St. Frances Academy leads the pack in Maryland Media State Poll

It's called the preseason poll, but No. 1 St. Frances Academy already has backed up its case.

St. Frances collected all 12 first-place votes in the 2025 Maryland Football Media State Poll to lead a familiar group of teams in the rankings. The Panthers routed Chaminade-Madonna, 42-13, on Saturday in a meeting of consensus Top 15-type national programs. St. Frances led 42-7 until Chaminade scored on the last offensive play, which would have halted the running clock.

WCAC defending champ DeMatha is No. 2, followed by defending MIAA A champ Archbishop Spalding, McDonogh, and Good Counsel. Quince Orchard, at No. 6, is the highest-ranked public school team.

St. Frances Academy has spent time at No. 1 every year since 2017 (excluding the COVID-19 year of 2020, when there was no media state ranking).

This year's preseason Top 25 includes five of last year's state champions: No. 6 Quince Orchard (4A), No. 14 North Point (4A-3A), No. 21 Arundel (3A), Stephen Decatur (2A), and Patuxent (2A-1A). Defending 1A champ Fort Hill is just outside of the Top 25. Stephen Decatur (3A) and Patuxent (1A) are in new classifications this year.

Private school programs hold the top five spots and 13 spots overall. The MIAA A leads the pack with six of its eight teams in the Top 25: No. 3 Spalding, No. 4 McDonogh, No. 9 Loyola, No. 10 Mount St. Joseph, No. 22 Calvert Hall, and No. 23 Concordia Prep. All four Maryland WCAC schools are in the rankings: No. 2 DeMatha, No. 5 Good Counsel, No. 13 Bishop McNamara, and No. 19 St. Mary's Ryken. As for public school conferences, Anne Arundel County, Montgomery County, Prince George's County, and the SMAC each have two teams in the Top 25.

Voting for the preseason poll started 10 days ago, but the deadline was Tuesday, meaning some voters could take into account the early private school games played this past weekend. The MPSSAA season is still 10 days away.

The first regular-season ranking will be released on the Tuesday following the first public school games.

This week's private school-only schedule features a showdown between No. 13 Bishop McNamara and No. 23 Concordia Prep. The marquee national game involving a Maryland school is No. 2 DeMatha's contest against St. Joseph's Prep (Pa.), which held a 28-0 lead over Florida power American Heritage-Plantation until American Heritage rallied for a 31-28 victory.