Lake Stevens and Archbishop Murphy Top Final AP Polls Before Washington Playoffs

Lake Stevens and Archbishop Murphy both enter the Washington high school football playoffs ranked first in their classifications in the final Associated Press poll of 2025, released Wednesday, Nov. 5. The rankings come from a statewide panel of sports writers.

In Class 4A, Lake Stevens (9-0) collected three first-place votes and 75 points to hold the top spot. Puyallup (9-0), also with three first-place votes, was second with 71 points, and Gonzaga Prep (9-0), with two first-place votes, was third at 68. Chiawana (9-0) and Graham-Kapowsin (8-1) rounded out the top five. Glacier Peak (8-1) was eighth.

Archbishop Murphy led Class 2A with seven first-place votes and 79 points. Tumwater received the other first-place vote and finished second with 72 points. East Valley of Yakima, Orting and Anacortes followed in the next three places.

Elsewhere, O'Dea took the top spot in Class 3A with eight first-place votes, ahead of Eastside Catholic and Mount Tahoma. Royal was first in Class 1A with eight first-place votes, with Cashmere second and Mount Baker third. Toledo led Class 2B and DeSales of Walla Walla led Class 1B.

The Washington State Football Coaches Association publishes its own rankings, and they differ in places. Coaches placed Puyallup first in Class 4A with Lake Stevens second. In Class 1B, they put Wahkiakum first and DeSales second, the reverse of the AP order. The coaches agreed with the writers on O'Dea in 3A, Archbishop Murphy in 2A, Royal in 1A and Toledo in 2B.

A seeding committee has set the first-round, winner-to-state matchups for this weekend. In Class 4A, top-seeded Puyallup (9-0) hosts No. 32 Kamiak (3-7), and No. 2 Lake Stevens (9-0) welcomes No. 31 Woodinville (3-6). Both games kick off at 7 p.m. Friday. No. 10 Skyline (6-2) hosts No. 23 Arlington (4-5) at the same time, while No. 12 Glacier Peak (8-1) faces No. 21 Tahoma (6-3) at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Class 3A pairings include No. 1 O'Dea hosting No. 32 Snohomish (3-6) at the SW Athletic Complex and No. 10 Rainier Beach (6-2) meeting No. 23 Stanwood (7-2) at the NE Athletic Complex. No. 12 Enumclaw (8-1) hosts No. 21 Shorewood (7-2), and No. 15 Mountlake Terrace (8-1) plays No. 18 Seattle Prep (5-3) at Edmonds Stadium. All four games start at 7 p.m. Friday.

In Class 2A, Archbishop Murphy, the No. 1 seed, hosts No. 32 Pullman (4-5) at 1 p.m. Saturday. Second-seeded Tumwater (8-1) hosts No. 31 Sultan (6-3) at 7 p.m. Friday.

In Class 1A, No. 9 Nooksack Valley (5-4) hosts No. 16 King's (5-4) at Civic Field at 6 p.m. Saturday. Also Saturday, at 2 p.m., No. 15 Granite Falls (8-1) plays No. 10 La Center (7-2).