Every August, thousands of high school football teams across the United States begin the season believing it could end with a championship.
But before the first kickoff, MaxPreps is attempting something ambitious: predicting every state champion in every classification in all 50 states.
Head coach Casey Mohler hopes to lead Liberty Center to a repeat state championship in Ohio. The Tigers are 59-3 over the past four seasons with three title game appearances. (PHOTO: Jeff Harwell)
PREDICTING 2026 STATE CHAMPIONS
Alabama
3A — Jackson
2A — Piedmont
1A — Maplesville
Private A — Mars Hill Bible (Florence)
Private AA — St. Michael Catholic (Fairhope)
AISA A — Macon-East Montgomery Academy (Cecil)
AISA AA — Patrician Academy (Butler)
AISA AAA — Chambers Academy (LaFayette)
ACSC — Evangel Christian (Alabaster)
Christian 6-man — First Assembly Christian (Ashland)
Christian 8-man — Tuscaloosa Christian (Cottondale)
Alaska
I — South Anchorage (Anchorage)
II — Soldotna
III — Homer
Arizona
6A — Basha (Chandler)
5A — Desert Edge (Goodyear)
4A — Snowflake
3A — Benjamin Franklin (Queen Creek)
2A — Scottsdale Christian Academy (Phoenix)
1A — Hayden (Winkelman)
CAA I — Berean Academy (Sierra Vista)
CAA II — Western SciTech (Phoenix)
CAA III — AZ Compass Prep (Chandler)
Arkansas
7A — Bryant
6A — Benton
5A — Greenwood
4A — Elkins
3A — Mansfield
2A — East Poinsett County (Lepanto)
8-Man — Cave City
California
Central Section
D1 — Central East (Fresno)
D2 — Bakersfield Christian (Bakersfield)
D3 — Kennedy (Delano)
D4 — Immanuel (Reedley)
D5 — Liberty (Madera.)
D6 — Woodlake
Central Coast Section
Open — Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco)
D1 — Junipero Serra (San Mateo)
D2 — Salinas
D3 — King’s Academy (Sunnyvale)
D4 — Alisal (Salinas)
Los Angeles City
Open — Carson
D1 — Marquez (Huntington Park)
D2 — Taft (Woodland Hills)
D3 — Roosevelt (Los Angeles)
North Coast Section
D1 — De La Salle (Concord)
D2 — San Ramon Valley (Danville)
D3 — Windsor
D4 — San Marin (Novato)
D5 — Acalanes (Lafayette)
D6 — Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa)
D7 — St. Vincent de Paul (Petaluma)
Northern Section
D2 — Pleasant Valley (Chico)
D3 — Orland
D4 — Winters
D5 — Redding Christian (Palo Cedro)
D6 — Hayfork
Oakland Section
D1 — McClymonds (Oakland)
Sac-Joaquin Section
D1 — Folsom
D2 — St. Mary’s (Stockton)
D3 — Oakdale
D4 — Twelve Bridges (Lincoln)
D5 — Sutter
D6 — Sonora
D7 — Calaveras (San Andreas)
San Diego Section
D1 — Cathedral Catholic (San Diego)
D2 — Oceanside
D3 — Central (El Centro)
D4 — La Jolla Country Day (La Jolla)
D5 — Morse (San Diego)
D5AA — Maranatha Christian (San Diego)
San Francisco
AAA — Balboa (San Francisco)
Southern Section
D1 — St. John Bosco (Bellflower)
D2 — Los Alamitos (Los Alamitos)
D3 — Vista Murrieta (Murrieta)
D4 — Pacifica (Oxnard)
D5 — Palos Verdes (Palos Verdes Estates)
D6 — Dana Hills (Dana Point)
D7 — Rio Hondo Prep (Arcadia)
D8 — St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy (Downey)
D9 — Great Oak (Temecula)
D10 — La Canada
D11 — Crespi (Encino)
D12 — Rim of the World (Lake Arrowhead)
D13 — Calvary Chapel (Santa Ana)
D14 — Desert Christian Academy (Bermuda Dunes)
8-Man — Flintridge Prep (La Canada)
State Bowl Games
Open — St. John Bosco
D1-AA — De La Salle
D1-A — Pacifica
D2-AA — St. Mary’s
D2-A — Cardinal Newman
D3-AA — Oakdale
D3-A — Pleasant Valley
D4-AA — Windsor
D4-A — Twelve Bridges
D5-AA — McClymonds
