Elder isn’t budging. Four games in, the Panthers sit at No. 1 in the Ohio high school football rankings — and honestly, it’s not hard to see why. With a 96.26 rating and a perfect 4-0 record, nobody in the state has touched them yet.
But the story this week isn’t just about Elder staying put. It’s about who’s climbing fast, who’s falling harder than expected, and why this particular week’s rankings feel more unsettled than the top of the table suggests.
Elder Still Owns the No. 1 Spot — But the Pack Is Closing In
Look, a rating gap of less than two points between Elder at No. 1 and Washington at No. 2 tells you everything you need to know about how tight this thing is at the top. Elder sits at 96.26. Washington’s right there at 94.38. Bishop Watterson is literally one one-hundredth of a rating point behind Washington at 94.37.
One one-hundredth.
That’s not a gap. That’s basically a coin flip dressed up in decimal points. And that’s what makes this Ohio high school football rankings update genuinely interesting — Elder may be No. 1, but there are two teams right behind them who could make a real argument that they belong there.
Washington and Bishop Watterson Are Right There
Washington climbs to No. 2 this week — still unbeaten at 4-0, still looking like a program that has real designs on the top spot. I’ve been watching Washington quietly build momentum, and right now they feel like a team with something to prove.
Bishop Watterson moves up one spot to No. 3 and is also sitting at 4-0. Walsh Jesuit drops one to No. 4 despite also being undefeated, which tells you something about how close the margins are in that upper tier. Walsh Jesuit’s 93.00 rating isn’t a sign of weakness — it’s just math doing what math does when three other teams are rated this closely.
Anderson rounds out the Top 5 at 3-1 with an 89.46 rating, which is — actually, I’ll come back to Anderson in a second because their 3-1 record sitting above several unbeaten teams is a conversation worth having.
The Biggest Moves This Week
This is the part I genuinely love about early-season rankings. The volatility. Things are still being sorted out, and you can feel it in the numbers.
Trotwood-Madison made the most dramatic move of the week — jumping seven spots to No. 16. Seven. That’s not a gentle nudge upward, that’s a statement. They’re 3-1 now and clearly doing something right on Friday nights.
Big Walnut jumped five spots to No. 7. Still unbeaten. Still a program that should probably be getting more attention than it is right now.
Lincoln also rose five positions to crack the top 12 at No. 11 — also undefeated at 4-0. St. Francis DeSales and Hudson each moved up five spots as well, which means there’s a whole cluster of teams in the 16-through-25 range that are quietly assembling real credentials.
Then there’s Upper Arlington.
Falling eight positions to No. 18 is rough. That’s the kind of week that prompts long practice film sessions on Monday morning. They’re still 3-1, so it’s not a catastrophe — but dropping eight spots in a single week is a real gut check for any program.
Glenville slipped seven to No. 12, and Avon dropped seven as well to land at No. 24. Both teams are dealing with 2-2 records now, and at this point in the season, every loss carries more weight.
The Unbeaten Crowd Is Quietly Building a Case
Here’s what gets me about this year’s rankings — the number of teams still sitting at 4-0 this deep into September. Elder, Washington, Bishop Watterson, Walsh Jesuit, Princeton, Big Walnut, Lakota West, St. Edward, Lincoln, Steubenville, and Hudson are all still undefeated.
Eleven teams. Unbeaten.
That’s a lot of programs that haven’t blinked yet. And the ones sitting lower in the rankings — like Lincoln at No. 11 or Hudson at No. 22 — have a real opportunity to keep climbing if they stay clean. Hudson at 4-0 with a 75.50 rating and ranked No. 22 feels like a team that’s flying a bit under the radar. I’d keep an eye on them.
Oh — and about Anderson at 3-1 sitting at No. 5. The rating system rewards strength of schedule and quality wins, not just records. A 3-1 team ranked above several 4-0 programs tells me Anderson has been playing some serious competition. That’s actually a sign of respect, not a flaw in the system.
One Oddity Worth Mentioning
Olentangy Liberty is 1-3 and ranked No. 23.
I’ll be honest — that’s the kind of thing that catches your eye when you’re going through the full list. A team with a losing record in the Top 25 usually means they played an extremely demanding early schedule and their losses were close ones against quality programs. That rating of 70.39 suggests the system sees something there. Whether Liberty can actually turn those near-misses into wins over the next few weeks is the real question.
Full Ohio High School Football Top 25 Rankings — September 13, 2026
| Rank | Team | Record | Rating | Previous | Movement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elder | 4-0 | 96.26 | 1 | — |
| 2 | Washington | 4-0 | 94.38 | 2 | — |
| 3 | Bishop Watterson | 4-0 | 94.37 | 4 | +1 |
| 4 | Walsh Jesuit | 4-0 | 93.00 | 3 | -1 |
| 5 | Anderson | 3-1 | 89.46 | 7 | +2 |
| 6 | Princeton | 4-0 | 89.40 | 6 | — |
| 7 | Big Walnut | 4-0 | 88.56 | 12 | +5 |
| 8 | Lakota West | 4-0 | 87.70 | 9 | +1 |
| 9 | St. Edward | 4-0 | 85.96 | 8 | -1 |
| 10 | Central Catholic | 3-1 | 85.92 | 11 | +1 |
| 11 | Lincoln | 4-0 | 84.26 | 16 | +5 |
| 12 | Glenville | 2-2 | 83.32 | 5 | -7 |
| 13 | Archbishop Moeller | 2-2 | 81.70 | 13 | — |
| 14 | Steubenville | 4-0 | 81.44 | 14 | — |
| 15 | St. Ignatius | 2-2 | 81.24 | 19 | +4 |
| 16 | Trotwood-Madison | 3-1 | 80.70 | 23 | +7 |
| 17 | Pickerington North | 3-1 | 76.72 | 18 | +1 |
| 18 | Upper Arlington | 3-1 | 76.72 | 10 | -8 |
| 19 | McKinley | 3-1 | 75.90 | 20 | +1 |
| 20 | St. Xavier | 2-2 | 75.88 | 21 | +1 |
| 21 | St. Francis DeSales | 3-1 | 75.54 | 26 | +5 |
| 22 | Hudson | 4-0 | 75.50 | 27 | +5 |
| 23 | Olentangy Liberty | 1-3 | 70.39 | 24 | +1 |
| 24 | Avon | 2-2 | 70.19 | 17 | -7 |
| 25 | Austintown-Fitch | 2-1 | 69.53 | 28 | +3 |
What the Next Few Weeks Look Like
The Ohio high school football rankings are going to keep shifting — probably more than people expect. The margins at the top are razor thin, and one bad Friday night for Elder, Washington, or Bishop Watterson completely reshapes this picture.
The teams with perfect records are running out of room to hide. Schedules get harder. The competition gets better. And by mid-October, a lot of these 4-0 records are going to start taking some damage.
I genuinely believe Trotwood-Madison is worth watching closely after that seven-spot jump. And Big Walnut at No. 7 — still unbeaten, still rising — feels like a program that wants to make some real noise before the postseason conversation starts.
Elder’s the team to beat right now. But Washington is right there. And Bishop Watterson is basically tied with Washington in the ratings.
This one’s far from settled.
Rankings and ratings reflect Ohio high school football Top 25 data as of September 13, 2026. Records, ratings, and positions will continue to update as the 2026 season progresses. THSST will continue tracking Ohio prep football rankings throughout the season.
