Lone Peak football fans can watch the Knights take on the nation's top-ranked team from their living rooms on Friday, Aug. 21.

IMG Academy of Bradenton, Florida, ranked No. 1 in the USA TODAY Super 25 and No. 5 in the MaxPreps preseason poll, will open its season at Lone Peak at 7 p.m. The game will air live on KJZZ, according to the Deseret News weekly TV schedule published Sunday, Aug. 16.

It is the biggest nonplayoff home game in recent Lone Peak history and a measuring stick for head coach Bart Brockbank's squad, which opened the season with a 33-21 win over Crimson Cliffs on Aug. 14.

IMG Academy went 9-0 in 2025 and finished the year ranked No. 1 in the Florida Power Rankings Index. The Ascenders are led by five-star quarterback Jayden Wade, a Georgia Bulldogs commit whom On3/Rivals calls one of the best signal-callers in the country.

What's at stake for the Knights

Lone Peak went 8-5 last season and lost to Corner Canyon 35-20 in the 6A state championship game. With Corner Canyon dynasty coach Eric Kjar now at Weber State after nine seasons and five 6A titles, the Knights see an opening. Lone Peak sits No. 3 in the Deseret News preseason coaches poll with four first-place votes, behind Corner Canyon and Skyridge.

Returning starting quarterback Cruz Christiensen threw for 1,524 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2025. The offensive line is anchored by 6-foot-6, 292-pound tackle Gavin Gunstream. On defense, sophomore linebacker Kingston Shroshine recorded 82 tackles, eight for a loss, two sacks and four deflected passes as a freshman and earned second-team Rivals All-American honors.

Three-star receiver Dillon Sykes, a University of Utah commit who transferred from Rancho Cucamonga, California, could add another weapon. "I was always told to be the best, you have to play the best and beat the best," Sykes told Rivals analyst Greg Biggins in July when announcing his move to Lone Peak. His UHSAA transfer waiver was still pending as of Aug. 12, meaning his availability for Friday's game remains uncertain.

The precedent

Corner Canyon hosted IMG Academy in 2024 and won a thriller, 35-34. As we reported Aug. 12, Utah teams went 19-23 against out-of-state opponents in 2025, underscoring the difficulty of what Lone Peak is attempting with its national-caliber schedule.

Up next

The Knights don't get a breather. After IMG Academy, Lone Peak travels to Skyline on Friday, Aug. 28, at 7 p.m., then hosts No. 2 Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas on Friday, Sept. 4, at 7 p.m. The Gorman rematch carries extra weight: when the teams met in Las Vegas last fall, Gorman led 35-14 early in the third quarter before an altercation on Lone Peak's sideline led to a forfeit under NIAA rules.