High school football: Five games to keep an eye on during Week 2

With Week 1 of the high school football season in the rearview mirror, here’s a look at five games in Week 2 with intriguing storylines.
Timpview and its new quarterback had one of the statement wins of Week 1. Lone Peak, meanwhile, backed up its lofty preseason expectations with an impressive shutout win over Bingham.
They’ll square off in Week 2 this Friday in one of the most intriguing games on tap.
This will be the sixth straight season the traditional 5A and 6A contenders meet in a preseason game in the first two weeks of the season. Lone Peak prevailed in 2019, 2020 and 2021, but Timpview has won the past two meetings, including a 31-28 win a year ago.
Both teams are led by transfer quarterbacks heading into the Week 2 matchup.
Lone Peak QB Kepa Niumeitolu — an Alta transfer — rushed for two scores in leading Lone Peak to the 21-0 win over Bingham in Week 1. He struggled a bit throwing the ball, completing just 6 of 21 passes, and he’ll be focused on improving that efficiency in his second week, learning the new offense this Friday.
Timpview QB Carson Rasmussen — a Pleasant Grove transfer — engineered an impressive comeback win for the T-Birds in Week 1 as they rallied from a 29-14 halftime deficit to beak Skyridge 33-29.
Kennan Pula scored a key third quarter defensive touchdown that cut the deficit to 29-21, and then, with six seconds remaining, Rasmussen connected with Jaron Pula on a 1-yard TD pass to complete the rally.
It was Rasmussen’s third TD pass of the game as he completed 17 of 23 passes for 221 yards.
At Pleasant Grove last season, Rasmussen played in several tight games in Region 3 and the 6A playoffs, and that experience was likely a big reason he stayed composed against Skyridge despite the halftime deficit.
By its own lofty standards Morgan’s football team had set for itself the six years prior, 2023 certainly felt like a down year.
Sure, it went undefeated in region, but it only went 2-3 during its preseason schedule against larger programs and then in the playoffs bowed out of the semifinals pretty convincingly after four straight championship game appearances — including titles in 2022 and 2019.
One game into the 2024 season, the Morgan of old seems like it’s returned after the Trojans thrashed defending 4A state champion Crimson Cliffs 41-13. In fairness, the Mustangs have virtually no returning starters from that team, but it was a great result nonetheless for Morgan after it lost to Crimson Cliffs 35-15 in the season opener a year ago.
The Trojans will look to continue their bright start in Week 2 against another 4A juggernaut when they host Sky View in Week 2.
Under first-year coach Eric Alder, Sky View overcame a 14-7 deficit to beat Salem Hills 28-21. After beating Salem Hills 44-20, it was a much tighter opener than expected.
Sky View beat Morgan 45-28 last season on its way to an undefeated regular season, a game that dropped Morgan to 0-2 on the season and showed kinks in the armor.
If Morgan can avenge that loss this Friday, it could signal that Morgan is the early 3A favorite.
Utah is host to one of the top high school football games in the country this week.
Reigning 6A state champs Corner Canyon, currently ranked No. 18 nationally according to MaxPreps, hosts No. 3 ranked IMG Academy out of Bradenton, Florida, on Thursday at 7 p.m.
The Chargers rolled past American Fork last week 70-42 as new transfer QB Helaman Casuga had a scintillating debut as he passed for 482 yards and six touchdowns. Senior running back Bryton Brady was equally as efficient carrying the ball only 14 times for 282 yards and three TDs.
This Thursday’s game will be the first of the season for traditional national power IMG, which finished with a 10-0 record last season and ended the year ranked No. 4 nationally. The Ascenders play an independent schedule, and last year played eight games out of state.
IMG features players who’ve committed to schools like Ohio State, Alabama, Miami, Michigan and Washington.
This will be IMG’s second trip to Utah in the past three seasons as it beat East 63-13 in 2022.
Corner Canyon has played nationally-ranked Bishop Gorman, Nevada, each of the past two seasons. It lost 42-7 down in Las Vegas in 2022 and then 63-42 in Draper last year in a tight game until midway through the fourth quarter.
One of the most impressive wins of Week 1 belonged to Spanish Fork. It outscored Olympus 17-7 in the fourth quarter to rally for the 24-20 victory.
It cut the deficit to 20-17 with 3:51 remaining on a McKay Smith TD pass to Ammon Giles, and then went ahead two minutes later on a Brock Jacobson one-yard TD run.
After losing to Olympus 28-7 the year prior, a loss that set the tone for a 3-7 season, it was a great moment builder for Spanish Fork.
Now it gets a chance to average another loss from a year ago when it hosts rival Maple Mountain, a team it lost to 27-24 last season.
Maple Mountain is coming off a strong defensive performance last week when it beat Granger 23-6. It was exactly the type of Week 1 performance the Golden Eagles needed as they look to take a big step forward in 2024 after a 6-6 season under first-year coach Kalin Hall a year ago.
Maple Mountain hasn’t had a winning season since 2020, when it went 9-3 and reached the 5A semifinals.
One of the most entertaining preseason games last season was Park City’s 35-33 victory over Timpanogos as the teams pretty much traded points throughout the game.
They met again in the 4A quarterfinals in another thriller, with Park City prevailing 28-24.
The rematch is this Friday, and both teams are heading into the game with momentum.
Park City blanked Wasatch 17-0 in Week 1 in a strong defensive performance by the entire team, with Thomas Davis leading the way.
Timpanogos got off to a great start, as expected in Week 1, as it rolled past Jordan 49-7 after jumping out to a quick 21-0 lead after the first quarter.
New starting QB Andrew Hillstead had a great season opener as the junior threw for 480 yards and five TDs.