Though a handful of games took place last weekend, high school football season across the United States kicks off in earnest this coming weekend. Most states across the country will be in action as a long offseason comes to an end.
And, for the 15th year in a row, the ESPN networks will air contests from across the nation to a national audience.
The ESPN High School Football Kickoff will consist of five games taking place from Thursday to Sunday. There will be a number of highly-ranked prospects taking part in the nationally-televised games throughout the weekend.
In all, 24 players who are in the Top247 rankings for the classes of 2025, 2026 and 2027Â will be suiting up for their teams.
Thursday, 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2: Loganville (Ga.) Grayson at Alabaster (Ala.) Thompson
Grayson: Nick Brooks (No. 142 overall in 2025, No. 14 OT), Tyler Atkinson (No. 19 overall in 2026, No. 2 LB) and Anthony Davis (No. 239 overall in 2026, No. 17 LB).
Thompson: Auburn commits Jared Smith (No. 19 overall, No. 2 EDGE) and Anquon Fegans (No. 98 overall, No. 9 safety), and Trent Seaborn (No. 97 overall in 2027, No. 9 QB).
Grayson is a traditional power in Georgia, while Thompson has won five straight state titles in Alabama.
Seaborn is only a sophomore for Thompson but has been at the helm of the offense since his eighth-grade season.
In-state Auburn has landed a pair of elite defenders from the program, Smith and Fegans, while Grayson’s top prospects are uncommitted at this point.
Friday, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN: Alpharetta (Ga.) Milton vs. Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) American Heritage
Milton: Clemson commit Brayden Jacobs (No. 131 overall in 2025, No. 12 OT), Georgia commit Ethan Barbour (No. 137 overall in 2025, No. 8 TE) and Florida State commit CJ Wiley (No. 203 overall in 2025, No. 22 WR).
American Heritage: Florida State commit Gregory Xavier Thomas (No. 194 overall in 2025, No. 17 safety), Texas commit Dia Bell (No. 23 overall in 2026, No. 4 QB) and Brandon Bennett (No. 158 overall in 2026, No. 27 WR).
Milton is the defending Class 7A state champion in the Peach State and ranked No. 6 nationally by MaxPreps this season. The WR-TEÂ duo of Wiley and Jacobs is among the best in the country.
American Heritage comes in at No. 20 in the MaxPreps national preseason rankings after reaching the Class 2M state semifinals a season ago.
Bell, a junior quarterback and the son of former NBA standout Raja Bell, was incredibly highly recruited before making an early pledge to Texas. He has a big-time target in fellow junior Bennett.
Saturday, 4 p.m. ET on ESPN: Las Vegas Bishop Gorman at Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas
Bishop Gorman: LSU commit Derek Meadows (No. 32 overall in 2025, No. 6 WR), Miami commit Seuseu Alofaituli (No. 56 overall in 2025, No. 2 IOL), Tennessee commit Douglas Utu (No. 101 overall in 2025, No. 4 IOL), Oregon commit Alai Kalaniuvalu (No. 176 overall in 2025, No. 9 IOL), Jett Washington (No. 16 overall in 2026, No. 2 athlete), James Carrington (No. 111 overall in 2026, No. 12 DL) and Hayden Stepp (No. 58 overall in 2027, No. 7 CB).
St. Thomas Aquinas: Justice Fitzpatrick (No. 35 overall in 2026, No. 1 CB) and Julius Jones (No. 41 overall in 2027, No. 7 WR).
Bishop Gorman is almost always high in the national rankings and enters this year at No. 2 on MaxPreps. The Gaels have won three straight state championships, and 13 of the past 14.
Meadows, a five-star wide receiver, is a big-play threat. The offensive line â led by Alofaituli, Utu and Kalaniuvalu â should have no problem moving opposing defenses.
St. Thomas Aquinas, which has more alumni in the NFL than any other high school, is ranked No. 11 nationally by MaxPreps. Jones, a sophomore wide receiver, comes from an NFL bloodline. Fitzpatrick, a junior cornerback, can cover a lot of ground.
Saturday, 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2: Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco vs. Hollywood (Fla.) Chaminade-Madonna
St. John Bosco: Daniel Odom (No. 247 overall in 2026, No. 38 WR).
Chaminade-Madonna: Jabari Brady (No. 26 overall in 2026, No. 5 WR) and Derrek Cooper (No. 30 overall in 2026, No. 3 athlete).
St. John Bosco does not have quite as much top-end talent as it did in recent seasons, but the team is MaxPreps’ No. 4 team nationally. After winning a state title two years ago, the Braves fell to rival Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei last season and will look to avenge that this year.
Chaminade-Madonna is ranked No. 9 nationally by MaxPreps entering the year, after rolling to an undefeated season and a Class 1M state title a year ago. The Lions have a pair of juniors in the range of five-star status in Brady and Cooper.
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET on ESPN: Rabun Gap (Ga.) Rabun Gap-Nacoochee at Chattanooga (Tenn.) Baylor
Neither of these regional powers have players currently ranked in the Top247 of any classes, but that does not mean that there will not be talent in the game.
Rabun Gap-Nacoochee, which oddly reached the championship game of the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association (NCISAA) last year, is headlined by four-star Georgia Tech offensive line commit Justin Hasenhuetl.
Baylor, which made it to the Division II Class AAA state title game last season, is headlined by four-star athlete Cameron Sparks.