D5-A — Winters
D6-AA — Orland
D6-A — Liberty
D7-AA — Balboa
D7-A — Woodlake
Colorado
5A — Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village)
4A — Dakota Ridge (Littleton)
3A — Palmer Ridge (Monument)
2A — Wellington
1A — Limon
A 6-Man — Idalia
A 8-Man — Sedgwick County (Julesburg)
Connecticut
L — New Canaan
LL — Greenwich
MM — St. Joseph (Trumbull)
M — North Haven
SS — Hand (Madison)
S — Sheehan (Wallingford)
Delaware
3A — Middletown
2A — Howard (Wilmington)
1A — Seaford
District of Columbia
DCSAA AA — Friendship Collegiate Academy
DCSAA A — St. John’s
Florida
6A — DeLand
5A — St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale)
4A — American Heritage (Plantation)
3A — Central (Miami)
2A — Carol City (Miami)
1A — Hawthorne
Georgia
AAAAAAA — Buford
AAAAAA — Creekside (Fairburn)
AAAAA — Benedictine (Savannah)
AAAA — Sandy Creek (Tyrone)
AAA — Hebron Christian (Dacula)
AA — Calvary Day (Savannah)
A — Bowdon
GAPPS 11-man — Lanier Christian Academy (Flowery Branch)
GAPPS 9-man AA — Unity Christian (Rome)
GAPPS 9-man A — CrossPointe Christian Academy (Williamson)
GIAA AAAA — Stratford Academy (Macon)
GIAA AAA — John Milledge Academy (Milledgeville)
GIAA AA — Briarwood Academy (Warrenton)
GIAA A — Edmund Burke Academy (Waynesboro)
GIAA 8-man — Sherwood Christian Academy (Albany)
Hawaii
I-Open — Campbell (Ewa Beach)
I — Waipahu
II — Kamehameha Maui (Pukalani)
Idaho
6A — Rigby
5A — Bishop Kelly (Boise)
4A — Sugar-Salem (Sugar City)
3A — West Side (Dayton)
2A — Kendrick
1A — Wallace
Illinois
8A — Chicago Mt. Carmel (Chicago)
7A — Brother Rice (Chicago)
6A — East St. Louis (East St. Louis)
5A — Nazareth Academy (LaGrange Park)
4A — Montini Catholic (Lombard)
3A — Byron
2A — Bloomington Central Catholic (Bloomington)
1A — Lena-Winslow (Lena)
Indiana
6A — Brownsburg
5A — New Palestine
4A — Indianapolis Bishop Chatard
3A — Gibson Southern (Fort Branch)
2A — Cascade (Clayton)
Iowa
5A — Dowling Catholic (West Des Moines)
4A — Xavier (Cedar Rapids)
3A — Bishop Heelan Catholic (Sioux City)
2A — Kuemper (Carroll)
1A — West Lyon (Inwood)
A — Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn/Remsen-Union (Marcus)
8-Man — Iowa Valley (Marengo)
Kansas
6A — Manhattan
5A — St. James Academy (Lenexa)
4A — Saint Thomas Aquinas (Overland Park)
3A — Andale
2A — Southeast of Saline (Gypsum)
1A — Rossville
6-Man — Weskan
8-Man I — Lincoln
8-Man II — Hodgeman County (Jetmore)
Kentucky
1A — Raceland
2A — Lexington Christian (Lexington)
3A — Christian Academy-Louisville
Louisiana
I Non-Select — Ruston
I Select — Edna Karr (New Orleans)
II Non-Select — Neville (Monroe)
II Select — Teurlings Catholic (Lafayette)
III Non-Select — St. James
III Select — Lafayette Christian Academy (Lafayette)
IV Non-Select — Haynesville
IV Select — Riverside Academy (Reserve)
Maine
A — Thornton Academy (Saco)
B — Kennebunk
C — Leavitt (Turner)
D — Winthrop
8-Man Large — Spruce Mountain (Jay)
8-Man Small — Old Orchard Beach
Maryland
1A — Fort Hill (Cumberland)
2A — Huntingtown
2A/1A — Dunbar (Baltimore)
3A — Linganore (Frederick)
4A — Quince Orchard (Gaithersburg)
4A/3A — Mergenthaler Vo-Tech (Baltimore)
MIAA A — Archbishop Spalding (Severn)
MIAA B — St. Paul’s (Brooklandville)
WCAC Capital — DeMatha (Hyattsville)
WCAC Metro — St. Mary’s Ryken (Leonardtown)
Massachusetts
1 — Xaverian Brothers (Westwood)
2 — Catholic Memorial (West Roxbury)
3 — King Philip Regional (Wrentham)
4 — Scituate
