va.) 1-0 180 pts 16
15 Lake Travis (Austin, Texas) 1-0 176 pts 12
16 Plano (Plano, Texas) 1-0 171 pts 18
17 St. Xavier (Louisville, Ky.) 1-0 169 pts 17
18 Glenville (Cleveland, Ohio) 2-0 162 pts* 48
19 Plant (Tampa, Fla.) 1-0 162 pts* 20
20 Lakeland (Lakeland, Fla.) 1-0 158 pts 28
21 Camden County (Kingsland, Ga.) 1-0 151 pts* 21
22 Carmel (Carmel, Ind.) 2-0 151 pts* 22
23 South Panola (Batesville, Miss.) 1-0 139 pts 25
24 Skyline (Sammamish, Wash.) 0-0 138 pts 24
25 Southlake Carroll (Southlake, Texas) 1-0 130 pts 30
26 Colerain (Cincinnati, Ohio) 2-0 126 pts NR
27 Maryville (Maryville, Tenn.) 2-0 112 pts 29
28 St. Xavier (Cincinnati, Ohio) 1-1 108 pts 9
29 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) 0-0 105 pts 32
30 Arrowhead (Hartland, Wis.) 1-0 102 pts 31
31 Union (Tulsa, Okla.) 0-0 100 pts 33
32 St. Joseph's Prep (Philadelphia, Pa.) 1-0 95 pts 34
33 Bellarmine Prep (San Jose, Calif.) 0-0 89 pts 35
34 Mt. Carmel (Chicago, Ill.) 1-0 85 pts NR
35 St. Ignatius (Cleveland, Ohio) 1-1 81 pts 17
36 Phoebus (Hampton, Va.) 1-0 74 pts 37
37 Quince Orchard (Gaithersburg, Md.) 0-0 69 pts* 36
38 Bastrop (Bastrop, La.) 0-0 69 pts* 38
39 North Shore (Houston, Texas) 1-0 51 pts NR
40 Bear Creek (Lakewood, Colo.) 1-0 50 pts 41
41 Prattville (Prattville, Ala.) 0-1 47 pts* 26
42 DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) 0-0 47 pts* 42
43 Permian (Odessa, Texas) 1-0 41 pts 44
44 Desert Vista (Phoenix, Ariz.) 0-0 35 pts 46
45 Northside (Warner Robins, Ga.) 1-0 33 pts 47
46 John Curtis (River Ridge, La.) 0-1 19 pts 23
47 Centennial (Corona, Calif.) 0-0 16 pts* NR
48 Olive Branch (Olive Branch, Miss.) 1-0 16 pts* NR
49 Sheldon (Eugene, Ore.) 1-0 15 pts* 50
50 Hamilton (Chandler, Ariz.) 1-0 15 pts* NR

*Ties in points are broken according to which team was ranked higher by a majority of panelists.

Also Receiving Votes: Abilene (Abilene, Texas) 1-0, Cretin-Derham Hall (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1-0, Hutchinson (Hutchinson, Kansas) 0-0, Katy (Katy, Texas) 0-1, Madison County (Madison, Fla.) 0-0, Miami Northwestern (Miami, Fla.) 0-1, Stone Bridge (Ashburn, Va.) 1-0.

Dropped Out: Previous No. 27 Joliet Catholic (Joliet, Ill.); No. 39 Miami Northwestern (Miami, Fla.); No. 40 Katy (Katy, Texas); No. 43 Pahokee (Pahokee, Fla.); No. 45 East St. Louis (East St. Louis, Ill.); No. 49 Blue Springs South (Blue Springs, Mo.).

#2 Trinity (TX) Takes Down John Curtis (LA)

By Jeff Fisher
The High School Football Huddle


Louisiana powerhouse John Curtis (River Ridge, LA) found out why Trinity of Euless, Texas is considered by many to be the #1 high school football team in America. Trinity (#2 USA Today Super 25 & #1 ESPNRise, PrepNation.com) beat the 22-time Louisiana state champs 28-12 at Texas Stadium in the Kirk Herbstreit Varsity Football Series.

For a game wrap story from the Dallas News, click here.

Click here to go to the Texas High School Football Huddle.

Officials Announce A New High School Football All-Star Game in Maryland

By Jeff Fisher
The High School Football Huddle


For the first time since 2004, there will be a statewide high school football all-star game in Maryland.

The Maryland Crab Bowl will be played December 20th at Johnny Unitas Stadium at Towson University. The game will feature the state's top 90 seniors from public and private schools being split into two teams..the Baltimore regional team and the Washington DC regional team.

The DC regional team, which will be coached by Quince Orachard head coach Dave Mencarini, will include players from Montgomery, Prince George's, Calvert, St. Mary's and Charles counties. Dunbar head coach Lawrence Smith will be the leader of the Baltimore team, which will be made-up of players from Anne Arundel, Howard, Baltimore, Frederick, Washington, Alleghany, Cecil, Harford, Carroll and Garrett counties.

Here are the players selected for the Baltimore team, the DC players will be announced later this week.


