Mountain Pointe going to Florida in September to play national football giant IMG Academy
Phoenix Mountain Pointe's football team, not worried about the final score but rather the experience of playing a national powerhouse, is taking on the task of traveling to Florida in September to take on IMG Academy.
The Ahwatukee Foothills News first reported that the game will take place.
Mountain Pointe head coach Eric Lauer and Athletic Director Aaron Frana confirmed with The Arizona Republic that they will travel to the boarding school in Bradenton, Florida and stay two days on their campus and likely play on a Thursday night, Sept. 12.
They said that they're splitting the costs of the trip, with IMG paying for a little more than half.
IMG Academy has four teams. The Pride will be playing its national team, which last season went 10-0 and finished ranked fourth in the nation by MaxPreps. USA Today placed IMG No. 5 in its final 2023 national high school football rankings.
The IMG national team isn't part of the Florida High School Athletic Association and competes as an independent with no playoffs.
This could be a thankless mission for Mountain Pointe, going up against a program that recruits nationwide, sells itself as a college-prep program, taking only the top players in the country and mostly obliterating the opposition. It's hard for IMG to find opponents because a lot of schools don't want to be fodder for them or give exposure to a program that takes players from different states to play for them.
"It's a great opportunity for our student-athletes to compete at the highest level," Frana said. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for students, parents, and community."
Recently, prized wide receiver Braiden Vines-Bright announced on social media that he was leaving Tempe Corona del Sol to play at IMG Academy, which has top-notch facilities with a state-of-the art stadium and weight room and intense training, providing housing on campus and academics.
Lauer realizes that there is potential for losing a top player to IMG Academy from the experience, but he said, if they're good enough, he wouldn't stop them from going there.
"We're looking at it more as the experience for these kids to be able to play against the best in the country," Lauer said.
Lauer and Frana said they reached out to IMG for the game.
"They hesitated at first," Lauer said. "It took a little while but decided to play."
IMG plays for mythical national titles every year. Mountain Pointe is trying to get back to elite status in Arizona. The Pride has yet to make it to the Open Division eight-team playoff since the Arizona Interscholastic Association began that bracket in 2019.
Last season, the Pride went 6-5.
They feel with so many transfers (about 27) coming into Mountain Pointe last school year, they feel this should be a solid enough team to compete with IMG's top team.
Mountain Pointe is led by defensive back Rylon Dillard-Allen (2025) and linebacker Jaylyn Colter (2026), who are two of the state's top prospects. Dillard-Allen came over from Phoenix Desert Vista and Colter from Scottsdale Chaparral.
Kaleb Jones (2025), one of the top two-way linemen in Arizona, also returns for the Pride.
To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert atrichard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mountain Pointe to play national football giant IMG Academy in Sept.
