Here are The Sporting News' CIF-Southern Section top 25 football team rankings for Week Seven of the 2025 season (Oct. 6-12).
The rankings will be updated every week throughout the season.
PREVIOUS RANKINGS: Week One | Week Two | Week Three | Week Four | Week Five | Week Six
1. St. John Bosco (6-0 – 1st last week)
Yes, JSerra is the lowest-ranked team in the Trinity League. But a 70-21 win over the Lions is utterly ridiculous. There have only been a few 70 point outings in Trinity League play in the last decade or so. High school football's No. 1 team looks to keep it going next week against Servite.
2. Mater Dei (4-1 – 2nd)
The Monarchs got off to another slow start on Friday, this time against Orange Lutheran, but they picked it up to win comfortably by a score of 25-10 after leading just 7-3 at halftime. It's hard to know exactly what to expect this week against Santa Margarita, so expect fans from across the nation to tune in.
3. Corona Centennial (5-1 – 3rd)
Like St. John Bosco, Centennial was so good offensively in Week Six that even against the lowest-ranked team in its conference, that has to be taken as a statement. The Huskies blew out Roosevelt (Eastvale) 62-20 and will be the heavy favorite as usual with Vista Murrieta up next.
4. Sierra Canyon (6-0 – 4th)
Six games, six wins, one offensive touchdown allowed. Sierra Canyon pitched its fourth shutout of the year to open Mission League play with a 30-0 rout of Serra (Gardena) that was 9-0 at halftime before the Trailblazers' offense got going down the stretch.
5. Mission Viejo (5-1 – 5th)
Speaking of statement wins, annihilating Long Beach Poly 56-7 is no joke no matter how heavy of a favorite Mission Viejo was in that game. Now the Diablos have a bye week to gear up to face their biggest rival – San Clemente.
6. Santa Margarita (4-2 – 6th)
A 17-7 win over Servite is both very impressive and merely par for the course when you're competing for a top-five ranking in California. Santa Margarita's brutal schedule reaches its apex in the next two weeks as the Eagles face Mater Dei and St. John Bosco.
7. Orange Lutheran (3-3 – 7th)
After starting 2-0 and 3-1, the Lancers are back to .500 for the first time this season, and they'll almost certainly be below .500 after playing St. John Bosco next week. However, a 25-10 loss to Mater Dei that was only 7-3 at halftime is quite a respectable effort, and the Monarchs' mark of 25 points is tied for their second-lowest point total in their last 24 games.
8. Servite (4-2 – 8th)
Without other teams close behind them in the rankings picking up big wins, the Friars losing 17-7 to Santa Margarita doesn't hurt their stock in a vacuum. They'll be the favorite on Friday in one of their biggest matchups of the year, a home game against JSerra.
9. Los Alamitos (7-0 – 9th)
After managing to start 7-0 through Week Five, Los Al is now on its second of two consecutive bye weeks before starting Alpha League play against Edison.
10. Serra-Gardena (3-3 – 10th)
Serra's defense was good despite a 30-0 loss to Sierra Canyon, in which they trailed only 9-0 at halftime. It's a moral victory to be sure, but one that indicates the Cavaliers are still a good pick to finish second in the Mission League. And they have to if they want to stay even close to this high in the rankings.
11. Murrieta Valley (5-1 – 14th)
Absolutely nothing screams "Murrieta Valley football" like coming back from down two touchdowns to beat an unbeaten team 55-45. After Norco brought a tremendous challenge in Week Six, this week should amount to another thrilling shootout as the Nighthawks face a Chaparral team they've shared some great battles with over the years.
12. Crean Lutheran (6-0 – 15th)
Last week was business as usual as the Saints handled Foothill (Santa Ana) 40-14, and they'll also be the heavy favorites this week at El Dorado (Placentia). After that it faces La Habra and Huntington Beach, both of which are currently 5-1.
13. Corona del Mar (6-0 – Unranked)
In retrospect, we should've at least had CdM in our Southern Section rankings after its 35-13 rout of Trabuco Hills, which followed a 28-21 win against a Charter Oak team that's otherwise unbeaten. But there probably weren't a ton of people outside the Sea Kings faithful who had them cruising past San Juan Hills 33-10. That means the Bravo League title probably won't be decided until the Sea Kings face Yorba Linda on Oct. 31.