Player - High School
Justin Hymes - Allegany High School
Joe Petrides, - Archbishop Curley High School
Jacob Perry - Archbishop Curley High School
Eric Franklin - Archbishop Curley High School
Nick Whittles - Archbishop Spalding High School
Beau Haworth - Archbishop Spalding High School
Alec Lemon - Arundel High School
Stephen Jackson - Baltimore City College High
Arnold Farmer - Baltimore Polytechnic Institute
Darian Conners - Eastern Technical High School
Carroll Washington - Edmondson-Westside High School
David Mackall -Edmondson-Westside High School
Caleb Morris - Fort Hill High School
Carl Fleming - Franklin High School
Nick DePaola - Hereford High School
Leon Kinnard - Loyola Blakefield High School
Terence Garvin - Loyola Blakefield High School
Ryan Bonheyo - Maryland School For the Deaf
Renard Robinson- Mount Saint Joseph High School
Mike Kropkowski - North Harford High School
Micah Colston -Parkside High School
Tyler Jarmon - Parkside High School
Jonathan Perry - Paul Laurence Dunbar High School
Tavon Austin - Paul Laurence Dunbar High School
Sean Farr - Paul Laurence Dunbar High School
Courtney Bridget - Paul Laurence Dunbar High School
Tevin Brown - Paul Laurence Dunbar High School
Horace Miller - Paul Laurence Dunbar High School
Dave Stinebaugh - Perry Hall High School
Mike Campanaro - River Hill High School
Sean Hull - River Hill High School
Leron Eaddy - River Hill High School
DJ Scott - Thomas Johnson High School
Dominic Clarke - Tuscarora High School
Lex Utt - Urbana High School
Chaz Cousin - Wilde Lake High School
Aaron Bailey - Long Reach High School
Malek Redd - River Hill High School
Jakari Jackson - Tuscarora High School

Click here to go to the Maryland Crab Bowl's official website.

Friends of Coal Classic High School Football Scoreboard

High School Football Scores
Monday, September 1, 2008

Glenville (OH) 34 Thomas Jefferson (PA) 13
Lakeland (FL) 35 Pittsburgh Central Catholic (PA) 0
Wheeling Central (WV) 35 Steubenville Catholic Central (OH) 0

Click here for Glenville/Thomas Jefferson game story from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Kirk Herbstreet Varsity Football Series Scoreboard

High School Football Scores
Monday, September 1, 2008

at Texas Stadium
Irving, TX

Colleyville Heritage (TX) 41 Clovis East (CA) 26
Trinity (TX) 28 John Curtis (LA) 12

Defending Pennsylvania State Champs Looking to Make Some Noise in Kickoff Classic Tripleheader

By Jeff Fisher
The High School Football Huddle


Pennsylvania's defending 4A and 3A state champs will find out how good their 2008 teams are Monday when they face national powers in the Friends of Coal Prep Classic in Wheeling, West Virginia.

4A champ Pittsburgh Central Catholic opens its regular season with two-time national champ Lakeland (FL), while 3A champ Thomas Jefferson faces nationally-ranked Glenville from Cleveland, Ohio. Glenville opened its season last week knocking off St. Ignatius (#16 USA Today Super 25).

In the nightcap of the tripleheader, four-time defending West Virginia Class A state champ Wheeling Central Catholic will played Steubenville Catholic Central (OH).

For a preview of the PCC/Lakeland game, click here.

PrepNation.com Top 25 Poll

Only one change major change in the latest Prep.Nation.com high school football poll.

Prattville's (AL) 15-10 loss to defending 2007 PrepNation.com national champ St. Xavier (OH) in the Kirk Herbstreit Varsity Football Series knocks the defending Alabama 6A champs out of the Top 25. With Prattville out, Long Beach Poly (CA) is in.

Poly enters the poll at #12 thanks to an impressive 29-7 win over defending two-time Florida champ Northwestern (#1 in 2007 USA Today Super 25) on Saturday. Interestingly, St. Xavier, Northwestern, Katy (TX) and Prattville finished #1, #2 #3 and #4 respectively in last year's final PrepNation.com poll, and all have lost already this season.

A couple of small moves up this week were made by St. Thomas Aquinas (FL) moving from #5 to #4 after its win over Cincinnati Elder and Rockhurst (MO) ticks up two spots to #19 after its win on ESPN Sunday

Here's the latest Top 25 through the third week of the season...

1. Trinity (Euless, TX) 0-0
2. Byrnes (Duncan, SC) 1-0
3. Lowndes (Valdosta, GA) 1-0
4. St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) 1-0
5. South Panola (Batesville, MS) 1-0
6. De La Salle (Concord, CA) 0-0
7. Gateway (Monroeville, PA) 1-0
8. Armwood (Seffner, FL) 0-0
9. Centennial (Corona, CA) 0-0
10. North Shore (Houston, TX) 1-0
11. Jenks (OK) 0-0
12. Long Beach Poly (CA) 1-0
13. Glenville (Cleveland, OH) 0-0
14. Bastrop (LA) 0-0
15. Oscar Smith (Chesapeake, VA) 1-0
16. Trinity (Louisville, KY) 0-0
17. Lutheran (Orange, CA) 0-0
18. Skyline (Sammanish,WA) 0-0
19. Rockhurst (Kansas City, MO) 0-0
20. Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, NJ) 0-0
21. Mt. Carmel (Chicago, IL) 1-0
22. Plano (TX) 1-0
23. Apopka (FL) 0-0
24. Desert Vista (Phoenix, AZ) 0-0
25. Center Grove (Greenwood, IN) 2-0

Here is PrepNation.com regional rankings...