As the world of high school football has continued to grow by leaps and bounds, several games have been featured on national television at times.
There’s always interest in high school teams that perform at a high level. Why? Because those players are usually headed to greener pastures in the world of college football. Of course, some players also have their eyes on a possible future in the NFL. Yet, gaining any type of national TV presence raises their game to a higher level. Well, that’s going to happen, but on a bigger scale, on Wednesday night.
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Corner Canyon (Utah) will go up against Saint Frances Academy (Maryland) in the first national high school championship game to be televised on ESPN2. It will be played at Under Armour Stadium in Baltimore with a 7 p.m. ET kickoff.
The game itself is a collaboration between Omaha Productions, run by Jamie Horowitz, who previously worked for ESPN, as well as Fox Sports and WWE, and former Indianapolis Colts and Super Bowl-winning quarterback Peyton Manning, along with Overtime.
With the broadcast on ESPN2, the game will have a couple of well-known names behind the microphones. Joe Tessitore, who regularly calls college football games on ESPN as well as serving as lead announcer for “Monday Night Raw” on WWE television, and former NFL quarterback and current ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky will be calling the action.
Joe Tessitore and Dan Orlovsky will call the first ever high school football national championship game on ESPN2 tonight.
Corner Canyon (Utah) faces Saint Frances Academy (Maryland).
By @sportsrapport ⬇️
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) December 10, 2025
When these teams hit the field, though, they will not be lacking in star power. Corner Canyon quarterback Helaman Casuga will be SEC-bound as he’s part of the 2026 recruiting class for the Texas A&M Aggies. Over the past 12 years, Corner Canyon has become a quarterback haven, producing some notable names.
“You’re talking about a place that, in the span of a decade, is producing five to six massive quarterback recruits,” Tessitore said, according to an article from Front Office Sports. “They score 50 points a game.”
Among those names are New York Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart, along with Zach Wilson, who was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Wilson’s younger brother, Isaac, who now plays quarterback at Utah, went there, too.
What about Saint Frances? They’re loaded with talent as well. Safety Jireh Edwards is committed as part of the Alabama Crimson Tide’s 2026 recruiting class. Tessitore, in his interview, referred to Edwards as “the next Ed Reed.” Fellow safety Khmari Bing is headed to the Ohio State Buckeyes.
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Defensive back Wayne Henry is scheduled to play for the Auburn Tigers, while cornerback Amauri Polydor is now going to play for the Virginia Tech Hokies. Polydor originally committed to Penn State but switched to Virginia Tech when James Franklin became the head coach. The Aggies also will get another recruit in cornerback Raylaun Henry.
“In the last generation where you have the hyper scrutiny and attention on recruiting, programs have funneled their way to be national programs,” Tessitore said.
“The prestigious academic boarding schools of Connecticut are now where national recruits go because they have post-graduates and the SEC is recruiting Avon Old Farms and Choate and Loomis Chaffee and Andover, Exeter, and Deerfield Academy [in Massachusetts] to the schools in North Jersey, Georgia, Texas, Florida, and California West Coast,” he said.
“Add what we see with Corner Canyon in Utah – these are powerhouses where kids know that if you play at those places you’re talking about 10, 15, 18 Division I recruits a year,” Tessitore added. “You’re just starting to see a funneling of talent.”
All in all, this high school championship game is going to be not only packed with action but filled with future college football stars, too.
