Corner Canyon's quest for a fourth straight 6A state championship begins Friday, Aug. 14, at Davis High, and for the first time in nearly a decade, someone other than Eric Kjar will be calling the shots.

Casey Sutera, who served as the Chargers' defensive coordinator for eight years before building a 35-14 record in four seasons as Brighton's head coach, takes over a program ranked No. 1 in both the Deseret News 6A preseason coaches poll and the High School Football America Utah Top 10. The Chargers received five first-place votes from 6A coaches, narrowly edging region rivals Skyridge and Lone Peak, which each received four.

"We know we have a high expectation because of the standard coach Kjar has created at Corner Canyon. … Our players have done a great job of investing into our offseason strength program and I feel like we are in a good place coming out of our summer camp," Sutera told the Deseret News on July 20, when the preseason rankings were released.

Sutera inherits a roster returning three offensive starters and five defensive starters, including two players already committed to the University of Utah's 2027 recruiting class: free safety Diesel Dart and lineman Jackson West. Both committed in June. Dart, who wears No. 10, flashed playmaking ability last season with an interception against Liberty of Peoria, Arizona, on Sept. 5, 2025.

The schedule wastes no time testing Sutera's squad. After the opener at Davis, Corner Canyon travels to Timpview on Friday, Aug. 21, where former Charger defender Fui Vakapuna, himself a Utah commit, will face his old teammates after transferring this offseason.

Then comes the marquee date: Friday, Sept. 18, when Lone Peak visits Corner Canyon in a rematch of the 2025 6A state championship game. The Chargers won that title 35-20 on Nov. 20, 2025, at Rice-Eccles Stadium, avenging their only regular-season loss to the Knights. Senior running back Weston Briggs scored three straight touchdowns in the fourth quarter to seal it.

The Deseret News called the Sept. 18 contest "pushing to be the biggest of the regular season state-wide." Lone Peak will arrive having already faced IMG Academy of Florida and Bishop Gorman of Nevada in the two preceding weeks. The Knights also added Dillon Sykes, a Utah 2027 commit who transferred from Rancho Cucamonga, California, and told Rivals he chose Lone Peak because he wanted to compete against the best.

Sutera's connection to the program runs deep. He played college ball at Utah, started his coaching career at Jordan High, then spent eight years alongside Kjar at Corner Canyon before leaving for Brighton, where he won three Region 6 titles and was named 2024 5A Coach of the Year. Kjar departed in December 2025 for Weber State with a 112-10 record, six state titles, and a Utah-record 48-game winning streak from 2018 to 2021. The Canyons School District board formally recognized Sutera's appointment on Jan. 20.

As we reported July 16, the program's NFL pipeline now includes three players on active rosters. That pedigree hasn't faded with the coaching change. Las Vegas Raiders guard Jackson Powers-Johnson publicly credited Sutera on TV for teaching him how to tackle.

The Chargers open at Davis on Aug. 14, visit Timpview on Aug. 21, and host Lone Peak on Sept. 18.