De La Salle tops preseason Super 25

No team has been as consistent in the Super 25 high school football rankings as De La Salle (Concord, Calif.).

The Spartans, renowned for holding the national record for consecutive wins (151 from 1992 to 2003), have finished the season as the No. 1 team in the Super 25 five times. But it has been a decade since the team has finished at the top, despite winning the state Open Division Bowl five of the last six seasons.

That might change this year if the Spartans, the No. 1 team in the preseason USA TODAY Sports Super 25 rankings, can run the table on a schedule that be- gins with a game Aug. 29 against Texas powerhouse Trinity (Euless).

The Spartans return 12 starters, including their quarterback and two running backs, from a state championship team.

Florida leads with five teams in the rankings, including three in the top five, led by No. 2 IMG Academy (Bradenton), which didn’t even have a football team until 2013.

The other Sunshine State teams are No. 3 Miami Central, No. 5 St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale), No. 14 Cocoa and No. 25 Flanagan (Pembroke Pines).

Last year’s Super 25 champion, Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas), is No. 4.

De La Salle leads four California teams in the rankings, joining No. 7 Centennial (Corona), No. 13 St. John Bosco (Bellflower) and No. 24 Bishop Amat (La Puente).

Texas also had four teams: No. 8 DeSoto, No. 9 Cedar Hill, No. 11 Allen and No. 22 Manvel.

While De La Salle hasn’t finished at the top of the rankings since it did so every year in a stretch from 2000 to 2003, it has continued to dominate California.