2004 Final AFM Overall National Top 25

1. Carroll (Southlake, Texas)
The coach: Todd Dodge
2004: 16-0, 5A/II state champion. The Dragons have won two state titles and are 47-1 in three seasons at the 5A level. They were the first Texas team to win a National Prep Poll title since 1990 (Aldine).

2. Mission Viejo (Calif.)
The coach: Bob Johnson
2004: 14-0, CIF-SS II champion. The Diablos played the toughest in-state schedule they could put together and triumphed. Has won three titles in four years and 55 of its last 56 games.

3. Colerain (Cincinnati)
The coach: Kerry Coombs
2004: 15-0, Div. I state champion. Some say the 2004 Colerain team compares favorably with national poll champions from Canton McKinley in 1997 and Cincinnati Moeller in 1982 as the best prep team in Buckeye State history. A dominating defense was led by PrepNation.com National Defensive Player of the Year Terrill Byrd.

4. Independence (Charlotte, N.C.)
The coach: Bill Geiler
2004: 15-0, 4AA state champion. The Patriots have become unstoppable with five straight state titles and a 77-game winning streak that is second best in national prep football history.

5. Central Catholic (Pittsburgh)
The coach: Art Walker Jr.
2004: 16-0, AAAA state champion. The Vikings are the first Pennsylvania prep team to win 16 games in a season and the first Western Pennsylvania squad to capture the big-school title since 1995.

6. Hoover (Ala.)
The coach: Rush Propst
2004: 15-0, 6A state champion. The Bucs now have four state championships and just four losses in the past five seasons. No team scored more than 21 on them this year.

7. Armwood (Seffner, Fla.)
The coach: Sean Callahan
2004: 13-1, 4A state champion. The Hawks' only loss this season was a forfeit for using an ineligible player. On the field, they have won 29 straight games and back-to-back state championships.

8. Lowndes (Valdosta, Ga.)
The coach: Randy McPherson
2004: 15-0, AAAAA state champion. The Vikings earned their third state championship and the 26th overall for the titletown of Southern Georgia. Lowndes' championship run included a 30-0 rout of defending champion Camden County.

9. Lakeland (Fla.)
The coach: Bill Castle
2004: 15-0, 5A state champion. The Dreadnaughts rolled to their fourth state championship under Castle. By doing so, Castle earned two distinctions among the Florida prep coaching ranks: The longest span between first and most recent state championships (18 years) and becoming only the second coach to win state titles in three different decades.

10. Joliet Catholic (Ill.)
The coach: Dan Sharp
2004: 14-0, 5A state champion. The Hilltoppers fielded perhaps their most dominant team yet under Sharp, who now has five state titles in eight years at the school.

11. Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, Calif.)
The coach: Kevin Rooney
2004: 14-0, CIF-SS III champion. No Southern California team other than the Knights has been able to compile a current string of three straight division titles.

12. Bellevue (Wash.)
The coach: Butch Goncharoff
2004: 13-0, 3A state champion. The Wolverines started the season by ending Concord (Calif.) De La Salle's 151-game winning streak, and ended it by winning their state-record fourth consecutive state championship. They were led by PrepNation.com National Offensive Player of the Year J.R. Hasty.

13. Union (Tulsa, Okla.)
The coach: Bill Blankenship
2004: 13-1, 6A state champion. The Redskins' archrival Jenks has won seven of the last nine 6A state titles - but Union has now won two of the last three.

14. John Curtis (River Ridge, La.)
The coach: J.T. Curtis
2004: 14-0, 4A state champion. The Patriots won their 19th state championship since 1975 under coach Curtis, the son of the school's outgoing founder and headmaster. Curtis also became the second winningest coach in prep football history during the season.

15. Riverdale (Murfreesboro, Tenn.)
The coach: Gary Rankin
2004: 15-0, 5A state champion. The Warriors capped their ninth trip to the 5A state title game since 1993 with their fourth state championship and third undefeated season.

16. LaGrange (Ga.)
The coach: Steve Pardue
2004: 15-0, AAA state champion. The Grangers fielded a dominant defense that allowed opponents to score in double digits only twice and helped bring the school its 10th state title.

17. South Panola (Batesville, Miss.)
The coach: Ricky Woods
2004: 15-0, 5A state champion. The Tigers have captured lightning in a bottle under Woods, who is now 44-1 in three years at the school. They were the first Mississippi 5A school to ever win 30 straight games

18. Poly (Long Beach, Calif.)
The coach: Raul Lara
2004: 13-1, CIF-SS I champion. Second-ranked Mission Viejo thumped the Jackrabbits by 27 in week four, but Poly's defense responded and allowed just 58 points in the remaining 10 games.

