The days of outlets crowning a mythical national champion for high school football are numbered, as teams like Saguaro (AZ), IMG Academy (FL), St. Thomas Aquinas (TX), De la Salle (CA), St. John Bosco (CA), and Mater Dei (CA) are just a handful of programs over the last several decades that could stake claim as the top high school team in the country.
That's at least the goal of a pair of companies that are partnering to create the "first ever high school football national championship game."
The two companies that have joined forces to breathe life into the game are Overtime, founded by Dan Porter, and Omaha Productions, the media company created by Peyton Manning and sports executive Jamie Horowitz.
The game is set to take place December 10th in Baltimore, and will feature Corner Canyon HS (UT), who comes into the game with an 11-1 record, and Baltimore's very own St. Frances Academy, who brings an 8-1 record into the contest.
Porter notes that watching the production of this game will feel much more like the Super Bowl than your traditional broadcast of a high school game.
“I don’t think this will feel like watching a high school football game. It should feel like the Super Bowl, epic in how it’s produced,” with the goal to create a "“true championship environment, similar to what’s seen for the CFP and even the Super Bowl.”
Just yesterday, Corner Canyon (enrollment nearly 2,500) captured their third-straight 6A title in Utah, avenging their 42-21 loss back in September to Lone Peak HS (UT), helping to bring Eric Kjar's career record with the program to 112-9 overall while tied for second most state titles for a head coach with seven to his credit.
St. Frances, a coed Catholic school with an enrollment just over 200 kids, has played a 9-game slate that includes top teams from Virginia, California, Florida, and Connecticut, among others. Their lone loss of the season was a road game at St. John Bosco (21-14 in week 2).
According to 247, CC brings the nation's #3 offense into the matchup against St. Frances who has the top ranked defense in the country as the matchup will feature top quarterback recruit and Texas A&M commit Helaman Casuga, Maryland five-star edge commit ZIon Elee, and five-star Alabama safety commit Jireh Edwards, among a host of other future stars.
Just a few weeks ago, we wrote about how many believe Florida powerhouse IMG Academy ducked a December matchup with St. Frances. That controversial decision likely opened the door for Corner Canyon to take place in the game instead.
As if being crowned the top high school team in the country isn't enough, the winning team's athletics program will receive a donation of $250,000 and Subway is stepping in as a presenting sponsor with on-field branding, and a custom broadcast booth for the game with a few other incentives tied in as well.
ESPN will air the game from Under Armour Stadium, which seats just 1,400 people but with ESPN as the official broadcast partner, the game will be aired in living rooms literally coast to coast.
Big picture-wise the plan is grow the event beyond just a single game, with a vision to expand it to a multi-team tournament, opening the door for a ton of more sponsorship opportunities and exposure for some of the nation's top talent and programs.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.