There's A New No. 1: John Curtis (River Ridge, La.) Takes Over The Top Spot In USA TODAY High School Sports Super 25 Football Rankings

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Dec 11, 2012, 09:40 ET

Former No. 1 Manatee (Bradenton, Fla.) falls in state semifinals, drops to No. 17; St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), Cathedral Prep (Erie, Pa.) and Steele (Cibolo, Texas) enter rankings

MCLEAN, Va., Dec. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- John Curtis (River Ridge, La.) is the new No. 1 team in the USA TODAY High School Sports Super 25 national high school football editorial rankings for the week of Dec. 10, marking the first change at the top of the rankings in nearly three months.

Former No. 1 Manatee HS (Bradenton, Fla.) —the nation's top-ranked team since mid-September—saw its undefeated season come to a close last week in the Florida 7A state semifinals, losing to Fort Lauderdale's St. Thomas Aquinas, 35-18, to finish its season at 13-1 and slip to No. 17 in the Super 25. St. Thomas Aquinas (12-2), which will play Lincoln (Tallahassee) for the state 7A title this Friday night, joins the Super 25 at No. 11.

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.

DeSoto (Texas), at 14-0, moved up to No. 2 in the Super 25 behind John Curtis. DeSoto is followed by 14-0 Bellevue (Wash.), the state's 3A champion, at No. 3, with 14-0 Katy (Texas) at No. 4 and Butler (Matthews, NC) at No. 5 after finishing 15-0 and winning the North Carolina 4AA state title.

Centennial (Corona, Calif.) advanced four spots to No. 14 and defeated then-No. 13 Narbonne (Harbor City, Calif.) in the Southern California Open Division I bowl. Centennial will compete this week against No. 6 De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) for the state Open Division title.

Cathedral Prep (Erie, Pa.) makes its first Super 25 appearance at No. 19 after knocking out then-No. 16 Bishop McDevitt (Harrisburg, Pa.) in the state AAA semifinals.

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 10, 2012

John Curtis, River Ridge, La. (14-0)
DeSoto, Texas (14-0)
Bellevue, Wash. (14-0)
Katy, Texas (14-0)
Butler, Matthews, N.C. (15-0)
De La Salle, Concord, Calif. (14-0)
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, Fla. (12-2)
Kirkwood, Mo. (13-0)
Trinity, Louisville (13-1)
Centennial, Corona, Calif. (14-1)
North Allegheny, Wexford, Pa. (15-0)
Cass Technical, Detroit (12-2)
Manatee, Bradenton, Fla. (13-1)
Norcross, Ga. (14-0)
Cathedral Prep, Erie, Pa. (14-0)
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)
Steele, Cibolo, Texas (14-0)

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

The USA TODAY Sports Media Group encompasses all sports initiatives across USA TODAY Sports and Gannett's more than 100 well-known local media brands. It also includes the sports photography service USA TODAY Sports Images, USA TODAY High School Sports and the hundreds of sites within USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties such as thebiglead.com and mixed martial arts site MMAjunkie.com, among others. USA TODAY is owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI).

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SOURCE USA TODAY Sports Media Group