Shillington, Pa., Imhotep Charter relied on a very stingy defense and three big plays in their 20-0 conquest of a very well balanced undefeated Berks Catholic team from District 3 and a spot in next week’s State title game.
“For as good as a team as I know we have, my hat goes off to that Berks program”, echoed Imhotep coach Albie Crosby. “They are one very good football team”
The Saints came into this contest averaging almost 300 rushing yards per game using a high tempo Wing T offense that coach Rick Keeley runs by using five different running backs and two quarterbacks. Their success has been predicated on wearing opponents down with fresh bodies at skill positions where a 15 yard run will turn into a 70 yard TD. Most AA schools in the state don’t have the luxury of as many backs that Berks employs.
On this day, the Panthers had to rely on not allowing those 70 yard runs and keeping the Saint offense at bay. In the first quarter, Imhotep thwarted a Berks drive that stalled in the Panther red zone, then countered with DeAndre Scott’s 75 yard touchdown run. On the Saints next possession they once again drove the length of the field in nine plays and were stopped on a fourth and seven from the 15 when quarterback Matt Kase was sacked by Steve Denby. Five plays later Panther sophomore Tyliek Raynor took one 49 yards to pay dirt giving Imhotep a 14-0 lead at halftime.
It was apparent at the start of the second half that Berks was determined to try to take back control of this game. They garnered a 13 play drive but could not get past the Panther 3 yard line. Imhotep answered again immediately with Raynor’s runs of 42 and 38 yards, the latter for his second TD and a wrap on this one.
When all was said and done, the Saints ran 25 plays which produced gains of 7 or more yards but none more than 23 yards. As much success that the Imhotep offense has had, their defensive stands took center stage and coach credits his team’s willingness to work at it. “Most teams conditioning programs stress the work in the weight room” echoed Crosby. “We try to focus more on running so that our kids are in shape to avoid the big runs and that helped us today.”
Imhotep now becomes the first Philadelphia area Public school to reach Hershey. They will take on undefeated District 7 champion South Fayette, who run a completely different offense than what they saw today. “We know a little about South Fayette and the high flying spread offense they run,” said Crosby. “Hopefully our games against the teams that employed that offense (LaSalle and Eastern Christian Academy) will help us prepare for that.”
For as much running that Crosby has his team do, they should be good to go.
Notes:Imhotep Sophomore Rahmir Johnson was carted off the field after making a tackle on a kickoff in the first half. He suffered a broken tibia. Saint freshman RB Marcus Wilson played well beyond his years with some hard runs which Imhotep needed multiple defenders to bring him down. He should be a force on this team for the next three years. Chris Warren had a good day for the Saints both running and receiving out of the backfield. Raynor had 130 yards on 4 carries and his two long TD’s. Imhotep only had two penalties, the first with five minutes left in the game. Credit the Saint defense who tackled in numbers all afternoon. Berks ran 71 plays to Imhotep’s 36.
Scoring By Quarter
1st Quarter
IM- Scott – 75 run – Kick wide left- 1:12
2nd Quarter
IM – Raynor – 49 run – 2 Pt- Moore pass from Dreuitt-Parks – 7:48
3rd Quarter
No Scoring
4th Quarter
IM – Raynor – 38 run – kick missed – 11:25
