With the 2025 fall high school sports season officially over, here’s a look at the final Boston Globe Top 20 rankings
Football
In the middle of season, the Xaverian football team was dealt back-to-back losses by Springfield Central and Central Catholic.
But the Hawks went undefeated the rest of the way to earn a third straight Division 1 Super Bowl and their first Catholic Conference crown since 2018, finishing as the easy choice atop the Globe’s final Top 20 football poll.
Catholic Memorial bounced back from its first setback in conference play under John DiBiaso by rolling to a fourth Division 2 title in five years, and King Philip, which has only lost to CM once over its last 38 games, navigated a tough Division 3 field for a fourth Super Bowl title.
Scituate prevailed over Tewksbury in one of the best high school finals seen at Gillette Stadium to repeat as D4 champion. Shawsheen went back-to-back in D5 while extending a state-best 27-game win streak, Fairhaven won a second D6 crown in three years, and South Shore League programs Cohasset and Randolph earned their second state titles since 2021.
Natick, Methuen, and Barnstable didn’t get the results they wanted in the playoffs, but had a strong body of work, as did a Winchester program that won the Middlesex Liberty for the first time this century.
North Attleborough had a magical run back to the D3 final as a No. 7 seed and Mansfield edged Foxborough on Thanksgiving to showcase the depth of the Hockomock League.
Top 20 football poll
The Globe poll as of Dec. 14, 2025. Teams were selected by the Globe sports staff.
Boys’ soccer
After capturing the program’s first Division 1 title, Natick reigns atop the final Top 20. The Redhawks took down No. 2 St. John’s Prep, 3-2, in an instant classic of a D1 title game, which vividly showed the top two teams in the state battling blow for blow.
Division 2 runner-up Duxbury finishes the year fourth, falling to West Springfield in the championship after a tremendous run. Division 1 semifinalists Newton South and Concord-Carlisle round out the top five at No. 3 and 5, respectively. No. 6 Norwell capped an undefeated season with victory over No. 16 Greater New Bedford in the Division 3 championship — the Clippers finished with 23 wins and one tie in 24 games.
Oliver Ames, BC High, Framingham, and Dartmouth round out the top 10. Division 5 champion Boston International enters the rankings for the first time at No. 20, after the Lions ran the table and took down Hopedale to capture the first title for a Boston City League team.
Top 20 boys’ soccer poll
The Globe poll as of Dec. 14, 2025. Teams were selected by the Globe sports staff.
Girls’ soccer
Medfield’s dominance culminated in a Division 3 championship and the No. 1 ranking. The Warriors outscored their opposition by a stunning 123-16 margin, including 9-2 in the tournament. Natick, the Division 1 champion, and Duxbury, the champion of D2, follow closely behind. Natick capped its run over Franklin, a talented team which caught fire during the second half of the season. Duxbury’s championship came on the heels of falling a game short a season prior.
Two teams enter the poll, each off the back of strong performances in the D2 playoffs: King Philip returns for the first time since Oct. 8 and Marblehead makes its debut.
Globe Top 20 girls’ soccer poll
The Globe poll as of Dec. 14, 2025. Teams were selected by the Globe sports staff.
Girls’ volleyball
For the first time, the Hockomock League had two state champions! Franklin finished a dominant Division 1 postseason by toppling three-time defending champion Newton North, looking like the clear better team. Oliver Ames completed an undefeated season in D2, having taken down Franklin early on. They each climb into the top five of the final poll.
Newton South’s dream run ended against Franklin in the semifinals, but the Lions proved to be one of the state’s best. Bellingham, East Bridgewater, and Hopedale made it so all five state champions were first-time winners. Winchester and Needham only lost to Newton North in the regular season, and drew each other in the round of 16, with the winner going to … Newton North. It was a tough quadrant of the D1 tournament.
Prior to 2024, neither Wayland program had reached a volleyball state final. The girls’ team this fall made it three appearances for the school, though it still seeks its first championship.
Top 20 girls’ volleyball poll
The Globe poll as of Dec. 14, 2025. Teams were selected by the Globe sports staff.
Field hockey
With a three-peat in Division 1, the program’s 15th overall title, Walpole finishes the season ranked No. 1. No. 2 Somerset Berkley went back-to-back as D2 champion, shutting out No. 4 Hingham. No. 3 Sandwich held Uxbridge to three goals in the D3 final — tied for its lowest single-game scoring output of the season. Division 1 runner-up Franklin shoots up seven spots to No. 5 after a phenomenal postseason run, which included a semifinal win over No. 6 Wellesley.
No. 10 Watertown lost to juggernaut Uxbridge in the D3 semifinals, but not before knocking off No. 16 Medfield, which put up solid defensive performances in the postseason.
King Philip makes its first Top 20 appearance, and the Division 4 champion, Dennis-Yarmouth, climbs the rankings to No. 14 after an electric performance to end a seven-year title drought.
Top 20 field hockey poll
The Globe poll as of Dec. 14, 2025. Teams were selected by the Globe sports staff.
Boys’ cross-country
After entering the season with an unproven lineup, perennial power Brookline finishes No. 1 after capturing the program’s fourth consecutive Division 1 state title.
Bay State foe Natick finished second at All-States, and Concord-Carlisle, after topping the Globe rankings throughout the season, placed third. Lexington and Cambridge both finished in the top five at the Division 1 championship, and St. John’s Prep, after ascending as high as third following an impressive Catholic Conference title meet performance, fell back to sixth.
Risers in the final poll included No. 8 Arlington, which finished third in the Middlesex but well above league foe Reading at All-States, and No. 10 Latin Academy/Boston Public Schools, which won its first state title in Division 2.
Globe Top 20 boys’ cross-country poll
The Globe poll as of Dec. 14, 2025. Teams were selected by the Globe sports staff.
Girls’ cross-country
The top of the poll ends the season the same way it began, with Lexington atop the rankings and Billerica in the No. 2 spot. The Minutemen dominated the season from start to finish, culminating in wins at the Middlesex League meet, Division 1A race, and Division 1 All-State meet.
Newton North rode a stellar season in the Bay State to a third-place finish at Division 1 All-States, and Concord-Carlisle and Westford Academy finish at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively, after they dominated the Dual County League and scored top-five All-State placements.
Late-season risers include No. 8 Weymouth, which posted a solid Bay State campaign before surging to a top-10 finish in Division 1 , and No. 10 Latin Academy/Boston Public Schools, which came onto the radar with a win at Twilight Invitational in October and followed it up with the Division 2 state title.
No. 13 Canton also finishes with its highest ranking of the season, after capturing its first Hockomock crown in 47 years and placing second at Division 2 All-States. Greater Lowell enters the poll at No. 16 after winning the Division 3 state title, and No. 17 Brookline also makes its first appearance after placing inside the top 15 at Division 1 All-States.
Top 20 girls’ cross-country poll
The Globe poll as of Dec. 14, 2025. Teams were selected by the Globe sports staff.
Mike Puzzanghera, Cam Kerry, Alexandria Evans, Matty Wasserman, and AJ Traub contributed.
Nate Weitzer can be reached at nweitzer7@gmail.com. Follow him on X @nweitzer7.