NFCA Fall High School Top 25 Coaches Poll

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Dave Hines, NFCA and USA TODAY HSS Staff

October 27, 2022 5:02 pm ET

Week 10

LOUISVILLE, Ky. —Buford heads into today’s Georgia High School Association (GHSA) Elite Eight matchup against East Coweta as the No. 1 team in the NFCA Summer/Fall High School Top 25 Coaches Poll for a second consecutive week despite suffering its first loss of the season last Thursday.

After breezing past Norcross, 13-0, earlier in the day, the (29-1) Wolves fell 1-0 to Lambert in a state 7A playoff game, but then won four straight, including a 4-0 victory over Cherokee and two more one-run games versus Lambert (5-4 and 4-3 wins) on Friday, and a 9-1 triumph over Parkview on Wednesday. Buford, a 10-time state titlist, remains alive to win its first crown in its current classification.

Second-ranked Columbine (28-1) wrapped up its season on Saturday with a 7-3 victory over then-No. 14 Douglas County (26-3) in the Colorado state 5A final, and No. 3 Westfield School (28-0) capped an unbeaten season with a 6-5 win over then-No. 18 Tattnall Square Academy (29-7) in the Georgia Independent Athletic Association Class AAA championship.

Later today, No. 4 Pope (32-1) plays River Ridge in the GHSA Class 6A Elite Eight, while fifth-ranked Blue Springs South (31-2) returns to action against Marquette in the Missouri Class 5 state semis.

No. 7 Lutheran (28-1) beat then-No. 21 Holy Family, 3-0, last Saturday for the Colorado state Class 4A championship, and 12th-ranked Washington plays No. 17 Helias Catholic in today’s Missouri Class 4 state semis. Fourteenth-ranked Fatima (31-3) rolled past Seneca, 9-0, and faces Westminster Christian Academy in tomorrow’s Missouri Class 3 state semis.

Legend (22-6) gained one spot this week after its ranked loss to Douglas County in the state semis, while North Gwinnett stayed put at No. 23 after a 3-2 win over North Paulding advanced the (27-6) Bulldogs to the GHSA Class 7A Elite Eight.

State rankings submitted by the 2022 NFCA High School Steering Committee are used to compile the NFCA Summer/Fall High School Top 25 Coaches Poll. Teams are chosen based on performance, roster quality, strength of schedule, and active NFCA membership.