High school football: Defending champs highlight Deseret News 2024 preseason class-by-class coaches rankings

The one-month countdown to the 2024 high school football season is officially on, and for those hoping for some parity, this may not be the season for you. Based on voting in the Deseret News’ annual coaches preseason class-by-class rankings, six of the seven defending state champs have been pegged as the favorites to repeat.

Richfield in 3A is the only defending champ that won’t open as a preseason No. 1.

Five of the seven teams tabbed as the early favorites a year ago went on to win state titles in 2023.

Regardless of the projections, every team begins the season with fresh hope, which officially gets underway on Thursday, Aug. 15, with one game, and then a full slate of games on Friday, Aug. 16.

Here’s a closer look at each classification, with the complete rankings listed below.

Class 6A projections

Corner Canyon received every first-place vote but one — its own — in what most believe will be another dominant season as it returns eight offensive starters and five defensive starters.

“Have a lot of experience returning on the offensive side of the ball. Offensive line returns five that got significant playing time,” said Corner Canyon coach Eric Kjar.

New QB Helaman Casuga will benefit from all that experience, and his transfer is a big reason the Chargers garnered every first-place vote. Casuga led Timpview to the 5A title as a sophomore last season, but he transferred Corner Canyon and will take over for Isaac Wilson as QB.

Lehi narrowly edged Skyridge for the No. 2 seed, with Lone Peak and American Fork rounding out the top five. To the surprise of no one, Region 3 has four teams in the preseason top four.

“Our region is filled with talent and great coaching. There are no weeks off and we’ll need to be playing at a high level to compete,” said Skyridge coach Justin Hemm, whose team won the 2022 title and lost to Corner Canyon in the championship a year ago.

Lehi and Skyridge both return seven starters defensively as they may lean on that side early in the season as the offenses settle in.

Class 5A projections

Despite the departure of its starting QB, Timpview was still voted as the overwhelming favorite in 5A as it received 12 of 16 first-place votes for the coaches who voted.

Bountiful checks in at No. 2, followed closely by West at No. 3 at Brighton at No. 4. Olympus rounds out the top five a distant fifth.

Between transfers and graduation, Timpview has a lot of big holes to fill, coach Donny Atuai has led his team to the championship game in his first two seasons at the helm and many expect him to do it again.

Of all the classifications, 5A was the one a year ago that proved anything can happen in the playoffs. Joining top seed Timpview in the semifinals were No. 5 seed Olympus, No. 10 seed Bountiful and No. 11 seed Alta.

Olympus may be the team most likely to get back with half its starters returning for coach Brandon Burt’s second season as head coach.

“Overall, we are excited about this group. We have team speed, toughness, some decent size and the willingness to prepare. We play in a great region full of talented rivals and are looking forward to the season,” said Burt.

Class 4A projections

Of the big three classifications in Utah, 4A is the only one with uncertainty at the top.

Defending champ Crimson Cliffs checks in at No. 1 after receiving 12 first-place votes from 4A’s coaches, but Ridgeline wasn’t too far behind with nine first-place votes.

Park City, Green Canyon and Desert Hills round out the top five in 4A, a classification in which seven different teams received a second-place vote.

Crimson Cliffs’ repeat bid won’t be easy with just two starters back on offense and one on defense.

“We are excited for our challenge this year to replace 19 starters from last year’s team. We have a lot of young men who are competing and eager to fill those spots and roles. IQ will play a big factor to help us with lack of varsity experience that we will have this year but that will fall primarily on us coaches to help these young men improve in that regard and have them ready to compete,” said Crimson Cliffs coach Wayne Alofipo.

Conversely, Ridgeline returns six starters defensively and eight on offense led by first-team all-state QB Nate Dahle. No other 4A team returns as many offensive starters.

Class 3A projections

For the third straight season, Morgan will open the season as the preseason No. 1 in 3A.

The Trojans lost in the semifinals a year ago to Manti, but they’re a program with strong tradition and quality returning as well with six defensively returning starters.

“We have a good core returning that were able to contribute at a high level last season. Many players have been putting in a lot of time improving themselves and their teammates. We look forward to the opportunity to grow together as a team and community throughout the season,” said Morgan coach Jared Barlow.

Manti, Grantsville, Richfield and Juab round out the preseason top 5 in 3A.

Richfield, which won its first state title since 1984 last season, hopes it can build on last year’s rare success in 2024.

“There’s a lot of excitement in Richfield after last season, for good reason, but there’s also the reality that many of the players on the field last year have graduated. Players have been working hard to develop and step up into the roles left by graduates,” said Richfield coach Eric Thorson.

Class 2A projections

In the 120-plus year history of Utah high school football, only 20 teams have been fortunate enough to win three straight football state championships, including San Juan last year.

Of those 20, only seven went on to win a fourth straight state title and beyond. San Juan hopes to become the eighth this fall, and the expectations for that are very high.

