ESPN High School Football Kickoff Returns for 16th Year

Lily Blum

July 30, 2025

Six Games Across ESPN Platforms, August 14-23
45 Players Ranked in ESPN 300 and ESPN Junior 300, including three of the Top Five Seniors
Ten Top-25 Nationally Ranked Teams Including Six in the Top-Ten

The ESPN High School Football Kickoff returns for its 16th year, Thursday, Aug. 14 – Saturday, Aug. 23. The six-game slate includes 45 players ranked in the ESPN 300 and ESPN Junior 300 and will be featured on ESPN, ESPN2 and the ESPN App. Of the ESPN 300 athletes participating, 22 have committed to top Division I college football programs, including Alabama, BYU, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Miami, Ohio State, Texas, Texas A&M, USC, and Washington.

2025 ESPN High School Football Kickoff Schedule
*Notes: All times are ET
*Player rankings from ESPN 300 (Seniors in the Class of 2026) and ESPN Junior 300 (Class of 2027)

Thursday, August 14

No. 11 Milton (Ga.) at No. 12 Buford (Ga.)
7 p.m. ET on ESPN2 from Buford High School Phillip Beard Stadium in Buford, Ga.

Milton is the reigning back-to-back Georgia state champion (7A in 2023, 5A in 2024). The Eagles finished last season undefeated, and are ranked as the No. 11 team in the country. TE Grant Haviland is the No. 113 ranked junior in the country
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 are ranked No. 12 nationally, and feature No. 55 DT Bryce Perry-Wright (Texas A&M commit) and No. 175 ATH Tyriq Green (Georgia commit), among over a dozen 3-4 star recruits. This game marks the debut of the brand new 10,000 seat Phillip Beard Stadium, the new home for Buford high school football.

Friday, August 22

No. 17 St. Joseph’s Prep (Pa.) vs. No. 9 American Heritage (Fla.)
6 p.m. ET on ESPN2 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, and they enter the season ranked No. 9 nationally. Dia Bell (Texas commit) is No. 4 ranked player overall and the No. 1 QB in the country. WR Brandon Bennett (FSU commit) is the No. 207 ranked senior, while CB Amare Nugent is the No. 274 ranked junior.
Joseph’s Prep has won nine Pennsylvania state championship in the past twelve years, capping off their second three-peat in that time with another 6A state title last season. The Hawks are ranked No. 17 nationally, and return four 3 & 4-star recruits including No. 257 ranked junior – QB Charlie Foulke IV.

Friday, August 22

No. 4 IMG Academy (Fla.) at Hoover (Ala.)
9 p.m. on ESPN2 from the Hoover Metropolitan Complex in Hoover, Ala.

IMG Academy is ranked No. 4 nationally and the Ascenders have an incredible 15 players ranked in the ESPN 300 Senior and ESPN 300 Junior rankings, including four seniors ranked in the top 50.
Hoover advanced to the Alabama 7A semifinals last season (after defeating eventual 7A championship Thompson in the regular season). The Bucs return senior DE Tyson Bacon (Miami commit) and senior WR Jonah Winston (Alabama, Auburn, FSU). RB C.J. Cowley is the No. 209 ranked player in the junior class.

Saturday, August 23

No. 1 Mater Dei (Calif.) at No. 6 St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.)
3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN from the Broward County National Football Showcase at Brian Piccolo Stadium, St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

Mater Dei is ranked No. 1 in the country , after capturing the CIF Open Division Championship last season (their fifth title in seven seasons). The Monarchs senior class is stacked with six ranked players in the ESPN 300, and two additional players ranked in the ESPN Junior 300.
Thomas Aquinas is ranked No. 6 nationally, after making their way to yet another FL 5A state championship (their sixth state title in a row). The Raiders feature No. 42 senior CB Justice Fitzpatrick (Georgia commit), as well as four juniors ranked in the ESPN Junior 300.

No. 5 St. Frances Academy (Md.) vs. No. 8 Chaminade-Madonna (Fla.)
8:00 p.m. on ESPN2 from the Broward County National Football Showcase at Brian Piccolo Stadium, St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

Frances is ranked No. 5 in the country, after capping off last season with a 30-3 win over IMG to end the year. The Panthers feature the No. 2 overall player DE Zion Lee (Maryland commit) and the No. 23 player S Jireh Edwards (Alabama commit); while their junior class features two ESPN 300 ranked players as well.
Chaminade-Madonna has won nine Florida state championships (including four consecutive and seven of the last eight. The Lions are ranked No. 8 in the country, and they return RB Derrek Cooper, the No. 7 overall player and No. 1 ranked RB in the senior class, as well as No. 300 senior WR Denairius Gray (Kentucky commit).

