Indiana Preps | The State — Power 25 Football Rankings
Nine weeks are finished.
The résumé-building portion of the season is over.
Now the tournament gets the final word.
Brownsburg and Warren Central close the regular season exactly where they have spent most of it, at Nos. 1 and 2. Westfield holds at No. 3. Lawrence North stays at No. 4 after finishing 7-2. Crown Point and Penn complete an undefeated top six.
The biggest movement comes farther down.
Roncalli climbs after beating East Central. Zionsville makes the largest jump in the poll. Evansville Memorial finishes the regular season 9-0 and continues to rise. Northridge and Lafayette Jefferson enter the Top 25.
And South Bend St. Joseph is the team squeezed out after running into Penn.
INDIANA PREPS FINAL REGULAR-SEASON POWER 25
| Rank | Team | Previous | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brownsburg | 1 | 9-0 |
| 2 | Warren Central | 2 | 9-0 |
| 3 | Westfield | 3 | 8-1 |
| 4 | Lawrence North | 4 | 7-2 |
| 5 | Crown Point | 5 | 9-0 |
| 6 | Penn | 6 | 9-0 |
| 7 | Carroll (Fort Wayne) | 7 | 8-1 |
| 8 | Center Grove | 8 | 7-2 |
| 9 | Cathedral | 9 | 6-3 |
| 10 | Bishop Dwenger | 11 | 8-1 |
| 11 | Bishop Chatard | 12 | 7-2 |
| 12 | Carmel | 14 | 5-4 |
| 13 | Roncalli | 16 | 7-2 |
| 14 | Zionsville | 24 | 7-2 |
| 15 | Merrillville | 15 | 8-1 |
| 16 | Bloomington South | 13 | 7-2 |
| 17 | Decatur Central | 17 | 8-1 |
| 18 | East Central | 10 | 7-2 |
| 19 | New Palestine | 19 | 6-3 |
| 20 | Evansville Memorial | 23 | 9-0 |
| 21 | East Noble | 20 | 9-0 |
| 22 | Andrean | 21 | 8-1 |
| 23 | Floyd Central | 25 | 8-1 |
| 24 | Northridge | NR | 9-0 |
| T-25 | Lafayette Jefferson | NR | 7-2 |
| T-25 | Warsaw | 18 | 8-1 |
Dropped out: South Bend St. Joseph (8-1)
In consideration: Danville, South Putnam
The Top Six Leave No Real Argument
Brownsburg finishes 9-0 after closing with a 35-7 win at Hamilton Southeastern. The Bulldogs scored 386 points and allowed 95, an average of 42.9 to 10.6, and went 7-0 in the Hoosier Crossroads. No team combined résumé, margin and week-to-week consistency better.
Warren Central also finishes 9-0, and its path was different. The Warriors had to survive more high-leverage games and still finished unbeaten while winning the MIC outright, the program’s first title since 2019. Keyon Thomas followed his 379-yard, six-touchdown game against Lawrence North with 230 yards and three touchdowns against Carmel.
Westfield’s lone loss remains Brownsburg. The Shamrocks finished 8-1 with a win over Franklin Central, where Cooper Melvin Jr. threw four first-half touchdown passes.
Lawrence North’s two losses came against Brownsburg and Warren Central. That matters when evaluating 7-2 against teams carrying cleaner records but lighter schedules.
Crown Point and Penn did what undefeated teams are supposed to do: kept winning. Crown Point closed with a 47-0 win at Michigan City to finish 350-65 on the season. Penn’s 38-7 win over previously unbeaten South Bend St. Joseph was one of the most convincing statements of the final Friday.
There was no reason to force movement simply because the regular season ended.
The top six earned their places.
Roncalli Made the Loudest Move in 4A
Roncalli went to St. Leon and beat East Central 28-10.
That is the result that reshapes the middle of this poll.
East Central entered Week 9 as the No. 10 team in the Indiana Preps rankings and one of the top-ranked teams in Class 4A. Roncalli was No. 16. Luke Roeder had 170 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, including a receiving score and a kickoff return touchdown.
Head-to-head settles plenty.
