High school football: 5 games to keep an eye on during Week 3

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.
Few programs in the state know each other better than these two teams.
Since Corner Canyon made the jump to 6A in 2019, these teams have met nine times in five seasons — which includes four playoff meetings and two state championship games.
Corner Canyon is 7-2 in those nine games, with both of Lone Peak’s victories coming during its 2021 state title season.
A year ago, the Chargers beat Lone Peak 35-21 in the 6A quarterfinals, but it was a one possession game until the final three minutes.
Fresh off its victory over nationally-ranked IMG Academy, Florida — a win that vaulted Corner Canyon to a No. 6 national ranking in MaxPreps — coach Eric Kjar’s team will look to continue the momentum going against a very formidable foe.
While Corner Canyon beat American Fork and IMG Academy in the first two weeks, Lone Peak shut out Bingham in Week 1 and then topped defending 5A champ Timpview last week 31-24.
Heading into the season, Lone Peak coach Bart Brockbank anticipated that the defense would need to carry the load for a young offense early in the season. That defense faces an extremely tall task this season in trying to slow down the Chargers.
There’s a bit more anticipation than normal heading into The Shield Game rivalry this week up in Weber County.
Roy and Weber are both undefeated two games into the season, with both coming off blowout wins in Week 2. The Royals trounced Fremont 50-16 last Friday, while Weber rolled past Pleasant Grove 31-12.
Friday’s nonregion showdown is the 59th meeting between the two schools dating back to 1965, with Roy leading the all-time series 33-25.
A year ago, these teams met in Week 3, as well, with Roy dominating for the 36-14 victory. For Weber, that loss was a part of its 0-3 start to the season, which it eventually recovered from to finish in second place in Region 1.
Roy continued its momentum all season as it marched on to win the Region 5 title.
Fresh off its win over the No. 3 team in Nevada, Skyridge hopes to build on the momentum in Week 3 when it hosts the top-ranked team from Colorado.
The Cherry Creek Bruins haven’t played a game yet this season, but it finished last season 13-1, with its lone loss coming in the 5A championship.
Cherry Creek features three of the top 10 recruits out of Colorado, including offensive lineman and University of Utah commit Soren Shinofield, a three-star prospect.
For Skyridge, last week’s 41-26 win at Liberty, Nevada, was a great bounce-back after its second-half collapse at Timpview in Week 1. The Falcons led 29-14 at the half, but lost 33-29 as Timpview scored the go-ahead touchdown with six seconds remaining.
Skyridge junior quarterback Daneal Sweetwyne in particular had a great rebound performance in Nevada as he threw for four touchdowns a week after tossing three interceptions.
Through two games, Green Canyon has yet to give up a point, shutting out both Hunter and Stansbury.
The early defensive success is a carryover from last season. A year ago, under first-year coach JT Tauiliili, Green Canyon finished second in 4A allowing only 13.1 ppg as it advanced to the state championship game.
Green Canyon beat Highland 16-3 in Week 3 a year ago during its dominant defensive season, but in this week’s rematch, the Rams should be a much more formidable foe.
Highland ranked 23rd in 5A scoring a year ago averaging just 16.7 ppg, but so far this season it has taken steps forward offensively and is 2-0 with wins over Payson and West Jordan.
Last week, the Rams needed a dramatic fourth quarter comeback to beat West Jordan 24-20. They will need to be sharper from the outset to try and pull off the upset against visiting Green Canyon.
For the first time in a decade, two of the southernmost teams in the state square off when 2A top-ranked San Juan travels to 1A second-ranked Kanab.
The last time these two teams met in 2012, current San Juan coach Barkley Christensen quarterbacked the Broncos to the 40-10 victory during his senior season.
This will be the 24th meeting between the schools dating back to 1982. San Juan leads the series 16-7.
Kanab has steamrolled its first two opponents, beating Ben Lomond 56-0 in Week 1 and then North Sevier 49-6 in Week 2.
For San Juan, after its 37-game winning streak came to a heartbreaking end in a Week 1 loss at Grantsville, the Broncos regrouped to beat Juan Diego 33-14 in Week 2.
San Juan will be favored in this rare match-up as it looks to make it eight straight wins over Kanab.