SUPER 12 HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL RANKINGS: WEEK ONE

Wake up! It's game week!!

The 2026 season is upon us, so let's dig in to our first Super 12 High School Football Rankings of the campaign.

First off, the five teams just outside the top twelve:

--Thomas Jefferson

--Petersburg

--Hanover

--Glen Allen

--Caroline

**********************************

12) MIDLOTHIAN: It's time to kick the door in. Coach Phil Gross has done a tremendous job building a consistent winner with the Trojans. They've been known for hot starts, but cooler finishes. Son Gibson Gross, we believe, is poised for a standout season. If their defense is as good as last year's, Midlothian will certainly be a playoff team in Class 5, Region C. The biggest challenge would come then, in getting their first playoff win since 2021.

11) ARMSTRONG: The Wildcats were driving for a region championship winning score when Poquoson rose up defensively and ended Armstrong's season on three impressive pass rushes in three successive plays. But that won't stop Armstrong from trying to dethrone the four-time defending region champs while, at the same time, staving off rival Thomas Jefferson and others in Class 2, Region A. Shedarus Pickett and Brennan Ball will make their one-two rushing punch the battering ram for Coach Jeremy Pruitt.

10) L.C. BIRD: The Skyhawks return eighteen of twenty-two starters with the LSU-bound Whitehead brothers anchoring the trenches. But new head coach Gerard Johnson will need to help his team avoid the slow start of last year while peaking come postseason time, which ended with a thud against Oscar Smith in the Class 6, Region A semifinals. Another team standing in their path is next.

9) MANCHESTER: In perhaps the most heartbreaking way, the Lancers saw their 2025 season, and their large senior class, end on the mindboggling pick six by Thomas Dale in the Class 6, Region A semifinals. There will be a lot of new faces in important positions on the field, but with such tradition, and head coach Jason Harrell, it's hard to see any significant relapse coming to the Lancers.

8) TRINITY EPISCOPAL: The Titans have had an incredible run this decade. The problem is their archrival, Benedictine, has an even more impressive one. But that's just fuel to the fire for head coach Sam Mickens and crew. They lost offensive coordinator Malcolm Bell, but are geared for another run at the Cadets and the rest of Division I in the VISAA. 

7) DINWIDDIE: Head Coach Billy Mills has discussed how last year's 11-1 mark was, for some Generals fans, a disappointment. That's how high the bar of expectation is in Dinwiddie County. Starting 11-0, then losing big at home to eventual Class 4 state champion Varina crushed more than one person's dreams. Now, without Zion Boisseau at quarterback, it will be a year of transition for a Generals team who have placed so many great talents under center, utilizing their arm and their legs. The next generation has to step up now. But in Dinwiddie, that, too, is the expectation.

6) HERMITAGE: They were tantalizingly close to finally vanquishing playoff nemesis Highland Springs last year, losing by eight in the Class 5, Region C championship. Avery Curtis, Andre Clarke and Ben Yeanay are all gone, so a new group of Panthers will guide, especially on the offensive side of the ball. But head coach Timothy Jean-Pierre has built the Hermitage back to near Patrick Kane levels. A region championship would complete that.

5) THOMAS DALE: What a ride for Knights Nation in 2025. The miracle win against Manchester, but a bitter loss to powerhouse Oscar Smith, which ended an eight-day postseason stretch that gave the Knights clarity on how far they need to go to get back to a region championship and try for their first state crown since 2009. There were key losses, but this roster is stacked with talent. Avoid the injury bug, and we like the Knights' chances if, somehow, they can get back to Thanksgiving weekend, and, who knows, maybe another shot at the Tigers.

4) HIGHLAND SPRINGS: Springer fans would have laughed you out of the old Kreiter Stadium in the late teens had you suggested they would be the number two program in eastern Henrico one day. But, here we are. The Springers want (need?) to find the formula to finally defeat their bitter rivals, Class 4 state champion Varina. With new quarterback Dashaun Chisem (ex-Meadowbrook) guiding the offense and tons of returning talent, it's not like the Springers are far away from either Varina or another Class 5 state championship of their own. But, after last December's loss to Maury, they knew where they stood, and have spent the last eight plus months changing that. Maybe this is the year where two bitter rivals each could have a championship parade. The usual strong schedule (Huguenot, Dinwiddie, Phoebus, etc.) will certainly have them ready.

3) BENEDICTINE: State champions. Again. The favorite to repeat. Again. Add a strong returning core to returning quarterback Ralphie Puccinelli, who played a half-season at Glen Allen before breaking his collarbone against Hermitage, and the Cadets seek to not miss a beat in Kurt von Bargen's second season leading the squad.

2) HUGUENOT: A one-possession loss to Varina. A defense that shut out the Blue Devils after giving up 21 early points, giving Charles Scott, Jr. and the offense a comeback attempt that fell just short in a 21-13 loss in the Class 4, Region B final last year. Of every player in the Central Region, the expectations, and the pressure, may be higher on Scott than anyone else. He verbally committed to the University of Alabama in the offseason. His spiral is to die for. But he, and the rest of the Falcons know what this community wants: a state championship. They haven't played for one since the Reagan Administration (1988). But to do it.....well, you know.....

1) VARINA: There was no question who would top the rankings as we enter the season and deservedly so. Absolutely stacked on both sides of the ball, even after graduation. Kaleb Wyche is ready for his final ride as a Blue Devil, as are several other college-bound student-athletes. Head Coach Marcus Lewis loves a tough schedule, too, which is why they'll head to Maury in week two, go to Oscar Smith in week three, then welcome Hermitage in week four and Grimsley (NC) in week six. 

********************

There is good reason to believe that the 804 could play for as many as five state championships between the public and private levels in 2026. We can't wait to chronicle all the action. Enjoy the journey everyone!