The Royals move three spots to No. 13. East Central falls eight spots to No. 18.
That might look severe until the context is considered. Roncalli has now won six straight after a 1-2 start, and its late-season résumé includes New Palestine and East Central. The defense has become the defining part of the turnaround. The Royals have won six of the last eight meetings in the series.
East Central is still 7-2 and remains a legitimate 4A championship threat. But the final regular-season board should reflect what happened on the field.
Roncalli was better Friday.
East Central’s slide opens the door behind it. Bishop Dwenger moves up one spot to No. 10 at 8-1, and Bishop Chatard moves up one to No. 11 at 7-2 after an out-of-state loss at Cincinnati Elder. Sagarin rates Chatard No. 1 in Class 4A, and an out-of-state result does not change that evaluation.
Zionsville Made Us Correct the Board
No team moves more than Zionsville.
The Eagles climb from No. 24 to No. 14.
That is not a cosmetic adjustment. It is an admission that we had them too low.
Zionsville finishes 7-2, and its résumé looks better when the full season is stacked together. The Eagles beat Avon 33-13 and Fishers 45-7, with Theo Schott catching seven passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns in the Fishers game. They played one of the stronger schedules in the state and closed the regular season looking more like a second-tier 6A contender than the back end of a Top 25.
The computer metrics support the move. Sagarin rates Zionsville 15th overall in Indiana, and RAMS Ratings had the Eagles seventh overall statewide entering the tournament, ahead of multiple teams we previously carried higher.
The bracket makes it more interesting. MaxPreps projects Brownsburg at Zionsville in the Oct. 30 sectional final.
This is what a final regular-season ranking is supposed to do.
Not preserve August opinions.
Correct them.
Carmel at No. 12 Despite Four Losses
Carmel is 5-4.
That record will make the ranking look aggressive.
The schedule is why it stays.
The Greyhounds played one of the most difficult slates in Indiana and finished the regular season by beating Lawrence Central 38-35. Chris Harris ran for 151 yards and two touchdowns, including an 80-yard score, in a game Carmel won by three.
Their losses came against high-end opponents. Their wins still carry value.
This is not a reward for brand name. It is an acknowledgement that record alone cannot be the entire ranking formula when schedules differ this dramatically.
Carmel has more losses than most teams around it.
It has also been tested more often.
Center Grove Stopped the Slide
Center Grove stays No. 8 after beating Bloomington South 28-14.
The result mattered for both teams. Center Grove had just lost to Lawrence North and needed to look like a top-10 team again before entering the tournament. It did. Roman Youngs caught three passes for 153 yards and two touchdowns.
Bloomington South falls three spots to No. 16.
That should not be interpreted as writing off the Panthers. The loss came against one of the state’s strongest 6A programs, and Bloomington South remains one of the more credible teams in Class 5A.
The final score simply provided another data point.
Center Grove is still ahead.
Cathedral Finishes Stronger Than Its Record Looks
Cathedral is 6-3 and stays No. 9.
That is one of the least conventional records in the Top 10.
The Irish finished the regular season with a 38-16 win over Archbishop Hoban after earlier beating St. Xavier and Bishop Chatard. Xavier Dangerfield ran for 148 yards and two touchdowns and added a 75-yard kickoff return touchdown. Their losses came against Ben Davis, Loyola Academy and Trotwood-Madison.
No 5A team played a schedule that looked quite like that.
Cathedral enters the postseason with three losses and a résumé that still places it among the most dangerous teams in Indiana.
Evansville Memorial Finally Reaches the Top 20
Evansville Memorial climbs from No. 23 to No. 20.
There was nowhere else to go.
The Tigers finished 9-0 after beating Castle 37-14. Luke Brown threw for 211 yards and a touchdown, Gene Aimone produced 169 total yards and Grayson Carter continued to impact the game defensively.
The last three weeks are what force the move. Memorial beat previously unbeaten Reitz 30-27. Then it erased a 21-point deficit against previously unbeaten Floyd Central. Then it beat Castle by 23.
At some point, being 9-0 with that closing résumé matters more than where the team began the season.
