St. Frances Makes Its Case for a National Championship with an Impressive Win Over Corner Canyon

The Panthers’ star-studded defense locks down the Chargers as the Panthers completed their season with the nation’s No. 1 ranking.

St. Frances quarterback Jae'Olyn Williams threw three touchdown passes to lead the Panthers to a 37-20 win over Corner Canyon and earned MVP honors. / Overtime

Live from Baltimore's Under Armour Stadium, St. Frances (9-1) is putting its No. 1 ranking, in the High School Power 25 national rankings, on the line against Utah Class 6A state champion Corner Canyon (12-1).

Recap

With more than a month elapsed since it last played a game, top-ranked St. Frances started its nationally televised showdown with Utah state champion Corner Canyon a little sluggish on offense.

The Panther defense, on the other hand, was razor sharp, holding things down until the offense caught up while leading St. Frances to 37-20 win visiting Chargers.

Playing at Under Armour Stadium in Baltimore, Corner Canyon, led by feisty quarterback Helaman Casuga, battled and made some chunk plays, but nothing was sustained, as the Panthers forced three turnovers on downs and recovered a fumble.

St. Frances quarterback Jae’Olyn Williams, who was named the game’s MVP, tossed three touchdown passes, one each to Destin Mitchell, Michael Nnabuife and Jesse Legree, while Jaylen Burke had a big night in the running game, including a 9-yard touchdown run. Legree also returned a free kick 65-yards for a touchdown, seconds after Alabama commit Jireh Edwards recorded a safety by shutting down a screen pass in the end zone.

Bronson Evans engineered Corner Canyon’s only two offensive touchdowns of the night, completing fourth quarter TD throws to Lucas Jackson and Jesean Mayberry.

Now, St. Frances will await the outcome of the games involving other top-ranked teams, in the final weeks of the 2025 season to see if they do secure their long-coveted national championship.

Live Updates

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Pregame

- We're less than 15 minutes from kickoff. Both teams are going through final warmups.

- St. Frances is dressed in all back with gold numbers and trim, with black helmets. Corner Canyon is wearing all white with blue numbers and trim, with blue helmets.

- Tempers flared at the coin toss as the two teams were jawing at each other at midfield before the officials got them to retreat to their respective sidelines. Kickoff is moments away.

1st Quarter

- We're underway. Corner Canyon receives the opening kick and will start at its own 23.

- St. Frances' defense forces a quick three and out and the Chargers punt it away. SFA opens its first possession at its own 40.

- Corner Canyon DB Jaoquin Rodriguez comes up with a huge sack on third down and St. Frances has to punt as well.

- Deisel Dart fields the punt for the Chargers, for his first touch, and CC has it at its own 41.

- The St. France pass rush is coming in waves, forcing QB Helaman Casuga to get the ball out quickly.

- Corner Canyon lines up to go for it on fourth down, but cannot draw the Panthers offside. Now the Chargers will punt after a timeout. We have 7:42 to play in the opening quarter.

- TURNOVER ON DOWNS! Out of the timeout, Corner Canyon goes for it but it is stopped shy of midfield. St. Frances has the ball in Chargers territory.

- Despite the field position disadvantage, the Corner Canyon defense was up to the challenge. It forces another punt from the Panthers.

- Brandon Wills-Dickson creates a six-yard loss with a TFL.

- Casuga takes a deep shot on third down, but misses his mark; the Chargers kick.

- St. Frances' Jesse Legree fields the punt and comes up with a big return inside the red zone. The Panthers are threatening to get the first score.

- TOUCHDOWN! QB Jae'Oyn Williams rolls to his right and finds tight Destin Mitchell for the score. St. Francis takes a 7-0 lead.

- Casuga delivers a strike to Mason Hamilton for Corner Canyon's first first down. He follows with a screen for another nice gain and the Chargers are at the St. Frances 39.

- FUMBLE RECOVERY! Scrambling for yardage on third down, Casuga loses the ball and Jariah Myles recovers for St. Frances. Alex Taylor forced the fumble.

- The Panthers strike quick with a long pass to Legree, but an ineligible man down field nullifies the play. We've reached the end of the first quarter.

2nd Quarter

- Mason Wood delivers a big third down sack, on a blitz, for Corner Canyon as the second quarter is underway.

- The Panthers kick it away and it is downed on the Corner Canyon 22. There is a timeout with 10:48 remaining in the second quarter.

- Casuga has some rare time to survey the field for a first down throw. Weston Briggs then exploits the SF blitz with a huge catch and run on the screen, taking the ball all the way down to the Panther 15 yard line.

- MISSED FIELD GOAL! Corner Canyon fails to get on the board as Josh Graham's 32-yard attempt sails wide right.

- Williams keeps it for a 10-yard first down run for for St. Frances. The Panthers are at their own 30.

- Jaylen Burke breaks it up the gut for 47 yards. The Panthers are at the 23.

- TOUCHDOWN! Two plays later, Burke cashes in from 9 yards out. The Panthers lead 14-0 at the 8:17 mark of the first half. The Panthers went 80 yards in four plays.

