John Curtis (River Ridge, La.) Retains Top Spot; Bellevue (Wash.) and Katy (Texas) Round Out Top Three in USA TODAY High School Sports Super 25 Football Rankings

--Former No. 2 DeSoto (Texas) falls to now-No. 13 Allen (Texas) in state semifinals, drops out of rankings--

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Dec 18, 2012, 08:30 ET

MCLEAN, Va., Dec. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- John Curtis (River Ridge, La.) retains its No. 1 ranking in the USA TODAY High School Sports Super 25 national high school football editorial rankings for the week of Dec. 17, while Bellevue (Wash.) and Katy (Texas) advance to the Nos. 2 and 3 spots, respectively, in this week's standings.

Former No. 2 DeSoto (Texas) -- a team that has appeared in the top three since September -- saw its undefeated season come to a close last week in the Texas 5A-I state semifinals, losing to Allen (Texas), 51-36 and dropping out of the rankings completely. Allen occupies the No. 13 spot in this week's Super 25, heading into the 5A-I state title game against Lamar (Houston) at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington on Saturday, Dec. 22.

The USA TODAY High School Sports Super 25 rankings appear in today's print edition of USA TODAY Sports and are also available online at USA TODAY High School Sports (www.usatodayhss.com).

The USA TODAY High School Sports Super 25 is now in its 30^th year as the most prestigious high school ranking platform in the nation. Gatorade is the Official Fuel of the Super 25 rankings platform, which includes computer rankings of every major high school football, baseball, boys and girls basketball and boys and girls lacrosse team in the nation.

Steele (Cibolo, Texas), closes out its season at No. 25, following its 45-33 loss to then-No. 4 Katy (Texas) in the 5A-II semifinal game, while then-No. 14 Centennial (Corona, Calif.) fell in the state Open Division bowl to then-No. 6 De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) -- the No. 5 team in this week's rankings -- and ends its season unranked.

St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) advances one spot to round out the top 10, defeating Lincoln (Tallahassee) in the 7A title game. St. Thomas Aquinas is preceded by four schools that have completed their seasons: No. 6 Hoover (Ala.), No. 7 Ensworth School (Nashville), No. 8 Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) and No. 9 Good Counsel (Olney, Md.).

Following is the complete listing of this week's USA TODAY High School Sports football rankings.

USA TODAY High School Sports

High School Football Super 25
For Week of December 17, 2012

John Curtis, River Ridge, La. (14-0)
Bellevue, Wash. (14-0)
Katy, Texas (15-0)
Butler, Matthews, N.C. (15-0)
De La Salle, Concord, Calif. (15-0)
Hoover, Ala. (15-0)
Ensworth School, Nashville (13-0)
Bishop Gorman, Las Vegas (13-1)
Good Counsel, Olney, Md. (11-1)
St. Thomas Aquinas, Fort Lauderdale (13-2)
Kirkwood, Mo. (13-0)
North Allegheny, Wexford, Pa. (16-0)
Allen, Texas (14-1)
Trinity, Louisville (13-1)
Cass Technical, Detroit (12-2)
Norcross, Ga. (15-0)
Cathedral Prep, Erie, Pa. (15-0)
Manatee, Bradenton, Fla. (13-1)
Gilman School, Baltimore (9-2)
Glenbard West, Glen Ellyn, Ill. (14-0)
Lawrence Central, Indianapolis (15-0)
Skyline, Sammamish, Wash. (14-0)
Moeller, Cincinnati (12-3)
Miami Central (12-2)
Steele, Cibolo, Texas (14-1)

For more information on the Super 25, visit USA TODAY High School Sports.

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