San Juan opens the season as the preseason No. 1 in 2A as it carries a 37-game winning streak into the 2024 season.

“After graduating a group of more than 20 seniors, we are looking to reload, not rebuild. We bring back 20+ seniors this season and although they do not have a lot of varsity experience, they are very talented,” said San Juan coach Barkley Christiansen.

Layton Christian, South Summit, Summit Academy and Emery round out the top five.

South Summit lost to San Juan in the 2A title game a year ago, but despite returning very little starting experience it’s a program with much optimism.

‘We will be young, but we are going to be better than people think. We have a great group of underclassmen who are ready to prove that they can compete,” said coach Michael Ruf.

Class 1A projections

Like Corner Canyon in 6A, Beaver received every 1A first-place vote but its own as the program looks to continue its dominance of small-school football.

Beaver has won five state championships in the past nine years, and is now tied with Skyline for 14 state titles in school history, the third-most in state history.

“We are excited to begin another season. We had a great senior class last year that will be hard to replace. We only have 9-10 seniors on our squad but we have a lot of good underclassmen that hopefully will step up for us,” said Beaver coach Jon Marshall.

Kanab, North Summit, Enterprise and Milford round out the preseason top five in 1A.

Of the teams in the top five, Kanab and North Summit return by far the most starters as they’ll look to dethrone the Beavers.

Class 1A (8-player) projections

Rich ran away with the 1A eight-player state championship a year ago, and with more returning experience than anyone else, it’s no surprise the program is the preseason favorite in 2024.

Monticello — the runner-up from a year ago — will open the season ranked No. 2, followed by Altamont, Water Canyon and St. Joseph rounding out the top five.

“Hoping to have a decent squad this year. We have a solid core group returning, the guys have worked hard in the offseason, and there’s excitement in the program,” said Rich coach Tyson Larsen.

The classification is adding two new programs for the 2024 season, Utah Military Camp Williams and Utah Military Hill Field.

“We are extremely excited to represent the first football team in the history of Utah Military Academy CW. I couldn’t be more proud of how our young men have bought into the work and grind of the summer. We have a lot of youth, with only three seniors and one junior who plans to graduate early. It is many of our athletes first year playing organized football and we look forward to making some noise in an exciting 8-man classification,” said Camp Williams coach Michael Graham.

2024 preseason high school football rankings

Each year, the Deseret News asks every football coach in the state to vote for the top five teams in their classification. The votes are tallied, and five points are assigned for a first-place vote, four for a second-place vote, etc. Coaches aren’t allowed to vote for their own team. The following are the results from the coaches who elected to participate (first-place votes indicated in parenthesis):

Class 6A

Team 2023 record

• 1. Corner Canyon (15), 13-1
• 2. Lehi, 10-3
• 3. Skyridge, 11-3
• 4. Lone Peak (1), 5-7
• 5. American Fork, 11-2

Others receiving multiple votes : Davis, Bingham, Fremont, Mountain Ridge.

Class 5A

Team 2023 record

• 1. Timpview (12), 11-2
• 2. Bountiful (1), 10-5
• 3. West (2), 6-4
• 4. Brighton (1), 8-4
• 5. Olympus, 8-4

Others receiving multiple votes : Springville, Alta, Orem, Roy, West Jordan.

Class 4A

Team 2023 record

• 1. Crimson Cliffs (12), 13-1
• 2. Ridgeline (9), 10-3
• 3. Park City, 11-2
• 4. Green Canyon (1), 10-4
• 5. Desert Hills, 7-5

Others receiving multiple votes : Sky View, Stansbury, Dixie, Provo, Spanish Fork, Snow Canyon, Salem Hills.

Class 3A

Team 2023 record

• 1. Morgan (6), 8-4
• 2. Manti (2), 10-3
• 3. Grantsville, 6-6
• 4. Richfield (2), 13-0
• 5. Juab, 6-6

Others receiving multiple votes : Canyon View, Juan Diego, Union.

Class 2A

Team 2023 record

• 1. San Juan (6), 12-0
• 2. Layton Christian (1), 6-5
• 3. South Summit, 10-3
• 4. Summit Academy, 7-5
• 5. Emery, 6-4

Others receiving multiple votes : Delta, Judge Memorial.

Class 1A

Team 2023 record

• 1. Beaver (9), 12-1
• 2. Kanab, 7-5
• 3. North Summit (1), 6-5
• 4. Enterprise, 11-2
• 5. Milford, 5-7

Others receiving multiple votes : Duchesne, Millard.

Class 1A (eight-player)

Team 2023 record

• 1. Rich (4), 8-4
• 2. Monticello (1), 7-5
• 3. Altamont, 7-3
• 4. Water Canyon, 5-5
• 5. St. Joseph, 2-8

Others receiving multiple votes : Whitehorse.