The St. Frances Academy [Baltimore, MD] Panthers were dealt what appeared to be a death blow to their national title hopes in early November when the IMG Academy [Bradenton, FL] Ascenders abruptly canceled the regular-season finale scheduled between the two national powers.
But while these cats might not have nine lives, they've certainly got at least two as the Panthers were then selected to play in the Overtime Nationals championship, reviving their title hopes in a game being billed as a national championship game. St. Frances Academy will take on the Corner Canyon [Draper, UT] Chargers in the contest scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday night at Under Armour Stadium in Baltimore.
To be clear, only one of the major selectors that picks a national champion has either of these teams currently ranked No. 1, and the winner of this game won't be a unanimous national champion. In fact, both of the teams have been eliminated for national title consideration in AllSportsPeople High School Football Top 25 while St. Frances Academy is only ranked No. 1 in SI's Power 25 rankings.
So what does it all mean, and is this game really a national championship game? Well, it just underscores the mythical nature of any high school football national champion since there is no national playoff to settle it on the field. The selection process for the high school football national champion harkens back to the days in college football before the College Football Playoff and even back before the Bowl Championship Series that preceded the playoff.
The high school football national champion is determined by a combination of individual selectors, some of which are selected by human committees (like AllSportsPeople) and others that are selected by computer algorithms like the Massey Ratings. Hey, we all do the best we can with the system we've got, and any set of rankings is an attempt to bring some semblance of order to it all. AllSportsPeople currently has the Buford [GA] Wolves ranked No. 1, but in addition to St. Frances holding down the top spot at SI, there are three other teams ranked No. 1 in the various lists used to compile AllSportsPeople Composite Rankings.
That includes the Carrollton [GA] Trojans (MaxPreps), St. Thomas Aquinas [Fort Lauderdale, FL] Raiders (High School Football America), and Southlake [TX] Carroll Dragons (Blue Star Media and the aforementioned Massey Ratings). For good measure, Buford is also ranked No. 1 by ESPN and USA Today's Super 25. We have respect for all those rankings and all those teams holding down the top spots.
So, back to the question of whether or not this is the definitive national championship game? Well, consider that Corner Canyon only checks in at No. 24 in our composite rankings, and they are only ranked in the Top 25 by four of the eight selectors. There's very little consensus this year around one definitive team that is deserving of the title of national champion, and in Corner Canyon's case, there's not even consensus that they are a Top 25 team – let alone the nation's No. 1 team.
That won't change tonight if Corner Canyon wins. They aren't likely to be named national champions by any of the individual selectors in our composite rankings, and the Overtime Nationals championship won't definitively answer the question of who the national champion should be. And it certainly won't be the final word in that discussion.
Ultimately, the game will just serve as another data point to consider – another bullet point on the resume of one of these two teams to consider. It's a game worthy of being played, however, and we hope it's a successful event that will continue in the future until there is a better system for determining high school football's national champion.
MORE NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
- How last week's top teams fared
- The latest AllSportsPeople High School Football Top 25 — National Week 18: December 9
- AllSportsPeople High School Preseason All-American Offense 2025
- AllSportsPeople High School Preseason All-American Defense 2025
No. 4/SN No. 4 St. Frances Academy [Baltimore, MD] Panthers vs. No. 24 Corner Canyon [Draper, UT] Chargers
LAST WEEK'S GAME OF THE WEEK No. 10/SN No. 6 Allen [TX] Eagles vs. No. 22/SN No. 25 North Crowley [Fort Worth, TX]. Panthers
Wednesday, December 10, 2025
Under Armour Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland | 7 p.m. EST local
Local Media Coverage: Baltimore Sun High School Sports
School Athletics Websites: St. Frances Academy Panthers Athletics | Corner Canyon Chargers Athletics
School Social Media: St. Frances Academy Panthers on X.com @SFAfootball_MD | Corner Canyon Chargers on X.com @CCHSFOOTBALL_
PREVIEW
As noted above, this game was arranged after St. Frances Academy's regular-season finale vs. IMG Academy was canceled. That game could have possibly decided the national championship, but in its place, we have this Overtime Nationals championship which will feature the Panthers against Utah's newly-crowned Class 6A champion Corner Canyon Chargers.
St. Frances Academy's only loss of the season is a 21-14 setback on September 5 at the mighty St. John Bosco [Bellflower, CA] Braves. The Panthers were 1-1 after that loss, and St. John Bosco would eventually overtake the Mater Dei [Santa Ana, California] Monarchs as the nation's No. 1 team before losing to those Monarchs in the final game of the regular season on October 31. Two weeks later, the Braves then lost to a 2-8 Orange Lutheran [CA] Lancers team in a stunning 20-19 upset. Orange Lutheran was actually 4-6 on the field up to that point but had to forfeit two early wins due to using an ineligible player in those games.
All of that is to say that the Panthers' only loss was in an extremely tough road environment to a team that was briefly ranked No. 1 in the country. Those subsequent losses by Bosco diminished St. Frances Academy's resume a bit, but they went to toe-to-toe with a team that is routinely one of the nation's elite programs.
Corner Canyon, on the other hand, finished 12-1 as Utah's Class 6A champions. Their loss was a 42-21 blowout on September 19 at the Lone Peak [Highland, UT] Knights, but the Chargers avenged that loss in a 35-20 win in the state championship game. But that's a Lone Peak squad that finished with five losses with two of those losses coming to other five-loss teams, including the American Fork [UT] Cavemen and the Lehi [UT] Pioneers. The game between St. Frances Academy and Corner Canyon is also a home game for the Panthers in Baltimore, Maryland – more than 2,000 miles from the Corner Canyon campus.
Translation? This is a long trip on what could be a really long night for the Chargers. St. Frances Academy is well-tested against the nation's elite squads this season, and Corner Canyon could be in over its head as soon as this game kicks off. To stay in it, they'll need to jump on the Panthers early and sustain some long drives to eat up the clock while limiting turnovers and other self-inflicted mistakes. Otherwise, they might find themselves in a hole too deep to dig back out of.
MORE HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYOFF HEADLINES
- Florida 2025 playoff brackets (7A/6A/5A/4A)
- Georgia 2025 playoff brackets (6A/5A/4A)
- Louisiana 2025 playoff brackets (Division I/II)
- Texas 2025 playoff brackets (6A/5A/4A)