No. 18 The St. James Spotted No. 1 St. Frances 17 Points and Still Won

The St. James spotted the No. 1 team in the country 17 points on Saturday and still won by eight.

Read that again. St. Frances Academy came to Northern Virginia unbeaten, the reigning champion of the first Overtime Nationals, with a defense that had allowed 48 points all season. It led 17-0. No. 18 The St. James Performance Academy scored the next 28 and beat No. 1 St. Frances 28-20 in Manassas.

We called the Strivers Giant Slayers on Saturday night, and that is what they are. This one should send shockwaves around the country.

Seven days earlier, The St. James led No. 3 IMG Academy with 57 seconds left in Bradenton, Florida, and lost 44-42 on a field goal with two seconds on the clock. Two of the three best teams on our board in back-to-back weeks, one of them on its own field. One win, one two-point loss, 70 points scored. The program is in its second varsity season.

Down 17, no panic

St. Frances started the way it has started all season. The Panthers scored twice in the first quarter and made it 17-0 in the second. The St. James scored before halftime and went to the locker room down 17-7.

The second half belonged to Kash Carter. The Strivers quarterback threw three touchdown passes after the break, two to Marshall commit Vinnie Hill and one to James Madison commit Camden Simmons. Andy Villamarzo of On3 posted the score at 28-17 with 5:01 left in the fourth quarter.

St. Frances added three points before the end, and that was all it scored after halftime. MaxPreps noted it was the Panthers' lowest-scoring game of the season. They had won 46-0 the week before.

Fifty-seven seconds in Bradenton

The IMG game is why Saturday was no fluke.

On Oct. 3, The St. James went to IMG Academy and took a 42-41 lead with 57 seconds left. IMG answered, and Zach Brien kicked a 47-yard field goal with two seconds left to win it 44-42.

On3 counted 380 passing yards and five touchdown passes for Carter that night. It also found that no IMG opponent had scored more than 42 points since 2016.

So in a seven-day stretch, the Strivers played the No. 3 team in the country on its own field and then the No. 1 team in the country. They outscored the two of them 70-64 and came within two points of beating both.

A second-year program

None of this was on any schedule two years ago. The St. James hired Darryl Overton in January 2025 to build its first high school football team. He had won back-to-back Virginia state titles at Freedom of Woodbridge in 2022 and 2023.

The first season ended on Nov. 1, 2025, with a 35-0 loss to St. Frances, the only loss of an 8-1 year. Overton is now 13-2 at The St. James, and both losses came against the two teams the Strivers just played.

We had The St. James 92nd two weeks ago. On Tuesday we moved it to 18th, printed the correction that moved it, and wrote that we expected this game to be close. Some national boards still had the Strivers in the fifties on Saturday morning. Those boards have some moving to do.

What it does to the top of the country

St. Frances has been No. 1 on every SPIN Power 100 we have published this season. Its case was real. Last December, St. Frances beat Corner Canyon of Utah 37-20 in Baltimore to win the first Overtime Nationals. It came into Saturday 5-0, having outscored its opponents 216-48.

One loss does not erase that resume, but it does move St. Frances off the top line. St. Frances will not be No. 1 when the SPIN Power 100 publishes Monday.

Who replaces it is Monday's question, and the field is crowded. No. 2 Santa Margarita beat Servite 27-3 and is 7-0. No. 3 IMG Academy won 49-7 at New Palestine in Indiana and is 7-0. IMG also has the one thing nobody else at the top can claim: it is the only team to beat The St. James this season. No. 4 Baylor School was off and is 7-0. No. 5 St. Thomas Aquinas won 48-0 and is 7-0.

Overtime, you found your fourth team

Last December the Overtime Nationals was one game, St. Frances against Corner Canyon. This year it may be four teams. On3 and Rivals reported that Overtime is working toward a four-team national playoff, and Bishop Gorman's schedule already ends with the Overtime Nationals, date to be determined.

We said it on Saturday night: Overtime found its fourth team.

Give us IMG Academy, St. Frances, The St. James and Bishop Gorman in a four-team playoff. IMG and The St. James already played a two-point game. St. Frances and The St. James just played an eight-point game. Gorman beat St. John Bosco in August. Wouldn't that be something?

And if the field ever grows, we have a wish list. Santa Margarita, if it runs the table. The Georgia state champion. St. Thomas Aquinas. Baylor School of Tennessee. That would be an incredible playoff.

The academy era is here

Look past the scoreboard and Saturday says something bigger about where this sport is going.

The St. James is a performance academy in Springfield, Virginia, in its second varsity season, and it is already nationally elite. IMG Academy built the model: no state association rules to work around, a national schedule and elite players from everywhere. The St. James is building its version for a whole region.

Our view: more of them are coming, all over the country. And once there are enough of them, they will form a league.

Here is why. Get to October in most states and the schedule goes flat. The top teams are so much better than the middle of their states that a lot of Friday nights are decided by halftime. The games people want to watch, IMG and St. Frances and The St. James, only happen because those programs go find each other.

Picture 20-some regional all-star programs around the country, playing each other every week, with a league schedule, a playoff and media rights to go with it. That is not far off. Saturday in Manassas was a preview.

The climb from 18

The St. James is 5-1. Its only loss is to IMG, by two points, on the road. Its best win came against the No. 1 team in the country. The only team that has beaten the Strivers in 2026 is on the short list for No. 1.

The St. James will not be 18th on Monday either.