Andy's Take: Give the St. Frances Academy-Corner Canyon game a watch tonight

Tonight on what’s expected to be around a 40-degree chilly night, the No. 3 ranked St. Frances Academy Panthers (Md.) will be taking on the No. 21 ranked Corner Canyon Chargers (UT) the first-ever Overtime Nationals championship game in Baltimore, Maryland.

This high school sports reporter has eyes and ears, reading and hearing everything that has been said about the game that’s brought on mixed reviews when football knowers challenge the validity of the game. Many believe that though the Panthers could be heavily regarded as a possible national title contender, the Chargers (12-1) may be a little further down the totem pole when it comes to a deserving opponent.

My rebuttal to it all is give the game a watch tonight, nationally televised on ESPN2, and like the players do on the field, let’s let the contest speak for what it’s be hyped up to be. One of my reasonings is this could be the start of something transcendent when it comes to high school football, creating the realistic possibility of a national title game year in and year out.

Now there used to be the GEICO national championship games, which last only a couple seasons and fizzled out, but this production by Overtime Media and Omaha Productions paired with ESPN broadcasting the game nationally gives way to a long-term product for high school football. Though for many, maybe not the most ideal matchup they were desiring, but it gives everyone a look at what something like a national title tilt should and would look like.

Oh and by the way, having willing participants in the matter also plays a major role in all this because many state associations or even team themselves decline the opportunity to be put on a national stage and for varying reasons. It takes two to tango and Corner Canyon and St. Frances Academy (8-1) were the teams that wanted to tango with one another.

We all thought we were going to get the mega matchup between IMG Academy and St. Frances Academy, but the former ended up nixing the matchup due to not wanting to play the game in nearly mid-December, which forced game organizers to go a different rout. Make no mistake about Corner Canyon, they should be a formidable opponent tonight because of their prolific offense and having to already played on big stages several times already.

The Chargers went down to Florida and defeated West Broward (Fla.), which will be competing for Florida’s Class 6A state championship on Friday afternoon. Corner Canyon also knocked off Liberty (Ariz.), which reached Arizona’s Open Division state semifinals.

The big knock on Corner Canyon this season is their 42-21 loss to Lone Peak, which the Chargers ended up avenging at the end of the Utah high school football season when they defeated the Knights in the UHSAA 6A state championship game.

Looking at the Chargers’ roster, though not as deep with Division I recruits like the Panthers, does have its fair share of future collegiate talent. A reason to believe Corner Canyon might have a shot is because of Texas A&M signee Helaman Cusaga, who has thrown for 3,487 yards and 37 touchdowns this past 2025 campaign.

Wondering how the Chargers’ offensive line will hold up against the Panthers’ elite front seven certainly worries me, but Corner Canyon has had to figure something like this out before and came away with the win. Yes, we’re talking about last year’s win over IMG Academy in Draper as Eric Kjar‘s bunch came away with the shocking 35-34 victory.

That win helped really put Corner Canyon make its footprint in the national high school football map and that opportunity stands in front of them once again tonight against St. Frances Academy, but this time it won’t be in front of the home folks in Utah.

The Chargers will have to do so on the road in what is a home game for the Panthers at their field they have grown accustom to. Tonight’s game will be in front of a sold-out crowd at Under Armour Stadium with a kickoff time of 7 p.m. Eastern Time.

I know you’ll be mulling throughout the day on whether you should turn on your smart TV and pop on ESPN2 around 7 p.m. I’ll be at the game covering this one live and in-person. I’m interested to see how this turns out as it’s a huge opportunity for high school football.

I’ll likely follow this game up with my thoughts and if it lived up to the billing. Hopes should be that it does because it would be a neat deal for high school football to be on a national stage at the end of the season.

Let’s watch it title game and see how this plays out on the gridiron between a couple of the nation’s top high school football powerhouses.

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