We'll be doing bi-weekly football rankings of our Bucks County area big- and small-school teams throughout the season, but now it's time for the preseason rankings. They are the toughest to do because
rosters have changed, nobody has played a game, and weird things just seem to happen.
All of that aside, let's give it a go.
The small-school rankings are for teams in PIAA Class A, 2A and 3A while the big-school rankings are for 4A, 5A and 6A teams.
Starting after Week Two of the season, we'll have our second big-school rankings followed by our second small-school rankings after Week Three and so on through the end of the season.
Here we go with the small-school rankings (last year's record in parentheses):
1. Lansdale Catholic (12-3)
The Crusaders, who moved up from Class 2A to 3A, reached the PIAA semifinals last year before losing to eventual state champion, and state power, Southern Columbia. They lost some key components to graduation but return two-way linemen studs in Terrance Smith (an LSU commit) and Luke Doheny.
2. Archbishop Wood (4-7)
A young Vikings team struggled in close games last year (they had five losses by one score or less), but this Wood team is seasoned now led by three-year starting quarterback Jake Drakeley, who will have a massive offensive line in front of him.
3. Palisades (7-4)
The Pirates, who beat Bristol on Opening Night last year and host the Warriors on Friday, are young. And the loss of standout wide receiver Lincoln Cook (a Northwestern commit) to injury, for at least a chunk of the season, takes away a big part of the Palisades offense.
4. Bristol (10-3)
The Warriors, coming off one of the best seasons in school history where they reached the PIAA District One/12 Class 2A finals before losing to Lansdale Catholic, will be stout on defense led by senior defensive end Eddie Diaz and senior defensive tackle Dom Capriotti.
5. Morrisville (7-6)
The Bulldogs made it to the PIAA District One/12 Class A title game last year and have some firepower with the likes of senior running back I'zire Caraway and senior quarterback Merik Johnson returning.
Drew Markol covers local sports for PhillyBurbs.com. Support our journalism with a subscription.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Small-school high school football rankings feature 2025 PIAA semifinalist
