Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice hosts Orchard Lake St. Mary's in a Catholic League showdown Friday, Sept. 25, with a 7 p.m. kickoff at Lawrence Tech University.

The Warriors (4-0) held steady at No. 6 in the MLive Top 25 released Tuesday, Sept. 22, after blanking Detroit U-D Jesuit 35-0 in Week 4. The Eaglets (3-1) held at No. 7 after routing Toledo St. Francis De Sales 42-7.

The stakes are even higher in the Associated Press Division 2 poll. St. Mary's sits at No. 1 with 48 points and three first-place votes. Brother Rice is No. 2 with 47 points and two first-place votes, according to AP rankings published Sept. 22.

A single point separates them.

The State Champs Sports Network named the matchup one of 10 games to watch statewide, calling it a clash between "two of the state's premier programs."

Brother Rice has outscored opponents 138-54 through four weeks. Head coach Aaron Marshall's squad opened with a 30-20 win over Dakota, rolled past River Rouge 42-6, survived a 31-28 test against Warren De La Salle and then shut out U-D Jesuit.

The De La Salle game on Sept. 11 may have been the season's defining moment so far. Defensive lineman Jayden Bell sacked the De La Salle quarterback in the final two minutes to seal the win, and running back Brandon Davison scored twice. Bell had 3.5 sacks in the season opener against Dakota.

"We've grown up a little bit, and that's good to see," Marshall told The Oakland Press after the De La Salle win.

Sophomore quarterback Drake Martin has started since senior Sammy Eyde went down with an injury after Week 1. Marshall praised Martin's composure in a Sept. 14 Oakland Press notebook, saying he hadn't coached many more poised quarterbacks.

St. Mary's only loss came in Week 2, a 44-42 triple-overtime thriller against Detroit King. The Eaglets responded with two straight wins and now open a brutal four-game stretch that includes De La Salle, Detroit Catholic Central and Toledo Central Catholic after Friday's game, according to Oakland County rankings coverage.

Marshall is in his third year leading the Warriors. He inherited a program that went 2-7 and improved it to 6-5 in his second season. Brother Rice started 3-0 for the first time since 2021 and has now pushed that mark to 4-0.

Also Friday, Birmingham Groves (3-1) hosts No. 14 Harper Woods (3-1) with a 6 p.m. State Champs live broadcast. Kickoff for Brother Rice-St. Mary's at Lawrence Tech is 7 p.m.