5 — Shawsheen Valley Tech (Billerica)
6 — Fairhaven
7 — Cohasset
8 — Randolph
Vocational Large — Tri-County RVT (Franklin)
Vocational Medium — Blue Hills RVT (Canton)
Vocational Small — South Shore Vo-Tech (Hanover)
Michigan
1 — Catholic Central (Novi)
2 — St. Mary’s Prep (Orchard Lake)
3 — DeWitt
4 — Unity Christian (Hudsonville)
5 — Notre Dame Prep (Pontiac)
6 — Lumen Christi Catholic (Jackson)
7 — Menominee
8 — Harbor Beach
8-Man 1 — Montabella (Blanchard)
8-Man 2 — North Dickinson (Felch)
Minnesota
A — Minneota
AA — Jackson County Central (Jackson)
AAA — Annandale
AAAA — Marshall
AAAAA — Alexandria
AAAAAA — Maple Grove
9-Man — Hills-Beaver Creek (Hills)
Mississippi
1A — Calhoun City
2A — East Webster (Maben)
3A — Noxubee County (Macon)
4A — Louisville
5A — West Point
6A — Warren Central (Vicksburg)
7A — Tupelo
MAIS 3A I — Tri-County Academy (Flora)
MAIS 3A II — Central Hinds Academy (Raymond)
MAIS 4A I — Madison-Ridgeland Academy (Madison)
MAIS 4A II — Parklane Academy (McComb)
MAIS 8-Man 1A I — Humphreys Academy (Belzoni)
MAIS 8-Man 1A II — Columbus Christian Academy (Steens)
Missouri
6 — Christian Brothers College (St. Louis)
5 — Platte County (Platte City)
4 — Kearney
3 — Seneca
2 — Blair Oaks (Jefferson City)
1 — Tipton
8-Man — Worth County (Grant City)
Montana
A — Billings Central Catholic
AA — Glacier (Kalispell)
B — Manhattan
C 6-Man — Chester-Joplin-Inverness (Chester)
C 8-Man — Scobey/Opheim (Scobey)
Nebraska
A — Millard South (Omaha)
B — Waverly
C1 — Wahoo
C2 — Bishop Neumann (Wahoo)
D1 — Amherst
D2 — Oakland-Craig (Oakland)
D6 — Garden County (Oshkosh)
Nevada
1A — Tonopah
2A — Pershing County (Lovelock)
3A — Churchill County (Fallon)
4A — Mater Academy East Las Vegas (Las Vegas)
5A — Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas)
Independent — Liberty (Henderson)
New Hampshire
I — Bedford
II — Souhegan (Amherst)
III — Monadnock (East Swanzey)
IV — Mascoma (Canaan)
New Jersey
Group 1 — Glassboro
Group 2 — Camden
Group 3 — NV-Old Tappan
Group 4 — Winslow Township (Atco)
Group 5 — Washington Township (Sewell)
Non-Public A — St. Joseph Regional (Montvale)
Non-Public B — DePaul Catholic (Wayne)
New Mexico
6A — Cleveland (Rio Rancho)
5A — Artesia
4A — Bloomfield
3A — St. Michael’s (Santa Fe)
2A — Texico
6-Man — Grady
8-Man — Fort Sumner/House (Fort Sumner)
New York
A — Somers (Lincolndale)
AA — Christian Brothers Academy (Syracuse)
B — Monroe (Rochester)
C — Bronxville
D — Tioga (Tioga Center)
CHSAA AA — Xavier (New York)
CHSAA AAA — Iona Prep (New Rochelle)
Long Island I — Ward Melville (East Setauket)
Long Island II — East Islip (Islip Terrace)
Long Island III — Sayville
Long Island IV — Bayport-Blue Point (Bayport)
Monsignor Martin — St. Francis (Hamburg)
PSAL A — Petrides (Staten Island)
PSAL AA — Eagle Academy III (Queens)
PSAL AAA — Frank J. Macchiarola (Brooklyn)
PSAL AAAA — Erasmus Hall (Brooklyn)
North Carolina
1A — Robbinsville
2A — Tarboro
3A — Shelby
4A — Reidsville
5A — Crest (Shelby)
6A — Sun Valley (Monroe)
7A — Grimsley (Greensboro)
8A — Hough (Cornelius)
NCISAA 11 Man Div. I — Providence Day (Charlotte)
NCISAA 11 Man Div. II — High Point Christian Academy (High Point)
NCISAA 8-Man I — Cary Christian (Cary)
North Dakota
AAA — Fargo Davies (Fargo)
AA — Kindred
A — Langdon/Edmore/Munich (Langdon)
6-Man – Drayton
9-Man – LaMoure/Litchville-Marion (LaMoure)
Ohio
I — St. Edward (Lakewood)
II — Washington (Massillon)
III — Steubenville
