The Sporting News CIF-Southern Section Top 25 football rankings (Week 9)

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Here are The Sporting News' CIF-Southern Section top 25 football team rankings for Week Nine of the 2025 season (Oct. 20-26).

The rankings will be updated every week throughout the season.

PREVIOUS RANKINGS: Week One | Week Two | Week Three | Week Four | Week Five | Week Six | Week Seven | Week Eight

1. St. John Bosco (8-0 – 1st last week)

The Trinity League championship is now St. John Bosco's to lose after it handed Santa Margarita its first conference loss. A win against Servite and loss against Mater Dei would most likely force a three-way tie for first place.

2. Corona Centennial (7-1 – 2nd)

Centennial is the only unbeaten team left in Big West - Upper play after last week's 48-20 win over Murrieta Valley. The Huskies didn't budge after an even first half and upped their game on both ends to win comfortably.

3. Sierra Canyon (8-0 – 3rd)

After losing the first quarter 7-0, Sierra Canyon dominated the last three quarters to beat Notre Dame  (Sherman Oaks) 45-10. Bishop Amat and Loyola stand in the way of another undefeated regular season and Mission League title.

4. Mater Dei (5-2 – 5th)

Mater Dei kept its winning streak alive against traditional rival Servite with a 29-19 victory in which it led 29-7 after three quarters. Speaking of rivals, it has one more week to build momentum before facing St. John Bosco with a Week Nine game against JSerra.

5. Mission Viejo (7-1 – 6th)

The Diablos are still unbeaten against in-state competition following a 34-16 win over rival San Clemente. They close the regular season with Alpha League games against Edison (Huntington Beach) and Los Alamitos.

6. Santa Margarita (5-3 – 4th) 

After a win against Mater Dei and solid effort against St. John Bosco, one could argue Santa Margarita should be higher. Especially given the difference Trent Mosley has made since coming back from injury, and the fact that he wasn't there in the shutout loss against Bishop Gorman. That game is currently the difference of roughly three spots for the Eagles, who still have a feasible path to leaping up before the season ends.

7. Orange Lutheran (4-4 – 7th)

A lot of fans and media got quite down on OLu after its blowout loss to St. John Bosco and competitive loss against Mater Dei. Whether or not the Lancers can stay top-eight down the stretch is yet to be determined, but a 63-23 rout of JSerra should remind the critics that this is still a national-caliber football team.

8. Servite (5-3 – 8th)

A 10-point loss to Mater Dei is fine for Servite's stock. The Friars hope for a better result this week as an underdog again versus St. John Bosco.

9. Los Alamitos (8-0 – 9th)

Los Al has now scored more than 40 points six games in a row after defeating Edison (Huntington Beach) 41-22. This week brings an intriguing game as San Clemente may or may not be able to give Dons a run for their money before Mission Viejo gets its shot.

10. Murrieta Valley (6-2 – 10th)

There is zero reason to move the Nighthawks down after their 48-20 loss to Corona Centennial. They played Centennial evenly in the first half and made a national title contender earn it for the Big West - Upper title. Most importantly, Murrieta Valley's resume speaks for itself with wins over Rancho Cucamonga, Norco, Chaparral, and San Clemente.

11. Corona del Mar (8-0 – 11th)

CdM's defense led the way for the second week in a row as the Sea Kings defeated Villa Park 21-3. At this point, Corona del Mar is a threat to win not only the Bravo League but perhaps the CIF-SS D2 title as well.

12. San Juan Hills (6-2 – 12th)

Back-to-back statement wins after the painful Corona del Mar loss. The Stallions steamrolled Newport Harbor 47-10 to keep hope alive for a 2025 Bravo League title.

13. Crean Lutheran (8-0 – 13th)

While Crean Lutheran still hasn't played an elite strength of schedule this season, it's continued to make statement after statement against very good competition. Last week's 56-21 win against La Habra sets up a winner-take-all Epsilon League championship on Friday against Huntington Beach.

14. Damien (7-1 – 15th)

Damien has a chance for one more statement win before the playoffs heading to formidable Chino Hills as the heavy favorite. Rancho Cucamonga has stayed hot since upsetting the Spartans, which has been great for the Spartans' stock.

15. Pacifica-Oxnard (8-0 – 14th)

It was business as usual last week as the Tritons beat Camarillo 42-16 in Marmonte League play. They'll be the heavy favorite to finish strong against Simi Valley and Bishop Diego, but those wins probably won't come very easily.

16. Rancho Cucamonga (4-4 – 19th)

Last week's 41-0 thrashing of Ayala marked a season-high three-game winning streak for the Cougars. This week brings a rivalry match against an Etiwanda team that often raises its level of play against Rancho.

17. JSerra (3-5 – 16th)

JSerra will need to pull a big upset over Mater Dei and/or Santa Margarita to finish with more than three wins this regular season, and that would help its push for a playoff berth too of course. That's just how it is playing one of the hardest schedules in high school football.

18. Chaparral (4-4 – 19th)

The third powerhouse in a row in the rankings that's only .500 due to its strength of schedule. Chaparral looks for a statement win this week against Roosevelt (Eastvale) before facing national title contender Corona Centennial.

19. Leuzinger (6-1 – 17th)

Leuzinger can ice the Bay League title race this week with a win against Mira Costa, and it'll be the heavy favorite to do so – although beating Mira Costa is nothing to sneeze at. The Olympians have now outscored opponents 301-101 through seven games.

20. Tustin (7-1 – 19th)

Another week, another blowout win. The Tillers crushed El Modena 51-7 to stay unbeaten in Delta League play with Western and Capistrano Valley left on the docket.

21. San Clemente (4-4 – 20th)

As expected, San Clemente came ready for a battle against Mission Viejo. It managed to play the Diablos evenly for a half before running out of steam in the third quarter, and still was able to avoid blowout. The Tritons look to regroup in one of the top games of the week, an Alpha League battle with Los Alamitos.

22. Downey (7-1 – 22nd)

It's once again time for one of the Southern Section's top rivalry games – Downey (Downey) and Warren battling for a Gateway League title. Downey is the overwhelming favorite after beating the Bears 27-7 a year ago.

23. Vista Murrieta (6-2 – 23rd)

After winning their first six games and then opening Big West - Upper play 0-2, the Broncos must've felt good letting off steam last week in a 42-0 beatdown of Roosevelt (Eastvale). They look to upset rival Murrieta Valley this week and probably have something of a shot, especially returning home after four straight road games.

24. Yorba Linda (6-2 – 24th)

The Mustangs scored a season-high 42 points last week in a 28-point victory over Tesoro. They're the heavy favorite against this week facing Newport Harbor before hosting Corona del Mar for a chance to force a tie atop the Bravo League.

25. Oak Hills (6-2 – 25th)

Oak Hills' fifth straight sweep of the Mojave River League is probably going to be reality in two games. It would need to get upset by both Burroughs (Ridgecrest) and Hesperia to be disqualified from at least a share of the conference title.

ON THE BUBBLE:

Inglewood, Aquinas, Norco, Mira Costa

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