PHILADELPHIA — This seemed destined to happen a year ago. The PIAA proclaimed it, when the state’s high school sports governing body released its sports’ enrollment classifications for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years last November in which each member senior high school found out where it would be competing.
In it, Imhotep Charter, a perennial area powerhouse that was in the process of embarking on its second PIAA Class 5A state championship in 2023, would be moving up to Class 6A in 2024. If things held to tradition, that meant a possible showdown with another powerhouse six miles and 23 minutes away, St. Joseph’s Prep, in 2024 for the District 12 (or City) Class 6A championship.
Despite the geographical proximity, Imhotep and St. Joe’s Prep, two programs synonymous with state-championship caliber football, have never played each other. That ends this Saturday when the Panthers and St. Joe’s Prep meet at 12-noon at Northeast High School for the PIAA District 12 Class 6A championship (or what used to be called the Philadelphia City Championship). The winner could eventually be the winner of the PIAA Class 6A state championship, so there is December football at stake.
Both teams had a struggle to arrive here. Imhotep (10-1) needed a Malik Drayton-blocked punt to narrowly defeat Lincoln, 28-26, in the Philadelphia Public League 6A championship. The Prep (7-2) needed to get by rival La Salle and the insanely talented Joey O’Brien, the Catholic League Red Division MVP, 21-14, to win the Philadelphia Catholic League Class 6A championship.
Both programs have immense respect for one another. Both programs have stellar, state-championship winning coaches, Devon Johnson at Imhotep, and Tim Roken at St. Joe’s Prep. They both start sophomore quarterbacks, Joey McLeish at Imhotep, and Charlie Foulke at The Prep. They both have impact defenders, Ohio State-bound defensive end Zaire Mathis at Imhotep, and Notre Dame-bound linebacker Anthony Sacca at St. Joe’s Prep. Both teams are young.
What Imhotep has that St. Joe’s Prep does not have—nor any other team in the state, for that matter—is a big, fast tailback like Jabree Wallace-Coleman. The Penn State-bound Wallace-Coleman rushed for 247 yards and picked up an additional 40 receiving in the Panthers’ victory over Lincoln. Panthers’ offensive coordinator Glenn Hutton Jr. has found imaginative ways to use Wallace-Coleman against defenses specifically designed to stop him.
“I have a lot of respect for coach Johnson and the program he has built there,” Roken said. “We’ve been successful in two different classifications, but it still speaks volumes to what coach Johnson has done there through the years. Imhotep has beaten some good programs. We try to face the best we can. Knowing them, Imhotep has different ways to hurt you. We have to make sure our guys are dialed into a good game plan, and that they go out and play with confidence and execute.”
As for Wallace-Coleman, if he runs wild, Prep will be in trouble. If he is stopped, which no team has been able to do yet, the Panthers will be in some trouble. Wallace-Coleman is a mobile home—a fast mobile home to bring down.
“Coleman is a big back, a Big 10 back, and we will need to get multiple hats to the football and do a good job understanding how to keep him from breaking tackles and going off,” Roken said. “Their offense is explosive, and they have a quarterback who has gained confidence throughout the year. We have progressed each week and throughout the playoffs, but we haven’t played that complete game yet. We are getting closer in each phase of the game, offense, defense, and special teams. There are things we have improved on every week.”
Johnson knows his team can ill afford to make the same mistakes they did against Lincoln in the Public League championship. The Panthers were stung by costly turnovers and penalties. The Hawks’ 5-foot-8, 170-pound junior tailback Khyan Billups is entering this game with an edge. Through social media and surely through word of mouth, he has probably heard Wallace-Coleman’s name all week. He will have something to prove. Billups is not as large as the 6-1, 215-pound Wallace-Coleman, though he may be as fast. Against a high-quality La Salle defense, he ran for a game-high 99 yards and two touchdowns. Billups got knocked around, yet he kept getting back up.
Prep again will rely heavily on its massive front, junior center Jake Namnun, Syracuse-bound senior left guard Kahlil Stewart, junior left tackle Sean Molley, senior right guard Christian Leonard, senior right tackle Bleek Turner and junior tight end Rob Novotny.
“We haven’t put together a full game of football this season and with the standard we have set here, it’s very high and the mistakes we are making are correctable,” Johnson said. “We have had our bumps and bruises. We knew that would be the challenge of having a young team. Prep had to prepare with state playoff teams like Roman Catholic, La Salle, and Bonner-Prendie. In a very respectful way, we needed to keep our guys focused after our non-league schedule. Winning is an art. I’m excited on Saturday to see how much this team has grown this season.
“We do not do morale victories here. St. Joe’s Prep is a great team and a great program. Coach Roken does a great job there continuing their winning tradition. But in the same respect, we believe we can win this game. It is what we are preparing for. We fully expect our program to be dominant, to be one of the best programs in the state. The only way you do that is by winning these games against great programs like St. Joe’s Prep.”
Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter who has been covering high school football since 1992 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter @JSantoliquito.
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