Strath Haven falls in 5A state semifinals to Imhotep

Tagged under: District 1, District 12, Gameday Hub, Playoffs

Brendan Ricciardi | December 1, 2023

COATESVILLE, PA — Two years later, it’s the same story.

For the second time in three years, Strath Haven’s season has come to an end as they fall in the PIAA 5A state semifinals to Imhotep Charter by a score of 42-14.

Imhotep got the ball to start the game off and methodically drove down the field, with Georgia commit Jabree Wallace-Coleman rushing for a four-yard touchdown to get the scoring going.

Strath Haven had a promising drive to start the game that appeared to have a 59-yard touchdown from Jake Kitchen to AJ Glavicic, but it was called back for an ineligible receiver down field.

That took a lot of momentum out of the Strath Haven side, and it moved them back on third down to eventually lead to a punt.

The second drive had pretty much the same story for Imhotep, as they walked down the field and again had Wallace-Coleman rush for a touchdown, this one from five yards out. With a 14-0 deficit, the Strath Haven offense tried to put something together but again, just couldn’t get anything going.

Imhotep took full advantage of the momentum as Mikal Davis fired two beautiful 25 yard touchdown throws on the next two drives, both of those going to freshman stud Kareem Haqq. The lefty QB that is committed to Army was throwing darts all day, effortlessly putting the ball right where it needed to be.

With time ticking down in the first half, Strath Haven finally got a little bit of life when Kitchin hit James Fisher on a short pass that he took 61 yards to the house to cut the lead to 28-7. He had a great burst into the open field and a devastating cut back to the middle to get in the end zone.

Unfortunately for Strath Haven, Mikal Davis and Imhotep weren’t done for the half just yet as they would add another touchdown from Davis to Johann Hennigan to make it a 35-7 game going into the half.

Mikel Davis threw for a whopping 303 yards and three touchdowns in the first half alone, something that you will rarely see at the high school level.

It was a rather uneventful second half as we had a running clock for the majority of it after Imhotep made it 42-7 behind the third touchdown of the game from Jabree Wallace-Coleman. Strath Haven would add one more touchdown on a 4th and 1 QB sneak from Jake Kitchin on the goal line, but it was far too late at that point.

For Strath Haven, a sensational season once again ends in the state semifinals. The Panthers won a share of the Central League title and their 13th District 1 title, their second of each of those in the last three years.

As for Imhotep, they advance to the state title for the third consecutive year with the win. They will take on Pittsburgh’s Peters Township of the WPIAL as they hope the third time is the charm after losses in 2021 to Penn-Trafford, and 2022 to Pine-Richland.

Follow PA Football News on Twitter @PaFootballNews