Two States. One Ranking. One Standard of Excellence

The Eugene D. Franklin Foundation Top 50 ranks the premier high school football programs across Arkansas and Maryland, while highlighting the 13 Arkansas programs covered by the Foundation.

Rankings will be updated weekly throughout the season to reflect team performance, strength of schedule, key wins, and overall results. 

TOP 50 DISCLAIMER
The Eugene D. Franklin Foundation Top 50 Rankings are independent and unbiased, based on team performance, strength of schedule, program success, and available data. Rankings are for recognition purposes only and are not affiliated with any school or athletic association.

The Eugene D. Franklin Foundation proudly serves 13 original football programs across five Western Arkansas counties:

Sebastian County: Greenwood, Fort Smith Northside, Fort Smith Southside, Hackett and Lavaca

Crawford County: Alma, Cedarville, Mountainburg and Van Buren

Franklin County: Charleston and Ozark

Logan County: Booneville

Scott County: Mansfield

These 13 schools collectively make up the Foundation’s designated Arkansas River Valley football service area.

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Washington County;

• Boonsboro High School — Warriors 1A
• Clear Spring High School — Blazers 1A
• Hancock Middle-Senior High School — Panthers 1A
• North Hagerstown High School — Hubs 3A
• Smithsburg High School — Leopards 1A
• South Hagerstown High School — Rebels 3A/4A
• Williamsport High School — Wildcats 1A/2A
• Saint James School — Saints (private)

Allegany County:

• Allegany High School — Campers 1A
• Fort Hill High School — Sentinels 1A
• Mountain Ridge High School — Miners 1A

Garrett County:

• Northern Garrett High School — Huskies 1A
• Southern Garrett High School — Rams 1A

High school football classifications in Arkansas and Maryland are not numbered the same way. Both states generally use school enrollment to group programs of similar size, but Arkansas has more classification levels than Maryland.High school football classifications in Arkansas and Maryland are not numbered the same way. Both states generally use school enrollment to group programs of similar size, but Arkansas has more classification levels than Maryland.

Maryland’s traditional MPSSAA classifications are:
4A – Largest Schools
3A – Medium-to-Large Schools
2A – Small-to-Medium Schools
1A – Smallest Schools
For the 2026 football postseason, Maryland also uses 4A/3A and 2A/1A classification alignments in addition to the traditional classes

For the 2026 

Arkansas has a wider range of football classifications:
7A – Largest Schools
6A – Very Large Schools
5A – Large Schools
4A – Medium Schools
3A – Small Schools
2A – Smaller 11-Man Football Schools
8-Man – Very Small Football Programs

These are approximate comparisons, not official one-to-one equivalents. A Maryland 3A school is not automatically equal in enrollment to an Arkansas 5A school. The comparison is designed to help visitors understand the relative size and competitive level of schools in each state.
Simply put: Arkansas 7A is its highest classification, while Maryland 4A is its highest classification. Arkansas 2A and Maryland 1A represent many of each state’s smaller 11-man football programs