FoxSportsNEXT released its 2012 preseason high school football rankings Monday, and Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.) earned the No. 7 spot in the list of 50 schools. The Ironmen, the Xcellent 25 National Champions for two of the last three years, were listed behind six other schools including the poll's No. 1 program, Louisville, KY's Trinity High School.
For the '12 season, Don Bosco Prep will tackle a tough national schedule with just three returning starters on each side of the ball.
The Ironmen have a brutal early travel schedule with trips in the first four weeks of the season to Baltimore, Md., Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Sandy, Utah. If Don Bosco can survive the first two trips to No. 40 Gilman and perennial power St. Thomas Aquinas, they stand a good chance of running the table.
The common recruiting bed for the Rutgers football program will try to replace defensive end Darius Hamilton and wide receiver Leonte Carro, who both ended up as a part of Scarlet Knight's Class of 2012 -- current Rutgers' sophomore quarterback Gary Nova is a former Ironmen; as well as graduate assistant Anthony Campanile, who was Bosco's offensive coordinator last season.
This season, senior defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad is the programs top prospect.