2025 CFC25 Small School RANKINGS: Holy Rosary and Carlton kickoff with top 10 showdown

It’s time to fire up the engine again for another season of CFC25 Small School Ranking madness. There’s already been a ton of games across the country, but even with all the extra information at our disposal, the first ranking of the year has caused a lot of headaches trying to sort out the contenders from the pretenders. Which puts a smile on our faces because that just means it’s going to be another chaotic year full of drama, upsets and triumph.

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TOP HEADLINES

• Holy Trinity Academy hang on to the top spot coming off a dominant campaign, but they’ve had to grind to remain undefeated after three games this year. Jasper Place gave them a good fight in their season opener with the Knights walking away with a 21-16 victory, and Medicine Hat made them work for every inch this past week falling 17-7. For context, Holy Trinity Academy had zero issues in their two games against Medicine Hat in 2024 winning both contests by a combined score of 97-20. So the question remains, is it the Knights who have taken a minor step back this season, or has Medicine Hat taken a giant leap forward? We’ll get a better idea this week with the Knights preparing to take on 9th ranked CFC50 program Raymond, while the Hawks get ready for a massive showdown with 18th ranked CFC50 program Lethbridge CI. The other schools to watch in 4A will be St. Joseph’s, George McDougall, Catholic Central, Austin O’Brien and Cochrane. As of right now it’s looking wide open with every program having reason to believe they can be the one’s to knockoff Holy Trinity Academy this season.

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• Holy Rosary always present a challenge when placing them in the rankings because of their 3A status. They’ve been to 9 straight provincial finals and won the last three in dominant fashion, but they often never get the chance to face other teams on the rankings. This season they scheduled a preseason matchup against Carlton, who are the defending 5A champions out of Saskatchewan, and they were able to secure a huge 22-8 victory that proves they still belong in the top 10 conversation alongside their win over 5A program Paul Kane to begin the year. Carlton’s triumph in the 5A playdowns came as a surprise last season becoming the first team out of the North Saskatchewan league to hoist the provincial trophy since 2017, and only the third since 1995. There’s going to be a lot of pressure to live up to the expectations set by last year’s group of Crusaders, and it’ll be fascinating to watch the season unfold in Saskatchewan with perennial contenders like Bishop J. Mahoney, Weyburn, Central, Yorkton and Greenall looking to get back to the status quo.
• Dalbe-Viau remain the program to beat in Quebec Juvenile DII coming off another Bol d’Or celebration, and they’re off to a flying start with a pair of dominant victories over St-Jean-Vianney and St-Joseph. Deux-Montagnes were the runner-ups last season, but they were no match for Estacades this past week with the Aigles cruising to a 53-12 blowout. We’re looking forward to their upcoming matchup with College de Levis, who’re the third team sitting at 2-0 in the standings. Estacades grabbed both their wins against the only two winless programs, so this will be the first true test to figure out where they stand in the league hierarchy early in the season.

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• The AAA title has been vacated in Manitoba with Tec Voc joining the newly minted AAAA Tier II conference, so it’s now open season with multiple programs vying to fill their spot at the top. They’ve only had one week to stake their claim, but we’ve given the early nod to Churchill after knocking off last year’s runner-ups John Taylor in their season opener 19-3, and Fort Frances after a spectacular 42-0 win over Daniel McIntyre. The other program who made an impression in week one was Dryden, who will have a chance to make their case for a spot on the rankings with a marquee showdown against Fort Frances.
• Our last stop this week is in British Columbia, where the defending AA champions Windsor have yet to hit the field. They hold onto their top spot for now, but there’s plenty of programs who’ve already kicked off with starry eyes and dreams of celebrating at BC Place at the end of the year. Runner-ups Vernon took no prisoners in their first exhibition game against Sardis with a 54-14 victory, and then that’s where it get’s interesting. Robert Bateman have moved up to compete in the AAA conference this season, which leaves a hole in the middle of the rankings trying to figure out who the next best program might be. For now, we’ve placed our bets on John Barsby and Ballenas on the Island after they played to a 28-28 tie, and then both went on to dominate this week with a pair of shutout performances against Earl Marriott and Spectrum. The other programs to keep tabs on early in the year will be College Heights, Handsworth, Holy Cross and South Kamloops.

#	Last	School	City	Prov.	League	Non-League	USA	Results
1	1	Holy Trinity Academy Knights	Okotoks	AB	0-0	3-0	0-0	W 17-7 vs. Medicine Hat
2	5	Dalbé-Viau Aigles D’Or	Lachine	QC	2-0	0-0	0-0	W 36-13 vs. St-Jean-Vianney
3	3	Holy Rosary Raiders	Lloydminster	AB	0-0	2-0	0-0	W 22-8 vs. Carlton (SK)
4	2	Windsor Wolves	North Vancouver	BC	0-0	0-0	0-0	BYE
5	6	Vernon Panthers	Vernon	BC	0-0	1-0	0-0	W 54-14 vs. Sardis
6	7	Holy Cross Hurricanes	Peterborough	ON	0-0	0-0	0-0	BYE
7	UR	Estacades Aigles	Trois-Rivières	QC	2-0	0-0	0-0	W 53-12 vs. Deux-Montagnes
8	4	Carlton Crusaders	Prince Albert	SK	0-0	0-1	0-0	L 23-8 vs. Holy Rosary (AB)
9	8	Bishop J. Mahoney Saints	Saskatoon	SK	1-0	0-0	0-0	W 37-0 vs. Marion Graham
10	13	St. Joseph’s Celtics	Grande Prairie	AB	0-0	2-1	0-0	L 45-6 vs. CFC50 Harry Ainlay
11	21	Medicine Hat Hawks	Medicine Hat	AB	0-0	1-1	0-0	L 17-7 vs. Holy Trinity Academy
12	UR	George McDougall Mustangs	Airdrie	AB	2-0	1-0	0-0	W 38-19 vs. W.H. Croxford
13	11	St. Joseph’s Rams	St. Thomas	ON	0-0	0-0	0-0	BYE
14	20	Central Cyclones	Moose Jaw	SK	2-0	0-0	0-0	W 60-8 vs. Estevan
15	UR	Churchill Bulldogs	Winnipeg	MB	1-0	0-0	0-0	W 19-3 vs. John Taylor
16	25	College de Levis Commandeurs	Levis	QC	2-0	0-0	0-0	W 28-10 vs. Roger-Comtois
17	22	F.W. Johnson Wildcats	Regina	SK	1-0	0-1	0-0	W 51-2 vs. Balfour
18	18	Saint-Joseph Vert et Or	Trois-Rivieres	QC	1-1	0-0	0-0	W 21-11 vs. College Jean-Eudes
19	UR	John Barsby Bulldogs	Nanaimo	BC	0-0	1-0-1	0-0	W 41-0 vs. Spectrum
20	UR	Ballenas Whalers	Parksville	BC	0-0	1-0-1	0-0	W 38-0 vs. Earl Marriott
21	UR	Catholic Central Cougars	Lethbridge	AB	2-0	1-0	0-0	W 43-15 vs. Winston Churchill
22	17	Austin O’Brien Crusaders	Edmonton	AB	0-1	0-1	0-0	L 43-17 vs. CFC50 Salisbury
23	16	Cochrane Cobras	Cochrane	AB	2-0	0-0	0-0	W 40-0 vs. Bert Church
24	UR	Fort Frances Muskies	Fort Frances (ON)	MB	1-0	0-0	0-0	W 42-0 vs. Daniel McIntyre
25	24	Greenall Griffins	Balgonie	SK	0-1	1-0	0-0	BYE