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THE POWER RANKINGS: District 26-6A sweeps inaugural 2025 Austin area football
Playing Pick-up Sticks; throwing darts at a dartboard; pulling names out of a hat. Every one of those highly scientific methods is as equally valid as any rankings any honest person can come up with after just one game complete in the 2025 high school football season.
But we’ve gotta start somewhere – and that “somewhere” is a podium sweep by the top three teams in District 26-6A. Lake Travis leads the parade after dominating Arlington Martin while Dripping Springs raised eyebrows with a convincing 41-14 win over defending 6A-DII state champ Vandegrift. Nestled in between is last year’s 6A-D1 state finalist Westlake, not falling far despite a close loss to Prosper.
Bastrop battered Alvin to snag the highest ranking for a 5A club, although Weiss, Georgetown and Anderson also populate the Top 10. Cedar Ridge earned a tough road win over Buda Johnson to place 9th, while Liberty Hill rounds out the Top 10 despite a rough loss to 6A powerhouse Cibolo Steele.
Austin LBJ just missed the Top 10, although they are the highest 4A team on the list. Behing the Jags is Bowie, the leading contender for the final 26-6A playoff spot, and a gaggle of four 25-6A teams – Vista Ridge, Round Rock, Stony Point and McNeil – that promise to make a wild playoff scramble in that district.
Rankings rarely mean anything, especially this ridiculously early in the system. No doubt, some of these teams will drop out like anvils from a hot air balloon, while other teams not listed here will pop up by the time we’re decorating for Halloween.
But it’s never too early to start the water cooler debates, so here’s our first Power Rankings, heading into Week 2.
VYPE Austin Top 20 Combined Class 4A-6A
*Last parentheses indicates most recent game result
1. (3) Lake Travis Cavaliers (6A) – 1-0 (W 48-21 vs. Martin)
2. (2) Westlake Chaparrals (6A) – 0-1 (L 29-22 @ Prosper)
3. (5) Dripping Springs Tigers (6A) -- 1-0 (W 41-14 vs. #1 Vandegrift)
4. (1) Vandegrift Vipers (6A) - 0-1 (L 41-14 @ #5 Dripping Springs)
5. (4) Bastrop Bears (5A-2) – 1-0 (W 55-14 vs. Alvin)
6. (6) Weiss Wolves (5A-1) -- 1-0 (56-28 W vs. McNeil)
7. (7) Georgetown Eagles (5A-1) – 1-0 (W 27-0 vs. Victoria East)
8. (NR) Anderson Trojans (5A-1) – 1-0 (W 37-2 @ McCallum)
9. (NR) Cedar Ridge Raiders (6A) – 1-0 (W 49-31 @ Buda Johnson)
10. (8) Liberty Hill (5A-2) – 0-1 (L 55-10 vs. Cibolo Steele)
11. (9) LBJ Austin Jaguars (4A-1) -- 1-0 (W 46-13 vs. Sam Houston)
12. (NR) Vista Ridge Rangers (6A) – 1-0 (W 30-14 vs. Killeen)
13. (NR) Bowie Bulldogs (6A) – 1-0 (W 49-14 vs. Manor)
14. (NR) Rouse (5A-1) – 1-0 (W 55-33 vs. Pflugerville Connally)
15. (NR) Round Rock Dragons (6A) – 0-1 (L 56-28 @ Killeen Shoemaker)
16. (NR) Stony Point Tigers (6A) – 1-0 (W 42-20 @ East View)
17. (NR) McNeil Mavericks (6A) – 0-1 (L 56-28 @ Weiss)
18. (NR) Pflugerville Panthers (5A-2) – 1-0 (W 21-14 @ Leander)
19. (NR) Buda Johnson Jaguars (6A) – 0-1 (L 49-41 vs. Cedar Ridge)
20. (NR) Wimberley Texans (4A-2) – 1-0 (W 36-35 @ Canyon Lake)
THE POWER RANKINGS: Dripping Springs, Round Rock turn aside challenges to lock down top two spots
Huge matchups and rivalry series closed out the 2025 regular season last week. Even after all the fireworks – and several intense games – not all that much changed at the top of this final Power Rankings of the year.
Dripping Springs swept Westlake and Round Rock swept Vandegrift in our twin “Series Spotlight” matchups. Save for one bad inning for the Vipers, both series were evenly played, which bodes well for all four teams heading into the playoffs. As for the Power Rankings, the District 26-6A co-champion (with #4 Lake Travis) and District 25-6A champion Dragons finished 1-2. Westlake dropped a spot to #4, right behind the surging Lake Tavis Cavaliers – but don’t read too much into that as they split in the regular season. Hard-hitting Cedar Ridge moved up to round out the Top 5.
Liberty Hill split their rivalry series
with Cedar Park. While the Panthers have been amongst the elite contenders all year long, rebuilding and unranked Cedar Park gets a tip of the cap as possibly the most improved team in the area. Johnson slipped a spot after falling in their district finale to #11 San Marcos and to our poll-buster team of the year, Anderson. The Trojans climbed two more spots after knocking off yet another highly ranked team in Johnson. Vandegrift flushed a lousy series opener and played Round Rock tough in their rematch to remain inside the Top 10 at #9 with fellow Leander ISD squad Rouse nipping at their heels.
San Marcos and Weiss closed out their seasons strong to stay put. A late surge by previously unranked McNeil not only propelled the Mavericks into the Power Rankings, but also over Stony Point and into the playoffs. Georgetown and Hays round out our final poll of the season; a bittersweet result for Hays who dropped a play-in game to unranked Glenn to miss out on the postseason.
So, there you have it. There was probably more movement this past week than in the previous three weeks combined. That’s what happens when really good teams go head-to-head. Thanks for perusing our poll and we hope you enjoyed it.
Now, let’s play ball and settle it on the diamond!
VYPE's Austin Baseball Rankings
1. (1) Dripping Springs Tigers (6A) 20-8 (Swept #3 Westlake)
2. (2) Round Rock Dragons (6A) 24-5-1 (Swept #8 Vandegrift)
3. (4) Lake Travis Cavaliers (6A) 18-9-3 (Swept Austin High)
4. (3) Westlake Chaparrals (6A) 21-6-1 (Swept by #1 Dripping Springs)
5. (7) Cedar Ridge Raiders (6A) 20-8 (Swept Manor)
6. (5) Liberty Hill Panthers (5A) 21-7 (Split w/Cedar Park)
7. (6) Buda Johnson Jaguars (6A) 19-9 (Lost at #11 San Marcos; L vs. #10 Anderson)
8. (10) Anderson Trojans (5A) 22-6 (Swept Navarro; def. @ #6 Buda Johnson)
9. (8) Vandegrift Vipers (6A) 21-8 (Swept by #2 Round Rock)
10. (9) Rouse Raiders (5A) 21-8-2 (Swept Lockhart; L vs. Lake Belton)
11. (11) San Marcos Rattlers (6A) 21-8-1 (Def. #6 Buda Johnson; L vs. El Campo)
12. (12) Weiss Wolves (5A) 18-6-2 (Swept Pflugerville Connally)
13. (NR) McNeil Mavericks (6A) 14-10-2 (Swept Hutto)
14. (15) Georgetown (5A) 15-13-1 (L vs. #4 Lake Travis; swept Pflugerville; L vs. Waco Midway)
15. (13) Hays Hawks (5A) 17-11-1 (Split w/Lehman; L vs. Glenn)