No. 20 Folsom (Calif.) at Grant Union (Calif.)
10:30 p.m. on ESPN from Grant Union High School in Sacramento, Calif.

Folsom enters the season ranked No. 20 nationally. The Bulldogs will look to make another deep CIF playoff run with No. 49 senior Ryder Lyons QB (BYU commit), protected up-front by No. 214 senior Vlad Dyakonov OT (USC commit).
Grant Union is the defending CIF Open Division 2 State Champion (having claimed that title two of the past three seasons). TE Rahzario Edwards is the No. 58 player in the junior class, fielding over 25 offers including: Alabama Florida, Michigan, Miami, Ole Miss, Oregon, and USC to name just a few.

2026 ESPN Senior 300 Participants

Rank	Player	Pos.	High School	College Commitment
2	Zion Elee	DE	St. Frances Academy (Md.)	Maryland
4	Dia Bell	QB-PP	American Heritage (Fla.)	Texas
5	Chris Henry Jr.	WR	Mater Dei (Calif.)	Ohio State
7	Derrek Cooper	RB	Chaminade-Madonna (Fla.)	Texas
18	Keenyi Pope	OT	IMG Academy (Fla.)	USC
22	Jake Kreul	DE	IMG Academy (Fla.)
23	Jireh Edwards	S	St. Frances Academy (Md)	Alabama
26	Mark Bowman	TE-H	Mater Dei (Calif.)	USC
37	Kodi Greene	OT	Mater Dei (Calif.)	Washington
41	D.Q. Forkpa	OLB	IMG Academy (Fla.)
42	Justice Fitzpatrick	CB	St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.)	Georgia
45	Zechariah Fort	S	IMG Academy (Fla.)	Georgia
49	Ryder Lyons	QB-PP	Folsom (Calif.)	BYU
55	Bryce Perry-Wright	DT	Buford (Ga.)	Texas A&M
74	Tomuhini Topui	DT	Mater Dei (Calif.)	USC
158	Kayden Dixon-Wyatt	WR	Mater Dei (Calif.)	Ohio State
169	Shaun Scott	OLB	Mater Dei (Calif.)	USC
175	Tyriq Green	ATH	Buford (Ga.)	Georgia
198	Breck Kolojay	OG	IMG Academy (Fla.)
207	Brandon Bennett	WR	American Heritage (Fla.)	Florida State
214	Vlad Dyakonov	OT	Folsom (Calif.)	USC
244	Cameron McHaney	DT	IMG Academy (Fla.)	Indiana
294	G’Nivre Carr	OG	IMG Academy (Fla.)	Florida
300	Denairius Gray	WR	Chaminade-Madonna (Fla.)	Kentucky

2027 ESPN Junior 300 Participants

Rank	Player	Pos.	High School	College Commitment
4	Zyron Forstall	DE	IMG Academy (Fla.)
13	Mark Matthews	OT	St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.)
31	Osani Gayles	WR	IMG Academy (Fla.)
57	Julius Jones	WR	St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.)
58	Rahzario Edwards	TE-H	Grant Union (Calif.)
87	Aaryn Washington	CB	Mater Dei (Calif.)
100	Larry Moon III	CB	IMG Academy (Fla.)
112	Amarri Irvin	ILB	IMG Academy (Fla.)
113	Grant Haviland	TE-Y	Milton (Ga.)
119	Raylaun Henry	CB	St. Frances Academy (Md.)
121	Zion White	WR	IMG Academy (Fla.)
122	Tranard Roberts	RB	IMG Academy (Fla.)
150	Zayden Gamble	S	St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.)
166	Censere Gaylord	CB	IMG Academy (Fla.)
209	C.J. Cowley	RB	Hoover (Ala.)
227	Danny Lang	CB	Mater Dei (Calif.)
236	Ah’mari Stevens	WR	St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.)	Miami
257	Charlie Foulke IV	QB-PP	St. Joseph’s Prep (Pa.)
274	Amare Nugent	CB	American Heritage (Fla.)
287	Judah Lancaster	TE-H	IMG Academy (Fla.)
300	Sa’Nir Brooks	RB	St. Frances Academy (Md.)

SportsCenter Next:
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