Andy's Take: Who would've won between IMG Academy and St. Frances Academy?

We’ve seen the comments and social media buzz after the Rivals National High School Football Composite Rankings’ No. 1 ranked IMG Academy (Fla.) made an official statement announcing that their matchup with No. 2 St. Frances Academy (Md.) would not be rescheduled.

Welp, that stinks. Only thing we can do now is wonder what could’ve been between the two high school football giants. ..Or we could break down what would’ve been between the two national powerhouses if they took the field this past Friday or any day this month. Yeah, that’s what we will do because why not?

This week’s edition of Andy’s Take, I dive into what would’ve been between the two teams as I got to see St. Frances Academy back on Aug. 23 in a 42-13 win over Chaminade-Madonna Prep (Fla.) and covered IMG Academy in-person in wins over Winslow Township (N.J.) and East St. Louis (Ill.), respectively.

Quarterbacks

Breaking down the most important position on the field between the two teams is tough because of the contrasting styles IMG and St. Frances play. The Ascenders are more of a pro-style offense as Jayden Wade (1,376 yards, 20 touchdowns) is asked at times to be more of a game manager than asked to take the load of the offense on a weekly basis. Wade’s top performance arguably came against Phenix City Central where the four-star completed 11 passes for 350 yards and four TDs, proving he can explode at when asked to. Flipping to St. Frances, Virginia commit Jae’Oyn Williams is being recruited to play running back in college and is highly effective in the run game, but has the ability to complete passes from the pocket and outside of it. I give the edge to Wade over Williams for the fact that if it came down to throwing the ball effectively, we lean in IMG’s favor.

Edge: IMG Academy  

Running backs

I mean, with the way IMG’s Lekhy Thompkins has been running all season long, it seems impossible to go against the Ascenders’ ground-and-pound attack, right? Well, let’s hold up there. St. Frances Academy’s ground game is what really sets them apart from teams as they showed against Chaminade-Madonna in the regular season opener a tenacious run game with Williams and 2027 four-star Sa’Nir Brooks leading the way. When the Panthers get downhill with their offensive front and especially Williams being another threat at quarterback, able to to run the ball, we give the edge to St. Frances Academy in the backfield.

Edge: St. Frances Academy  

Wide receivers

Simply put, IMG’s wide receiving corps is pretty star-studded when you look at them top to bottom. When Wade scans the field, there’s a who’s who of receivers for him to stare down the barrel and throw to. The player that comes to mind out of them all that would be the potential difference maker is 2028 four-star Eric McFarland, who is used on pop passes and screens out of the backfield to the addition of vertical throws downfield. It’s not to St. Frances Academy doesn’t have some dudes out wide themselves, with Temple commit Coen Logan being one of its top wide receiving threats, but the Panthers focus more on running the ball straight at you. Edge goes to the Ascenders.

Edge: IMG Academy  

Offensive line

With the way we’ve seen the Ascenders’ offensive line week in and week out just dominate opposing defensive fronts, it’s hard to not go with these guys. On the flip side, however, this would be by far the toughest defensive line and linebacking group IMG Academy would have seen all season long. Seeing how Breck Kolojay (USC commit) would’ve picked up DQ Forkpa (North Carolina commit) on a blitz up the middle or a potential Keenyi Pepe (USC commit) vs. Zion Elee (Maryland commit) would’ve been interesting. I’ll go with IMG’s offensive line here as this has been as good and cohesive of a front there is in the country.

Edge: IMG Academy  

Defensive line

All that said about IMG Academy’s offensive line, we have to boast a bit about how good this St. Frances Academy defensive line is. Elee is obviously the crown jewel up front coming off the edge, but let’s add in guys like 2028 four-star EDGE Jermaine Smith, 2027 three-star EDGE Alexander Taylor and 2027 three-star DL Jayden Travers as others that would cause plenty of problems for the Ascenders’ offensive line. We are not discounting guys like Oklahoma commit Jake Kreul, who has been very good throughout the season with 33 tackles and 15 of those going for a loss. There’s just a different level that the Panthers’ defensive line gets to as they’ve helped the team hold opponents to just 67 points this season. I’ll give the nod to St. Frances Academy here.

Edge: St. Frances Academy  

Linebackers

This is the one area that we feel like the advantage leans much to St. Frances Academy, especially with the way the Panthers like to bring extra pressure with their linebacking corps on third down situations. Forkpa paired with fellow backers Maurice Medley (Syracuse commit) and 2028 three-star Brandon Wills-Dickson makes for a formidable unit. Combined with the defensive line, this linebacker group certainly combines the ability to make sure-handed tackles, blitzing and coverage out of the backfield as the slight edge between the two teams.

Edge: St. Frances Academy  

Secondary

This defensive backfield for St. Frances Academy is simply loaded as Alabama commitment Jireh Edwards and Ohio State pledge Khmari Bing patrolling the back end along with cornerbacks Raylaun Henry, Amauri Polydor (Penn State commit) and Hakim Satterwhite (Maryland commit) on the outside. Having this type of talent all over the field gives the Panthers the ability to play more Cover 1 and Cover 3, sending more pressure up front as they can depend on the back end to do their job. IMG’s certainly got some talent in their own secondary with Larry Moon, Censere Gaylord, Man Robinson and AJ Marks (Wake Forest commit), but St. Frances Academy’s bunch is just a tad better.

Edge: St. Frances Academy  

Special Teams

Probably a bit unusual for both teams to look towards their special unit groups to make plays as they’ve not been relied upon to all throughout the season, but it would certainly matter in a game of this magnitude. IMG Academy features one of the top punters in the country in Jaxon Guerrero, who is averaging 36.1 yards per punt on 17 attempts and then throw it top 2028 place kicker Ryan Jung (50-of-52 extra points, 4-of-5 field goals) into the mix and this edge in the kicking game goes to the Ascenders.

Edge: IMG Academy  

Game Pick

Here we go. So I’m envisioning this game on a neutral field. No Baltimore. No Bradenton. Somewhere kinda in the middle like Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium so weather doesn’t play a factor between the country’s top two programs squaring off in a de facto national championship game. Throw in even the crowd factor, as there might be a few thousand spectators looking to see what the Ascenders and Panthers are all about, and you’ve got a pretty neat atmosphere set up for the national high school football showdown. Now, how do we see this turning out?

Seeing that St. Frances is a team that wants to jump all over you from the get go, as they raced out to a big 28-7 lead on Chaminade-Madonna at the beginning of the year. We don’t see them jumping out to a huge lead, but 14-0 advantage as IMG Academy can be slow starters out of the gate on the road I.E. Winslow Township game. The Ascenders would battle back to close within 14-7 by halftime and the third quarter would become somewhat of a seesaw as both teams score touchdowns to send the contest into the final period, with the Panthers up 21-14.

IMG Academy ties the game up in the fourth quarter on a long scoring play via a Wade-to-McFarland touchdown in a secondary breakdown, but it will be St. Frances Academy engineering a late game drive down the stretch for the game-winner. It’s Brooks on the go-ahead touchdown as IMG Academy gets the ball back with around a minute remaining, but the Panthers’ defense holds on for the close win, a far cry from last year’s 30-3 victory in Baltimore. At the end of the day, defense is ultimately what would decide a game like this and St. Frances Academy checks off all the boxes on that side of the ball.

Massey Ratings: St. Frances Academy 22, IMG Academy 21

Andy’s Take: St. Frances Academy 28, IMG Academy 21

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