14. San Juan Hills (4-2 – 13th)
One could argue that the Stallions should drop far more for losing to previously-unranked Corona del Mar. Time will tell if that's true. San Juan Hills' only other loss was by eight points in Texas to a Rockwall-Heath team that is 4-1 and ranked 28th in Texas by MaxPreps, and the Stallions have wins over Chaparral, Chino Hills, and Mira Costa.
15. Pacifica-Oxnard (6-0 – 21st)
Rapidly approaching the statewide top 25 is Pacifica, which is already the heavy favorite in the Marmonte League after opening with a 17-13 win over Oaks Christian. This week brings another possible test in St. Bonaventure.
16. Damien (5-1 – 11th)
This is where the who-beat-who chain quickly falls apart. Damien has beaten Tustin, Tustin has beaten San Clemente, San Clemente has beaten Chaparral, and Chaparral has beaten Rancho Cucamonga – which just beat Damien. So there's no way to handle Rancho Cucamonga's upset without discrepancies. In this case, Damien stays above Rancho Cucamonga for now for its overall body of work.
17. JSerra (3-3 – 12th)
JSerra's drop had little to do with its 70-21 loss to St. John Bosco and nearly everything to do with Damien's necessary drop. With the aforementioned "who-beat-who chain" already disrupted, JSerra could plausibly pass Damien despite possessing a loss to the Spartans if it can pull a Trinity League upset.
18. Leuzinger (4-1 – 16th)
Due to the downstream effect of Rancho Cucamonga's win over Damien, Leuzinger drops a bit despite picking up a huge 43-32 win over Inglewood. This week, it seeks revenge against Palos Verdes for last year's 21-14 upset loss.
19. Rancho Cucamonga (2-4 – Bubble)
Despite possessing a loss to Chaparral, Rancho Cucamonga jumps this much for the Damien win for a few reasons. The Cougars nearly beat Orange Lutheran and Murrieta Valley; their only other loss was to Corona Centennial; the Damien win counts for a lot (and the Oak Hills win was big too); and finally, recency is at a premium with power rankings when a tiebreaker is needed. Especially by Week Six when the transfer sit-out period is over.
20. Long Beach Poly (3-3 – 17th)
A 56-7 dismantling at the hands of Mission Viejo isn't that big of a deal in this part of the rankings, but it wouldn't have been hard to imagine the Jackrabbits showing a bit more resistance. This week they seek revenge, but not against Mission Viejo – Friday is their chance to reclaim the Moore League crown from Millikan after the Rams upset them last year.
21. Chaparral (3-3 – 24th)
Between Chaparral's own win over Vista Murrieta and Rancho Cucamonga's win over Damien (when Chaparral had already beaten Rancho Cucamonga), Chaparral had to rise, and it might not be done either. This week brings the Pumas' absolute best (realistic) opportunity of the regular season to do that as they head to Murrieta Valley.
22. Tustin (4-2 – 18th)
After opening Delta League play with a 39-0 beatdown of Cypress, Tustin has the opportunity for another signature win this week against underrated Trabuco Hills.
23. San Clemente (4-3 – 23rd)
At least one team had to get the short end of the stick as the chain of Damien beating Tustin, Tustin beating San Clemente, San Clemente beating Chaparral, and Chaparral beating Rancho Cucamonga broke when Rancho Cucamonga upset Damien. In this case, with slight apologies, it's San Clemente. That's because the Tritons' win over Chaparral occurred fairly early on in the chain, and also because they don't have many other big-name wins. But that also means that San Clemente could take a sizable leap in the rankings more easily than the others if it picks up more quality wins.
24. Yorba Linda (5-1 – 22nd)
A 28-7 win over Yorba Linda is a great way to start Bravo League play, and quite a defensive showing in general. The Mustangs have a huge one this week at San Juan Hills, which is fresh off a lopsided upset loss against Corona del Mar.
25. Downey (5-1 – 25th)
Downey held off a good effort from Mayfair to win 33-14 in its Gateway League opener and has La Mirada on Deck. The league will probably come down to Downey and Warren as usual, and they play on Oct. 24.
ON THE BUBBLE:
Vista Murrieta, Beaumont, Oak Hills, Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks), Inglewood, Mira Costa, Norco
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