IV — London
V — Cardinal Mooney (Youngstown)
VI — Liberty Center
VII — Marion Local (Maria Stein)
Oklahoma
2A-I — Lincoln Christian (Tulsa)
3A — Sulphur
4A — Tuttle
5A — Carl Albert (Midwest City)
6A-I — Bixby
6A-II — Norman
A-I — Vian
B-II — Seiling
C — Ryan
Frontier Christian — Claremore Christian (Claremore)
Oregon
6A — West Linn
5A — Silverton
4A — Cascade Christian (Medford)
3A — Burns
2A 9-man — Heppner
1A 6-Man — Harper
1A 8-Man — Adrian
Pennsylvania
A — Clairton
AA — Southern Columbia Area (Catawissa)
AAA — Avonworth (Pittsburgh)
AAAA — Monsignor Bonner/Archbishop Prendergast Catholic (Drexel Hill)
AAAAA — Peters Township (McMurray)
AAAAAA — St. Joseph’s Prep (Philadelphia)
Rhode Island
I — Bishop Hendricken (Warwick)
II — Westerly
III — Mt. Hope (Bristol)
IV — Narragansett
South Carolina
A — Bamberg-Ehrhardt (Bamberg)
AA — Dillon
AAA — Oceanside Collegiate Academy (Mt. Pleasant)
AAAA — South Pointe (Rock Hill)
AAAAA 1 — Dutch Fork (Irmo)
SCISA 8 Man — King Academy (Batesburg)
SCISA A — Dorchester Academy (St. George)
SCISA AA — Williamsburg Academy (Kingstree)
SCISA AAA — Wilson Hall (Sumter)
SCISA AAAA — Hammond (Columbia)
South Dakota
11A — Sioux Falls Christian
11AA — Pierre T.F. Riggs
11AAA — Lincoln (Sioux Falls)
11B — Elk Point-Jefferson
9A — Wall
9AA — Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy
9B — Sioux Falls Lutheran
All Nations 9A — Little Wound (Kyle)
All Nations 9B — McLaughlin
Tennessee
1A — South Pittsburg
2A — Huntingdon
3A — Westview (Martin)
4A — Alcoa
5A — Page (Franklin)
6A — Oakland (Murfreesboro)
II-A — Nashville Christian (Nashville)
II-AA — Battle Ground Academy (Franklin)
II-AAA — Baylor (Chattanooga)
Texas
1A 6-Man I — Gordon
1A 6-Man II — Jayton
2A-I — Refugio
2A-II — Stratford
3A-I — Wall
3A-II — Newton
4A-I — Stephenville
4A-II — Carthage
5A-I — DeSoto
5A-II — South Oak Cliff (Dallas)
6A-I — Duncanville
6A-II — Southlake Carroll (Southlake)
Southwest Prep 3A — Oakridge (Arlington)
Southwest Prep 4A — Kinkaid (Houston)
TAIAO I — Texas Wind (Waco)
TAIAO II — Harvest Christian Academy (Bartonville)
TAIAO III — Grace Academy (Georgetown)
TAPPS 6-Man I — First Baptist Christian (Pasadena)
TAPPS 6-Man II — Alpha Omega Academy (Huntsville)
TAPPS 6-Man III — Brazosport Christian (Lake Jackson)
TAPPS I — Parish Episcopal (Dallas)
TAPPS II — All Saints (Fort Worth)
TAPPS III — Dallas Christian (Mesquite)
TAPPS IV — First Baptist (Dallas)
Utah
1A — Beaver
2A — San Juan (Blanding)
3A — Morgan
6A — Corner Canyon (Draper)
8-man — Rich (Randolph)
Vermont
I — Middlebury
II — Hartford (White River Junction)
III — Bellows Falls
Virginia
Class 1 — Essex (Tappahannock)
Class 2 — Strasburg
Class 3 — Liberty Christian (Lynchburg)
Class 4 — Varina (Richmond)
Class 5 — Maury (Norfolk)
Class 6 — Oscar Smith (Chesapeake)
VISAA I — Benedictine (Richmond)
VISAA II — North Cross (Roanoke)
VISFL I — Chincoteague
VISFL II — Southampton (Courtland)
Washington
4A — Puyallup
3A — Bellevue
2A — Archbishop Murphy (Everett)
1A — Royal (Royal City)
2B — Toledo
1B — DeSales (Walla Walla)
West Virginia
A — Wheeling Central Catholic (Wheeling)
AA — Frankfort (Ridgeley)
AAA — Princeton
AAAA — Martinsburg
Wisconsin
1 — Arrowhead (Hartland)
2 — Notre Dame Academy (Green Bay)
3 — Grafton
4 — Aquinas (La Crosse)
5 — Stratford
6 — Darlington
7 — St. Joseph (Kenosha)
8-Man — Gilman
Wyoming
3A — Star Valley (Afton)
2A — Big Horn
6-Man — Little Snake River (Baggs)
