First and Fisher: Four Top 25 teams fall in season openers

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It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of preseason rankings. I do it for the fans, but I always warn that our algorithm is designed to evaluate what happens on the field.

While, we hope the Preseason High School Football America 100 won’t change over the four month season, it comes as no surprise when top-ranked teams taste defeat early in the season. However, even I was surprised that four Top 25 teams tasted defeat this weekend.

It all started Friday night when unranked Creekside shocked defending Georgia 7A state champ Grayson 19-14. Grayson entered the game ranked No. 17 in our national rankings powered by NFL Play Football, the NFL’s initiative to provide fun and engaging experience for players of all ages and skill levels.

Related: ’21 Preseason High School Football America national rankings

Creekside, a 5A school, was led by quarterback Nyqua Lett, who threw a pair of TD passes. The game-winner came with 1:47 to play.

In Kentucky, 2020 High School Football America Academic All-American Zach Osborne led Carmel to a 49-38 win over No. 15 Trinity. Carmel entered the season opener for both ranked No. 147 in our national rankings.

After falling behind 17-0, Carmel rallied behind Osborne, who threw three touchdown passes against a Trinity defense that lost all eleven starters from last year. He completed 10 of 24 passes for 196 yards, plus he ran the ball 13 times for 69 yards.

Back to Georgia, where our highest ranked team in the Peach State lost on Saturday.

At the Corky Kell Classic at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, No. 13 Lowndes lost in overtime to Walton, which received an honorable mention in our preseason rankings, which meant that the Raiders were ranked between No. 201 and No. 300. When the first in-season rankings come out on Sunday, Walton will move-up after 34-28 win.

With 1:50 to go in the game, Walton owned a 28-14 lead, but the Vikings fought back to send the game to overtime.

The fourth loser was Florida’s Miami Central. However, the No. 22 Rockets lost to No. 7 St. John Bosco in California 35-12.

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About the Author

Jeff Fisher
Jeff is an award-winning journalist and expert in the field of high school sports, underscored with his appearance on CNBC in 2010 to talk about the big business of high school football in America.Jeff turned to his passion for high school football into an entrepreneurial venture called High School Football America, a digital media company focused on producing original high school sports content for radio, television and the internet.Jeff is co-founder and editor-in-chief of High School Football America, a partner with NFL Play Football.