VHSL Football Top Tens – Entering October 2026

In a year where there have been quite a few surprising results, more rain delays and thunderstorms to count, and even a tie between powerhouses, the number of teams still chugging along with a goose egg in the loss column is higher than most probably expect. There are 40 undefeated Virginia High School Football teams still remaining to close out the month of September in 2026. Liberty Christian, the winners of three straight Region 3C crowns and back-to-back VHSL Class 3 state titles in 2023-24, is not one of them. That’s because the Bulldogs of LCA suffered a running clock loss by a 42-7 margin at home to Seminole District counterpart Jefferson Forest. Helping keep senior-laden JF among the 40 undefeated Commonwealth programs was sophomore Ayden Hamlet, who flipped the game on its head with his 100-yard pick-six to close out the first half and put the Cavs ahead 28-7, instead of only leading 21-14. Consecutive regular season losses for the first time since 2002 happened for the Oscar Smith Tigers, reigning two-time VHSL Class 6 State Champs, as they were doubled up by Southeastern District foe King’s Fork 28-14. Maryland commit Anthony Henderson Jr. caught six balls for 103 yards and a touchdown, while the defense forced a trio of turnovers for the second game in a row. Junior linebacker Jamir Jiggets was in on 14 tackles. The fascinating bus trip of the year was that made by the Eastside Spartans, who went 391 miles in a span of 6 hours and 16 minutes from Coeburn to Tappahannock to take on the Essex Trojans, the 2024 VHSL Class 1 State Champs. Out-gaining Trojans 270-133, Eastside saw its 6-0 lead after three quarters of play disappear. Essex scored 10 unanswered fourth quarter points to pull out a narrow victory and drop the team, rated No. 1 in the state in the preseason, to 1-3 overall. Quite jarring for a program that returned all 22 starters from last year’s team that started 12-0 overall and fell in the Region 1D Finals for a second consecutive season. Of course, as the calendar turns to October, there are some significant matchups on the docket. Reigning VHSL Class 4 State Champ Varina not only plays a North Carolina heavyweight in Grimsley that beat them 21-14 down in Greensboro last year, but enters a perfect 5-0 overall, having yet to allow more than seven poins in any contest on the campaign. Also in Richmond, Manchester (5-0) travels to Midlothian (4-1), fresh off its big 17-7 upset of Huguenot, expected to be one of the top contenders in Class 4 and is not long removed from beating Highland Springs 28-7. Salem (5-0) visits Patrick Henry-Roanoke (4-1) in a matchup that figures to tell us a lot about the Spartans and Patriots. What we do know is that Spartans running back Jordan McCadden is having a senior season to remember, having already carried the ball 106 times for 1349 yards – whopping 12.7 yards per carry – and 18 TD’s. Patriots junior QB Jake Painter is coming off a 56-0 shutout of Hidden Valley where he completed 11 of 13 passes for 379 yards and 5 TD’s. Other matchups involving ranked teams includes Handley (4-0) putting its unblemished mark on the line at Kettle Run (4-1), the Class 3 runner-up from a year ago; Heritage-Lynchburg (4-0) traveling to Richmond to take on Thomas Jefferson (3-1); unbeatens William Byrd (4-0) and Radford (4-0) squaring off; and Essex (3-1) visiting King William (3-1). Below you can find the latest spreadsheet table + rankings for all six classifications that include hyperlinks to our in-depth team previews if you happened to miss any of them from our countdown during the month of August. See Last Week’s VHSL Football Top Tens Here CLASS 6: Rank:Last Week:Team:Record:Result:11Madison4-1W 14-0 George Marshall23Thomas Dale4-0W 21-0 Prince George35South Lakes4-0Idle48South County3-1W 55-19 Robinson59Brooke Point4-0W 35-28 Riverbend in 3OT66Manchester5-0W 18-8 Cosby77Centreville4-1W 31-14 Washington-Liberty810Oakton4-0Idle9HMBattlefield4-1W 35-21 Independence102Oscar Smith1-2-1L 14-28 King’s Fork Dropped Out: #4 West Springfield (3-2) fell to #8 South County 31-21 Honorable Mention: Westfield (4-0)Stafford (4-0)Colonial Forge (4-1)Woodbridge (3-1)Langley (4-1)Alexandria City (5-0) Recording 14 total tackles, junior linebacker Jamir Jiggetts made