Best high school football uniforms seen during the 2023 playoffs

We've watched a lot of postseason football this fall; here are our favorite uniforms captured from coast to coast

We learned last spring that there's nothing uniform about high school sports when it comes to uniforms.

High school football uniforms don't get quite as zany as baseball kits — baggy green pants with blue pinstripes, anyone? — but we saw some sharp-looking football teams across the U.S. this playoff season.

SBLive Sports sent photographers to high school football playoff games all over the country in 2023, and we combed through our database of photos to pick our favorite uniforms.

Here are 20 uniforms our photographers captured during the 2023 high school football postseason worthy of uni-watch attention.

Belleville Tigers (Michigan)

Photo by Mariusz Nowak

Belleville looks like a bolder, more Halloween version of Clemson, and the tiger on the pants is an excellent touch.

Benjamin Mustangs (Texas)

Benjamin vs Oglesby UIL 1-A Six-Man Division 2 Final December 13, 2023 Photo-Tommy Hays80
Photo by Tommy Hays

Love the purple stripes and purple mustang on the Benjamin jersey, and the mustang-in-Texas helmet really completes this kit. 

Central Catholic Rams (Oregon)

a Central Catholic Tualatin 6A Oregon football final November 22 2023 Leon Neuschwander 67
Photo by Leon Neuschwander

Central Catholic's uniforms look so college-ready that they could sub in for USC and fans might not notice.

Conway Wampus Cats (Arkansas)

Conway Wampus Cats
Photo by Ted McClenning

The blue-and-black stripes on the shoulders contrast nicely with Conway's black-and-white stripes on the pants, and everything's better when you stick a Wampus Cat on a helmet.

Dunbar Poets (Maryland)

Dunbar vs Calvert - Maryland 2A1A football state championship - John Bowers - 12-1-2023 -5032
Photo by John Bowers

When you're blessed with a fantastic mascot like the Poets, it's a good idea to flaunt it. The understated "Dunbar" on the jersey makes the big "Poets" on the pants and helmet pop even more.

Edina Hornets (Minnesota)

Edina vs Centennial Class 6A Prep Bowl 11-24-23 - Jeff Lawler20
Photo by Jeff Lawler

If the superhero Green Hornet morphed into a high school football player, he'd look just like an Edina Hornet.

Graham-Kapowsin Eagles (Washington)

Photo by Vince Miller

If there's a better Eagle logo out there, I'd love to see it. And the way the orange beak matches the vibrant jersey is expert level by Graham-Kapowsin.

Liberty Bell Mountain Lions (Washington)

Photo by Todd Milles

If Jackson Pollock were given the job to design one of the Oregon Ducks' alternate uniforms, it might come out looking something like this. Bravo, Liberty Bell.

Madison County Cowboys (Florida)

Madison County vs Hawthorne FHSAA 1R Final December 7, 2023 Photo-Matt Christopher07
Photo by Matt Christopher

Props to the weird on this one. Never seen a football uniform like it, and MADCO is just a perfect word to describe the look Madison County came up with.

Marionville Comets (Missouri)

Marionville North Platte Missouri football December 1 2023 Nate Latsch 24812
Photo by Nate Latsch

Marionville's uniform is a favorite in an astronomical sense. Thanks to a quick Google search, I learned most comets are blue. And I know from experience looking up at the night sky that space is black. Perfect.

Miami Norland Vikings (Florida)

Berkeley Prep vs Miami Norland FHSAA 2M Final December 9, 2023 Photo-Matt Christopher13
Photo by Matt Christopher

Minnesota Vikings fans who like the color maroon better than purple might want to get their hands on some Miami Norland swag.

Nazareth Academy Roadrunners (Illinois)

Nazareth Academy Joliet Catholic Illinois 5A football November 25 2023 Nate Latsch 24436
Photo by Nate Latsch

Love the light- to dark-blue color scheme, plus the bold-bold combo of the big N on the helmet and NAZARETH on the jersey.

Oak Grove Warriors (Mississippi)

Oak Grove Warriors
Photo by Austin Frayser

Oak Grove's uniforms look like the Pittsburgh Steelers and Florida State Seminoles made a deal to meet in the middle. It's a very agreeable compromise.

Prince Avenue Christian Wolverines (Georgia)

Trinity Christian Prince Avenue Christian Cecil Copeland football.9
Photo by Cecil Copeland

Michigan has arguably the best uniform in college football, and Prince Avenue Christian had the good sense to keep the classic kit mostly intact. But shout-out to the addition of a tiny wolverine head on the pants.

Ramona Rams (California)

Pleasant Valley vs Ramona CIF State 5-AA Final December 8, 2023 Photo-Nick Koza96
Photo by Nick Koza

The symmetry between the sleeve bands and helmets is excellent, but not as good as the dark ram horns contrasting with the powder-blue jerseys. And like Prince Avenue Christian, the placement of Ramona's logo on the pants is a smart touch.

Serra Padres (California)

Serra vs Mater Dei CIF State Open Final December 9, 2023 Photo-Joe Bergman44
Photo by Joe Bergman

The matching embroidered-looking patterns on the helmet, sleeves and pants pair perfectly with Serra's bright-blue uniform.

Southlake Carroll Dragons (Texas)

southlake carroll byron nelson texas uil 6a division i playoffs 2023 169A9009
Photo by Tommy Hays

Southlake Carroll's white jerseys are also sharp, but the green-black combo wins. On top of that, the dragon-inside-Texas logo on the helmet is hard to beat.

St. Edward Eagles (Ohio)

St. Edward Springfield State championship 2023 Jeff Harwell14
Photo by Jeff Harwell

St. Edward looks like the Packers with a more unique helmet. If Green Bay ever changes its name to Een Bay, then lifting the Eagles' helmet design would be a wise move.

Steelton-Highspire Steamrollers (Pennsylvania)

Steelton-Highspire vs Fort Cherry PIAA Class 1A state championship Paul Burdick 1207202335
Photo by Paul Burdick

Home of the Steamrollers, Steelton-Highspire's football team looks like the Detroit Lions with a white-sleeved twist.

Velma Jackson Falcons (Mississippi)

Velma Jackson Falcons
Photo by Austin Frayser

Velma Jackson brings an end to the "looks like such-and-such NFL team" trend with an exclamation point. The Falcons chose a yellow that's way more YELLOW than yellow.

Best high school mascot in every US state: Poll results

-- Mike Swanson | swanson@scorebooklive.com | @sblivesports


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Mike Swanson, SBLive Sports
MIKE SWANSON

Mike Swanson is the VP of Content for High School On SI. He's been in journalism since 2003, having worked as a reporter, city editor, copy editor and high school sports editor in California, Connecticut and Oregon.