Memorial still sits behind several larger-class programs because of strength of schedule and depth of résumé. But No. 20 feels much closer to where the Tigers belong.
East Noble Is 9-0 and Still Only No. 21
That one requires explanation too.
East Noble closed the regular season with a 47-0 win over Bellmont and finished 9-0. The Knights allowed just 58 points over their final six games.
The ranking is not an indictment of the season. It is a function of an overall statewide poll.
East Noble is being compared with 6A, 5A and 4A teams that played heavier schedules and accumulated more high-end wins. Within Class 4A, the Knights belong squarely in the championship discussion. Overall, they remain just outside the top 20.
Those two things can both be true.
Floyd Central Recovered
Floyd Central moves back up to No. 23 after beating New Albany 50-7.
The Highlanders’ only loss remains the 34-28 defeat to Evansville Memorial after leading 21-0. That loss still matters. So does everything else.
Floyd Central is 8-1 and answered its first defeat by immediately putting another convincing win on the board. That is enough to keep the Highlanders firmly inside.
New Palestine holds at No. 19 at 6-3 after a 63-7 win over Delta.
Northridge Earns Its Way Into the Top 25
Northridge gets the late-season breakthrough.
The Raiders finish the regular season 9-0 after beating previously unbeaten Warsaw 37-30 in one of Week 9’s most important games.
That result carries real weight.
Warsaw entered 8-0 and ranked No. 18 in the Indiana Preps Power 25. Northridge entered with the same record and left with the Northern Lakes Conference championship and the only perfect record between them.
The Raiders have been productive all season, but the Warsaw win gave them the signature result they needed.
Northridge enters the final regular-season ranking at No. 24.
Lafayette Jefferson and Warsaw Share the Final Spot
There was not enough separation between Lafayette Jefferson and Warsaw to force one out.
So they share No. 25.
Lafayette Jefferson finishes 7-2 after opening the season 0-2 and winning seven straight. The Bronchos earned their way into the ranking through sustained improvement and one of the strongest late-season runs in the state.
Warsaw finishes 8-1 after spending most of the season unbeaten. The Tigers’ only loss came against Northridge in a 37-30 Week 9 game between undefeated teams.
Warsaw drops from No. 18, but an eight-win season and the overall body of work are still enough to keep the Tigers on the board.
Jeff has the momentum.
Warsaw has the stronger full-season record.
At No. 25, we are leaving them together.
South Bend St. Joseph Is the Odd Team Out
This is probably the toughest exclusion.
St. Joseph is 8-1. Its only loss is Penn. That is usually enough to stay ranked.
The problem is the board. Lafayette Jefferson has won seven straight. Floyd Central is 8-1. Andrean is 8-1. East Noble is 9-0. Memorial is 9-0. Northridge is 9-0. Warsaw is 8-1.
Something had to give.
Penn’s 38-7 win created enough separation to move St. Joseph just outside the 25.
That does not mean the Huskies suddenly became a bad team. It means a statewide poll this crowded has very little room for one-sided losses.
Danville and South Putnam Remain Impossible to Ignore
Danville and South Putnam are the two strongest teams still outside.
Danville finished 9-0.
South Putnam finished 9-0 while averaging more than 56 points per game and allowing fewer than five. RAMS Ratings had South Putnam No. 11 overall statewide entering the postseason.
Neither is excluded because the season lacks merit. They are excluded because the Power 25 is not a classification poll. Strength of schedule still matters.
That creates the natural next question. What happens when undefeated smaller-class teams start stacking postseason wins against the best teams available to them?
The bracket gets to answer that now.
Final Regular-Season Takeaway
Brownsburg is still No. 1.
Warren Central is still No. 2.
And after nine weeks, nobody has given us enough reason to change either.
The most meaningful movement happened below them. Roncalli beat East Central and climbed. Zionsville forced a major correction. Memorial finally pushed into the Top 20. Northridge and Lafayette Jefferson earned their way onto the board. South Bend St. Joseph became the casualty.
These rankings are finished.
The evaluation is not.
From here, nobody gets to argue strength of schedule, poll position or résumé forever. The tournament starts settling it on the field.
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