- Jesean Mayberry comes up with his second catch of the night and gains 20 to help Corner Canyon start the drive on a strong note.

- Corner Canyon's fourth down pass falls incomplete, but the Panthers' Jariah Myles is called for targeting and the Chargers are given new life. Casuga then finds Lucas Jackson with a first down throw to the SFA 22.

- TURNOVER ON DOWNS! This time St. Frances does get the ball back by thwarting the Chargers on the next series.

- SFA delivering a heavy dose of Burke as it is inside the Corner Canyon 15. We're at the two minute timeout.

- TOUCHDOWN! Williams drops one in the bucket to tight end Michael Nnabuife for another Panther score. It's 21-0 with 1:56 remaining in the half.

- Corner Canyon is forced to punt with 46 seconds left in the half. The ball rolls dead at the St. Frances 25.

- The Panthers keep it on the ground with Williams and the first half comes to a close with the Panthers leading 21-0.

3rd Quarter

- After a nice kickoff return, St. Frances starts the 3rd quarter at their own 38.

- The Panthers start with a couple of first downs and they are in CC territory.

- St. Frances moves inside the red zone with 6:35 to go in the third quarter.

- There has been a delay as officials sorted out offsetting personal foul penalties.

- TOUCHDOWN! Jesse Legree makes another big play, this time a touchdown reception, with 6 minutes left in the quarter, and the Panthers are in full control, 28-0.

- Corner Canyon has a nice driving going in SFA territory. We have a timout with a little over 4 minutes to play in the third.

- TURNOVER ON DOWNS! The Chargers best scoring opportunity of the night bogs down at the St. Frances 10 as the Panthers take over.

- TOUCHDOWN! Corner Canyon is on the board after botched snap, on a punt attempt, is recovered in the end zone for a Chargers' touchdown. With 35-seconds to play in the third quarter, St. Frances leads Corner Canyon, 28-7.

- St. Frances is back on the march out near midfield as the third quarter comes to an end.

4th Quarter

- After a penalty pushes St. Frances back, Jesse Legree makes another big play with a 35-yard gain down to the Corner Canyon 23.

- INTERCEPTION! Jaoquin Rodriguez makes an outstanding play on the ball, at the 5-yard line, comes up with the turnover for Corner Canyon.

- SAFETY! Jireh Edwards hits Bronson Evans in the end zone after a completion in the Corner Canyon end zone and the Panthers collect two more points.

- TOUCHDOWN! Legree fields the free kick and promptly takes it 65-yards to the house. St. Frances now in complete control at 38-0 with 10:48 to play.

- After a mostly clear evening, a steady rain has taken hold.

- Bronson Evans takes over at QB for Corner Canyon and quick generates a pair of first downs.

- Weston Briggs makes a first down run and gets down to the St. Frances 23 as we've moved under 8 minutes.

- TOUCHDOWN! Evans throws a strike to Lucas Jackson in the end zone for a touchdown for Corner Canyon's first offensive touchdown of the night.

- We're going to see the On Side Play, where Corner Canyon has the option, as the losing team in the fourth quarter, to run a 4th and 15 from their own 25, instead of kicking off.

- Corner Canyon converts. Lucas Jackson makes the catch from Evans and the Chargers have a first down at their 43.

- Evans has sparked Corner Canyon. He finds Jayden Travers for long gain down to the Panthers 20.

- TURNOVER ON DOWNS! On a fourth-and-10, Zion Elee sacks Evans to send the ball back to St. Frances with 6:30 left.

- The game has reached the two-minute timeout. St. Frances holds the ball as it is trying to finish off the contest.

- St. Frances is forced to punt, giving CC one last offensive opportunity with less than two minutes to go.

- TOUCHDOWN! With just 5-seconds left, Evans connects with Jesean Mayberry, who made a spectacular grad in the end zone for a 30-yard score.

- Corner Canyon will run the On Side Play once again, with a 4th and 15 snap from its own 25.

- The pass is broken up and St. Frances wins, 37-20.

	1	2	3	4	F
Corner Canyon	0	0	7	6	20
St. Frances	7	14	7	9	37

Let us know how you believe will win, by playing our Pick'Em contest.

Preview

St. Frances only loss of the year came in Southern California in early September when it dropped a 21-14 decision to then No. 1 St. John Bosco. The Panthers dominated the interior for much of the contest but surrendered the lead late on a pair of long passes.

Corner Canyon avenged its only loss of 2025, a mid-September setback to Lone Peak by defeating their rivals, 35-20, in the state championship game.

The Panthers are led by 5-star edge Zion Elee, who recently signed with the University of Maryland, and defensive back Jireh Edwards, who play at Alabama next year. The Panthers have a slew of stars signed with Power 4 schools, including Ohio State, Texas A&M, Virginia, Virgina Tech and North Carolina, among others.

Corner Canyon is led by Texas A&M signee Helaman Casuga, a play-making quarterback eager to test the Panthers' secondary. He is protected by a USC signee, tackle Esun Tafa.