The 25 Best High School Football Leagues Heading Into 2023

Southern California’s Trinity League heads into the 2023 high school football season as the top league in the nation.

Five Trinity League schools are in the High School Football America Top 300, powered by NFL Play Football. The rankings include the nation's top two teams, Mater Dei and St. John Bosco. Orange Lutheran is No. 57, followed by JSerra at No. 98 and Santa Margarita at No. 111.

The Washington Catholic Athletic Conference’s Capital Conference is ranked No. 2, followed by the New Jersey Super Football Conference’s United Red Division at No. 3.

Tennessee’s Division II AAA East division continues to get stronger with the addition of two-time defending Division II-AA champ Lipscomb Academy. The league, made-up of private schools, is No. 4 in the HSFA power rankings.

Texas’ District 11-6A, featuring 2022 Class 6A Division I champ Duncanville and 6A Division II defending champ DeSoto, is the first public league in the rankings at No. 5.

Below are the top 25 leagues in America.

No. 1 Trinity League (Southern California)

No. 1 Mater Dei
No. 2 St. John Bosco
No. 57 Orange Lutheran
No. 98 JSerra
No. 111 Santa Margarita

No. 2 Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (Maryland & DC)

No. 19 St. John’s College HS (Washington, DC)
No. 30 Good Counsel (Maryland)
No. 43 DeMatha (Maryland)
No. 285 Gonzaga (Washington, DC)

No. 3 North Jersey Super Conference, United Red League (New Jersey)

No. 20 Bergen Catholic
No. 63 Don Bosco Prep
No. 135 St. Joseph Regional (Montvale)
No. 156 St. Peter’s Prep
No. 187 Seton Hall Prep

No. 4 Tennessee Division II-AAA East

No. 23 Lipscomb Academy
No. 55 McCallie
No. 80 Baylor
No. 116 Montgomery Bell Academy
No. 207 Brentwood Academy

No. 5 Texas District 11-6A

No. 8 Duncanville
No. 21 DeSoto

No. 6 Florida 2M – District 12

No. 16 American Heritage (Plantation)
No. 24 Cardinal Gibbons

No. 7 Louisiana 5A District 9

No. 44 John Curtis
No. 61 Edna Karr
No. 79 Brother Martin
No. 153 St. Augustine

No. 8 Alabama Region 3-7A

No. 15 Thompson
No. 112 Hewitt-Trussville
No. 114 Hoover
No. 287 Vestavia Hills

No. 9 Greater Catholic League South (Cincinnati, Ohio)

No. 54 Archbishop Moeller
No. 94 Elder
No. 131 St. Xavier

No. 10 Chicago Catholic League, Blue Division (Illinois)

No. 87 Loyola Academy
No. 95 Mount Carmel (Chicago)
No. 211 St. Rita

No. 11 Mission League (Southern California)

No. 69 Sierra Canyon
No. 107 Chaminade
No. 155 Serra (Gardena)
No. 161 Bishop Amat

No. 12 6A Premier League

No. 28 Basha
No. 104 Hamilton
No. 115 Chandler
No. 281 Casteel

No. 13 Texas District 26-6A

No. 26 Westlake
No. 106 Lake Travis
No. 163 Dripping Springs

No. 14 Georgia Region 8-7A

No. 7 Buford
No. 29 Mill Creek

No. 15 Texas District 21-6A

No. 17 North Shore
No. 103 Atascocita

No. 16 Greater Western Ohio Conference

No. 56 Springfield
No. 209 Centerville
No. 244 Springboro
No. 258 Wayne (Huber Heights)

No. 17 Texas District 5-6A

No. 36 Denton Guyer
No. 88 Prosper
No. 239 Allen

No. 18 Sunset League (California)

No. 113 Edison (Huntington Beach)
No. 120 Los Alamitos
No. 297 Corona del Mar

No. 19 Georgia Region 5-7A

No. 35 Walton
No. 86 North Cobb

No. 20 Utah 6A Region 3

No. 119 Skyridge
No. 126 Lehi
No. 174 Lone Peak
No. 233 American Fork

No. 21 Florida 4M-District 2

No. 123 Seminole (Sanford)
No. 127 Apopka
No. 194 Lake Mary

No. 22 Georgia Region 1-6A

No. 196 Houston County
No. 206 Northside (Warner Robins)
No. 241 Lee County
No. 249 Thomas County Central

No. 23 Greater Miami Conference (Ohio)

No. 67 Lakota West
No. 226 Mason
No. 257 Princeton

No. 24 Western League (San Diego, California)

No. 42 Lincoln (San Diego)
No. 204 Madison
No. 262 Cathedral Catholic (San Diego)

No. 25 Florida 3M District 3

No. 48 – Edgewater
No. 50 – Jones (Orlando)

Honorable Mention:

Avocado League (San Diego, California)
Big West – Upper Division (Southern California)
Catholic Football League of New York
Catholic High School League (Michigan/Ohio)
East Bay Athletic League-Mountain (Northern California)
Florida 4M – District 5
Florida 4M – District 15
Florida 4A – District 12
Florida 4S – District 14
Florida 4A – District 3
Florida 3M – District 4
Florida 3M – District 11
Florida 3S – District 1
Florida 2M – District 13
Florida 2M – District 14
Georgia Region 1-7A
Georgia Region 3-7A
Georgia Region 4-7A
Georgia 7-7A
Georgia Region 6-6A
Georgia Region 2-5A
Grossmont League – Hills (San Diego)
Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference (Indiana)
Mid-Penn Conference – Commonwealth
New Jersey Super Football Conference – United White
Philadelphia Catholic League, Red Division (Pennsylvania)
Queen City League 3A/4A (North Carolina)
Sierra Foothill League (Northern California)
South Carolina 5A Region 2
South Coast League (Southern California)
Southwest Yosemite (Central California)
Tennessee 6A Region 3
Texas District 2-6A
Texas District 4-6A
Texas District 10-6A
Texas District 15-6A
Texas District 16-6A
Texas District 19-6A
Texas District 27-6A
Texas District 2-5A
Texas District 3-5A
Texas District 6-5A
Texas District 7-5A
Texas District 14-5A
Tri-County 5 (Pennsylvania)
Tri-River League (Central California)
Utah Region 2-6A
West Catholic Athletic Association (Northern California)

Featured Photo: AP/Ashley Landis