High School Football: Thursday slate features national top-100 clash in Utah

Regular season high school football is beginning to kick off in some areas of the country as the month of August rolls on.

On Thursday, a pair of teams in the national On3 Massey Ratings top 100 will square off in the Beehive State. The On3 Massey Ratings, officially used during the BCS era, is a model that ranks sports teams by analyzing game outcomes, strength of schedule and margin of victory.

Utah’s No. 2 team, Lehi Skyridge, ranks 20th nationally and will go on the road to Provo to take on No. 5 Timpview (No. 94 NATL.) at 7 p.m. local time. It’s the first home game for Timpview since 2021, according to KUTV’s Dave Fox.

No. 20 Skyridge at No. 94 Timpview

Skyridge is coming off of an 11-3 season in 2023 which ended with a 41-27 6A state championship loss to Corner Canyon. The Falcons will get a chance at revenge on Sept. 13, but first up is Timpview. The Timpview Thunderbirds lost their season-opener to Skyridge last year before going on and 11-1 run, culminating in a 5A state title.

A pair of Power 4 commits anchor Skyridge’s offensive line. Darius Afalava ranks inside the top 500 and committed to Oklahoma earlier this summer, while Ben Howard is planning to head to the ACC to play for California. The Falcons will have a new starter at quarterback in Kaneal Sweetwyne, per the Lehi Free Press’ Jennifer Thomas. Sweetwyne appeared in five games last season and completed 13 of 16 passes. On the defense, Skyridge returns Iakopo Malufau and Deshawn Toilolo, who accounted for 15.5 and 9.5 sacks respectively last season.

Timpview wide receivers Kennan Pula and Jaron Pula are an electric duo on the outside for the Thunderbirds, both ranking in the top 400 of the 2026 recruiting class. Kennan racked up 639 receiving yards and nine touchdowns a year ago while Jaron accounted for 352 yards and three scores. Four-star junior quarterback Helaman Casuga was a two-year starter for Timpview but transferred to Corner Canyon in the offseason. Now, the ‘Birds are still looking to fill that role for 2024.

On defense, linebacker Taani Makasini is committed to BYU and led the Thunderbirds with 139 tackles last season. He also accounted for 2.5 sacks, three interceptions and a forced fumble. Cornerback Aisa Galea’i led the team with four picks on the year.