West Palm Beach, Fla. — We’re just a few days away from kickoff of the 2026 FHSAA high school football season.
It’s tradition here at NewEraPrep to provide our annual class and team power rankings leading into the first games of the fall, giving us a chance to officially kick off the upcoming season. Every year, we begin by highlighting the rising freshman class, prematurely honoring the next wave of Friday night stars as we work our way up the class ladder.
Freshman rankings can be tricky. While there are plenty of youth football stars beginning their journey toward Friday Night Lights, that doesn’t always translate to early varsity playing time. It would be unfair to these young stars to rank them numerically before they’ve had a chance to prove themselves at the high school level, so we’ve decided to list them alphabetically for simplicity.
For those who need a reminder of our ranking criteria: The NewEraPrep rankings committee consists of members of the NEP leadership team alongside a panel of anonymous coaches from across Palm Beach County. Rankings are determined based on last season’s performances, along with projections regarding scheme fit and depth chart placement.
Rankings are NOT determined by stars, offers, commitments or outside lists, including national recruiting sites such as On3 or 247Sports.
With that being said, here are 10 rising freshmen that Palm Beach County needs to keep an eye on this upcoming season:
- Chris Baronci — DL — Spanish River
- Josiah Brown — DE — Cardinal Newman
- Blake Desiree — OT — West Boca
- Khari Hyppolite — ATH — Royal Palm Beach
- Jayden Johnson — QB — Royal Palm Beach
- Marin Joseph — TE — Spanish River
- Ryan Lewis — ATH — West Boca
- Jeremiah Polusme — DB — Atlantic
- Garon Parson — QB — Dwyer
- Derrick Williams — DB — Royal Palm Beach
Tune in tomorrow for the pre-season top 20 for the class of 2029!