plays all over the field as King’s Fork limited Oscar Smith to just 190 total yards in a 28-14 road win over the Tigers (Photo by Matthew Hatfield of VirginiaPreps.com) CLASS 5: Rank:Last Week:Team:Record:Result:11Maury2-2W 58-6 Churchland23King’s Fork3-0W 28-14 Oscar Smith32Indian River4-0W 47-14 Grassfield44Highland Springs4-1W 38-0 L.C. Bird55Stone Bridge4-1W 40-28 Woodgrove66Bethel5-0W 62-0 Kecoughtan78PH-Roanoke4-1W 56-0 Hidden Valley89Green Run4-1W 38-6 Bayside97Riverbend4-1L 28-35 Brooke Point in 3OT1010Cox 4-1W 28-0 Tallwood Honorable Mention: Midlothian (4-1)Lightridge (4-0)Salem-VB (3-1)Hermitage (3-2)Kellam (4-1) Xander Coleman and the Jefferson Forest Cavaliers have scored at least 42 points in every win this season, with the latest of their five running clock victories coming over three-time reigning Region 3C Champ Liberty Christian (Photo by Bob Lanum of BobLimages.com) CLASS 4: Rank:Last Week:Team:Record:Result:11Varina4-0-1W 49-7 Henrico23Jefferson Forest5-0W 42-7 LCA34GW-Danville4-0W 34-14 Lord Botetourt42Huguenot3-1L 7-17 Midlothian55Woodgrove4-1L 28-40 Stone Bridge68Sherando5-0W 42-6 Brentsvillee77Louisa4-0W 42-35 Fluvanna810Salem5-0W 49-13 Blacksburg99Lafayette2-1Idle10HMLoudoun Valley5-0W 27-8 Potomac Falls Dropped Out: #6 Hampton (3-1) fell to Glen Allen 48-41 Honorable Mention: John Handley (4-0)Warhill (3-0)James Wood (3-1)Hanover (3-1) Tre’Meek Hudson and the Pioneers of Heritage-Lynchburg ascend to the No. 1 spot in Class 3, winning each of their first four games in 2026 by at least 15 points as they gear up for a key out-of-district matchup at Thomas Jefferson-Richmond (Photo by Matthew Hatfield of VirginiaPreps.com) CLASS 3: Rank:Last Week:Team:Record:Result:12Heritage-Lynchburg4-0W 46-7 Rustburg23Petersburg3-0W 40-0 Colonial Heights34Magna Vista5-0W 34-7 Staunton River45Turner Ashby4-0W 42-7 Strasburg56Broadway5-0W 35-0 Rocktown61Liberty Christian3-1L 7-42 Jefferson Forest77William Byrd4-0Idle89Kettle Run4-1W 24-20 Millbrook910Brookville5-0W 35-0 Amherst10HMCarroll County5-0W 38-6 Patrick County Dropped Out: #8 Booker T. Washington (3-1) fell to Thomas Jefferson-Richmond 25-12 Honorable Mention:East Rockingham (5-0)Tabb (5-0)Hopewell (3-1)Fluvanna (3-1)Lake Taylor (3-2) CLASS 2: Rank:Last Week:Team:Record:Result:11Graham3-1W 27-14 Princeton (WV)22Union4-1W 49-6 Central-Wise33Armstrong4-0W 49-14 King William45Radford4-0W 31-21 James River-Buchanan56Poquoson3-1Idle64Strasburg3-2L 7-42 Turner Ashby78Ridgeview4-1W 43-0 Lee89Central-Lunenburg4-0W 30-13 Randolph-Henry9NRTJ-Richmond3-1W 25-12 Booker T. Washington107King William3-1L 14-49 Armstrong Dropped Out: #10 Randolph-Henry (4-1) fell to #9 Central-Lunenburg 30-13 Honorable Mention:Stuarts Draft (4-1)Buckingham (4-1)Gate City (3-2)Glenvar (3-2) Anchored in the trenches by West Virginia commit Ethan Lawson, the Rye Cove Eagles have gotten off to a strong start in their quest for a third consecutive Region 1D crown CLASS 1: Rank:Last Week:Team:Record:Result:11Rye Cove5-0W 54-21 Castlewood22Chilhowie5-0W 56-22 Northwood33Sussex Central5-0W 30-6 Greensville44Rappahannock4-1W 56-12 Middlesex55Essex3-1W 10-6 Eastside68Buffalo Gap4-1W 41-21 Fort Defiance710Riverheads3-2W 29-24 Wilson Memorial89Craig County3-0W 44-14 Twin Springs9HMGrayson County3-2W 7-0 VA High107Eastside1-3L 6-10 Essex Dropped Out: #6 Northumberland (4-1) fell to Collgiate 59-6 Honorable Mention:Parry McCluer (4-1)Patrick Henry-Glade Spring (4-1)Auburn (4-1) *** Miss our Preseason Top Tens? Check it out here! *** *** Region-by-Region Team Results Here *** *** Weekly Statetwide Scores Here *** *** VHSL Football Standings & Power Points from HarpCrate here *** *** VIP Board features Breaking News, Predictions, Recruiting Nuggets & MORE here! *** *** Join our Interactive Scoreboard Forum here *** *** Discuss the Rankings on our Fall Sports Forum here *** Matthew Hatfield has served as Publisher for VirginiaPreps.com since 2016 and been writing for the web site under the Rivals umbrella dating back to 2004. Matthew also has served as the Play-by-Play Voice for Old Dominion Women’s Basketball since 2021. Check out Hatfield’s Twitter page for more sports related updates. To contact Matthew, please e-mail [email protected], and be sure to Subscribe to CoVA Sports TV, where you can watch and hear his Podcasts.