BENSALEM, Pa. – Nine teams that appeared in the Blue Star Media Preseason Elite 25 football rankings will participate in the ESPN High School Football Kickoff, running Aug. 14-23 or over two weekends.
The 16th annual bonanza of early season national matchups should reshape the Elite 25 rankings and a new No. 1 could emerge depending on the results. The six games will be played in Georgia, south Florida (three games), Alabama and northern California.
Here’s the lineup (All games are Eastern Daylight Time):
Thursday, August 14
No. 15 Milton (Alpharetta Ga.) at No. 12 Buford (Ga.), 7 p.m. on ESPN2
Milton is the reigning back-to-back Georgia state champion (7A in 2023, 5A in 2024). The Eagles finished last season. Buford lost to Milton 13-10 last year in the first game of the season. The Wolves’ only other loss was to Carrollton in in 6A state semifinal. The Wolves feature DT Bryce Perry-Wright (Texas A&M commit) and No. 175 ATH Tyriq Green (Georgia). This game marks the debut of the Buford’s brand new 10,000 seat Phillip Beard Stadium.
Friday, August 22
No. 14 St. Joseph’s Prep (Philadelphia) vs. No. 23 American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.), 6 p.m. on ESPN2
The game will be played from the Broward County National Football Showcase at Brian Piccolo Stadium, St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. American Heritage is the defending 4A Florida state champion. Texas-bound Dia Bell (Texas commit) is the No. 1 QB in the country. St. Joseph’s Prep has won nine Pennsylvania state championships in the past twelve years.
No. 4 IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) at Hoover (Ala.), 8 p.m. on ESPN2
The game will be played at the Hoover Metropolitan Complex in Hoover, Ala. IMG has 15 players ranked in the ESPN 300 Senior and ESPN 300 Junior rankings. Hoover advanced to the Alabama Class 7A semifinals last season.
Saturday, August 23
No. 1 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) at No. 6 St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.), 3:30 p.m. on ESPN
Aquinas is the home team in the Broward County National Football Showcase at Brian Piccolo Stadium. Mater Dei is ranked No. 1 in the country and are reigning Blue Star Media Elite 25 National Champions after capturing the California Interscholastic Federation Open Division Championship last season—its fifth crown in seven seasons.
No. 11 St. Frances Academy (Md.) vs. No. 9 Chaminade-Madonna (Fla.), 8 p.m. on ESPN2
Another blockbuster matchup from the Broward County National Football Showcase at Brian Piccolo Stadium. St. Frances features DE Zion Lee (Maryland) and S Jireh Edwards (Alabama). Chaminade-Madonna has won nine Florida state championships (including four consecutive and seven of the last eight. The Lions return RB Derrek Cooper and Kentucky-commit WR Denarius Gray.
Folsom (Calif.) at Grant Union (Sacramento, Calif.), 10:30 p.m. on ESPN
The Folsom Bulldogs will look to make another deep CIF playoff run with BYU-bound QB Ryder Lyons QB (BYU commit) and OT Vlad Dyakonov (USC). Grant Union is the defending CIF Open Division 2 State Champion (having claimed that title two of the past three seasons).
