High school football rankings 2024 finale: Bay Area News Group Top 25
Bay Area News Group Top 25
(Mercury News & East Bay Times)
No. 1 DE LA SALLE (12-1)
Previous ranking: 1
Last week: Lost to Mater Dei-Santa Ana 37-15 in CIF Open Division championship game
No. 2 PITTSBURG (12-3)
Previous ranking: 2
Last week: Lost to Lincoln-San Diego in CIF Division I-AA championship game
No. 3 SAN RAMON VALLEY (11-2)
Previous ranking: 3
Season completed
No. 4 ST. IGNATIUS (10-3)
Previous ranking: 4
Season completed
No. 5 ST. FRANCIS (10-4)
Previous ranking: 5
Season completed
No. 6 WILCOX (11-3)
Previous ranking: 6
Season completed
No. 7 LOS GATOS (10-3)
Previous ranking: 7
Season completed
No. 8 ARCHBISHOP RIORDAN (7-5)
Previous ranking: 8
Season completed
No. 9 AMADOR VALLEY (10-5)
Previous ranking: 12
Last week: Lost to Frontier-Bakersfield 18-14 in CIF 3-AA championship game
No. 10 SERRA (5-6)
Previous ranking: 9
Season completed
No. 11 VALLEY CHRISTIAN (5-6)
Previous ranking: 10
Season completed
No. 12 CALIFORNIA (8-3)
Previous ranking: 11
Season completed
No. 13 BISHOP O’DOWD (10-3)
Previous ranking: 13
Season completed
No. 14 ACALANES (10-4)
Previous ranking: 14
Season completed
No. 15 MCCLYMONDS (8-5)
Previous ranking: 15
Season completed
No. 16 LIBERTY (8-4)
Previous ranking: 16
Season completed
No. 17 CLAYTON VALLEY CHARTER (6-5)
Previous ranking: 17
Season completed
No. 18 CHRISTOPHER (9-2)
Previous ranking: 18
Season completed
No. 19 SALESIAN (11-1)
Previous ranking: 19
Season completed
No. 20 SANTA TERESA (9-2)
Previous ranking: 20
Season completed
No. 21 MENLO-ATHERTON (7-5)
Previous ranking: 21
Season completed
No. 22 MENLO SCHOOL (8-4)
Previous ranking: 22
Season completed
No. 23 WILLOW GLEN (10-1}
Previous ranking: 23
Season completed
No. 24 LAS LOMAS (7-4)
Previous ranking: 24
Season completed
No. 25 SACRED HEART PREP (7-7)
Previous ranking: 25
Season completed
WAY-TOO-EARLY TOP FIVE FOR 2025
No. 1 DE LA SALLE
Early word: The Spartans returned to the top of NorCal in 2024, and several key players are expected to be back as DLS reloads for another run at a state title. Running back Duece Jones-Drew should become the team’s top running back, and there are few players faster than Jaden Jefferson in the secondary.
No. 2 PITTSBURG
Early word: The great senior class of quarterback Marley Alcantara and UCLA signees Jadyn Hudson and Juju Walls will be gone, but don’t expect coach Charlie Ramirez’s Pirates to slip much. Freshman sensation Kenny Ward and lockdown cornerback Truly Bell will be among the Bay Area’s top players. Pitt will be DLS’s biggest threat in NCS.
No. 3 ARCHBISHOP RIORDAN
Early word: Will 2025 be the year everything comes together for the perennially-talented Crusaders and the San Francisco program wins the CCS Open title? The answer could be yes. QB Mike Mitchell Jr., a Vanderbilt commit, and uber-talented receiver Cynai Thomas lead an offense that has few, if any, peers when it’s clicking.
No. 4 ST. IGNATIUS
Early word: Archbishop Riordan isn’t the only San Francisco powerhouse expected to make noise in the WCAL. Lenny Vandermade has turned the Wildcats into a physical and tough team, and behind defensive stalwarts in CB Tyran Hicks and 320-pound DT Manoah Faupusa, another CCS Open championship wouldn’t be a surprise.
No. 5 LOS GATOS
Early word: The Wildcats, a perennial powerhouse in the South Bay, return three of their top offensive players in RB Grayson Doslak and wide receivers Beau Musser and Max Thomas. Expect another year of Los Gatos contending for the PAL Bay Division title and taking on the WCAL heavyweights in CCS Open Division play.
Editor’s note: Teams eligible for the Bay Area News Group rankings come from leagues based predominantly in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. The news organization’s high school staff chooses the teams.