Why IMG Academy football canceled its nationally ranked game with St. Frances

It seemed like there might be a chance that a high school football national championship would be decided on the field.

But instead, IMG Academy (FL) and St. Frances (MD) will no longer match up in 2025.

The game was originally scheduled for Friday, Nov. 7, and it was set to pit The Sporting News' No. 1 IMG against No. 4 St. Frances.

Then, the game was set to be bumped to December to serve as a de facto national championship game.

Now, it won't be played at all, IMG announced in a statement Friday morning.

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Why is IMG-St. Francis football game canceled?

IMG Academy chose to back out of the matchup, releasing a statement on the decision Friday morning.

The statement reads in full:

"While we were originally scheduled and excited to face St. Frances this evening, given how the season unfolded with the teams becoming the consensus top two teams in the country, there was a unique opportunity to reschedule the matchup into a nationally televised championship that required the date to be moved to mid-December, creating a nearly six-week layoff between games. That extended break raised understandable concerns around player health and safety and the college transition for our seniors. After extensive consideration of what's best for our student-athletes, the difficult decision was made not to participate in the rescheduled game.

"At IMG Academy, our purpose extends beyond championships. We take great pride in helping student-athletes grow as leaders, and their maturity, unity and character have made us incredibly proud throughout this difficult decision."

The decision does raise the question of why the game was just moved off its originally Nov. 7 scheduled spot to begin with, but that's a moot point now.

Unless something changes, these powerhouses won't play one another this season.

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