19. Landstown (Virginia Beach, Va.)
The coach: Chris Beatty
2004: 14-0, Class AAA/6 state champion. Remarkably, Landstown is the second consecutive school to win Virginia's largest-school state championship in only its fourth year of operation. It was also the first large-school title for an East Region team since 1995.

20. Christian Brothers (Syracuse, N.Y.)
The coach: Joe Casamento
2004: 13-0, Class AA state champion. The Brothers became the first Section 3 team to win an AA state title and only the third New York team to appear in the final National Prep Poll (AP).

21. Muskegon (Mich.)
The coach: Tony Annese
2004 record: 14-0, Division 2 state champion. A 15-year state-title draught was ended by the 2004 Big Reds, who are the state's all-time winningest program. The title capped an impressive five-year rebuilding job by Annese.

22. DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.)
The coach: Bill McGregor
2004: 10-1, WCAC champion. The Stags lost during the regular season to Good Counsel, but avenged the loss in the WCAC championship game when it mattered the most. It was DeMatha's fourth title in five years.

23. Lufkin (Texas)
The coach: John Outlaw
2004 record: 14-1, 5A/II state semifinalist. The Panthers pushed No. 1 Carroll to its limit in the state playoffs before bowing out, 37-30. Lufkin defeated 5A/I champ Tyler Lee during the regular season and is the only Top 25 team that did not win a state (or equivalent) championship this year.

24. Raymore-Peculiar (Peculiar, Mo.)
The coach: Tom Kruse
2004: 13-0, Class 5 state champion. The Show-Me State's top team won its first-ever state championship behind the pass-catch combo of Carson and Chase Coffman, sons of former NFL tight end Paul Coffman.

25. Bettendorf (Iowa)
The coach: Randy Scott
2004: 13-0, Class 4A state champion. The Bulldogs chomped onto their first state title since 1992 by ending West Des Moines Valley's quest for a third straight crown. Iowa-bound LB Pat Angerer had six tackles for loss and two sacks in the final.

2004 Final AFM Public Schools National Top 25

1. Carroll (Southlake, Texas) 16-0
2. Mission Viejo (Calif.) 14-0
3. Colerain (Cincinnati) 15-0
4. Independence (Charlotte, N.C.) 15-0
5. Hoover (Ala.) 15-0
6. Armwood (Seffner, Fla.) 13-1*
7. Lowndes (Valdosta, Ga.) 15-0
8. Lakeland (Fla.) 15-0
9. Bellevue (Wash.) 13-0
10. Union (Tulsa, Okla.) 13-1
11. Riverdale (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) 15-0
12. LaGrange (Ga.) 15-0
13. South Panola (Batesville, Miss.) 15-0
14. Poly (Long Beach, Calif.) 13-1
15. Landstown (Virginia Beach, Va.) 14-0
16. Muskegon (Mich.) 14-0
17. Lufkin (Texas) 12-1
18. Raymore-Peculiar (Peculiar, Mo.) 13-0
19. Bettendorf (Iowa) 13-0
20. Lee (Tyler, Texas) 12-3
21. Jenks (Okla.) 12-1
22. Killian (Miami) 12-1
23. Rock Hill (S.C.) 13-1
24. Centennial (Corona, Calif.) 13-1
25. Little Rock Central (Ark.) 13-1
*Only loss by forfeit 2003 Final AFM

Private Schools National Top 25

1. Central Catholic (Pittsburgh) 16-0
2. Joliet Catholic (Ill.) 14-0
3. Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, Calif.) 14-0
4. John Curtis (River Ridge, La.) 14-0
5. Christian Brothers (Syracuse, N.Y.) 13-0
6. DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) 10-1
7. Bergen Catholic (Oradell, N.J.) 10-2
8. Evangel (Shreveport, La.) 11-3
9. Bolles (Jacksonville. Fla.) 14-0
10. Don Bosco (Ramsey, N.J.) 10-2
11. Good Counsel (Wheaton, Md.) 11-1
12. St. Bonaventure (Ventura, Calif.) 13-1
13. De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) 8-3-2
14. Valley Christian (San Jose, Calif.) 13-0
15. Mullen (Denver) 13-1
16. St. Joseph Regional (Montvale, N.J.) 11-1
17. Creighton Prep (Omaha, Neb.) 12-1
18. Providence (New Lenox, Ill.) 13-1
19. Cardinal O'Hara (Philadelphia) 11-1
20. Moeller (Cincinnati) 10-3
21. St. Xavier (Louisville, Ky.) 14-1
22. St. Edward (Lakewood, Ohio) 6-6**
23. Lutheran (Orange, Calif.) 13-1
24. Bishop McDevitt (Harrisburg, Pa.) 10-3
25. Benedictine (Cleveland) 12-3
**Four losses by forfeit

Jamie DeMoney is the editor and publisher for PrepNation.com and a contributing writer for
American Football Monthly.