With four of the top five teams in the Deseret News preseason top 25 football rankings this season, Region 4 will once again be the center of attention for high school football in Utah this fall.
And even then, everything will revolve around Region 4 favorite and three-time state champion Corner Canyon. Winners of 40 straight games and a dominant 2020 campaign, Corner Canyon is loaded defensively with nine returning starters to go along with five returning starters offensively.
There will be a new starter at QB this year after the graduation of Jaxson Dart, but another transfer may ultimately bolster the position as USC commit Devin Brown has moved to Utah from Arizona.
If he ultimately gets the starting nod, he’ll join a region already loaded with great quarterback talent along with Skyridge’s McCae Hillstead and American Fork’s Maddux Madsen.
Lone Peak checks in at No. 2 in the preseason rankings following a 6A runner-up finish to Corner Canyon a year ago.
Skyridge will open the season ranked No. 3 in the top 25 rankings, and with seven starters back offensively it certainly has what it takes to try and dethrone Corner Canyon. In fact, it was the only team that didn’t lose to Corner Canyon by double-digits last year as the Chargers rallied past Skyridge for the 29-26 region win a year ago.
Hillstead combined for 51 passing and rushing touchdowns a year ago as a sophomore, and the expectations are even higher for his junior season.
Orem gets the nod at No. 4 in the preseason rankings, as the top-ranked team in 5A heads into the season seeking a fifth-straight state championship. It’s the only non-Region 4 team in the preseason top five.
The last spot in the preseason top five belongs to American Fork, which is loaded offensively with six returning starters, including Madsen who passed for 48 touchdowns a year ago.
Rounding out the preseason top 10 — which is correlated to the preseason coaches class-by-class rankings — is No. 6 Bingham, No. 7 Weber, No. 8 Timpview, No. 9 East and No. 10 Pleasant Grove.