Big Plays The Difference In Imhotep’s 4A District 12 Championship Over Bonner-Prendie

Tagged under: District 12, Gameday Hub, News

Mark Carfagno | November 16, 2019

Trailing 7-0 with just over 2 minutes to play in the second quarter Bonner-Prendergast was 6 yards away from 6 points.  On first and goal Imhotep held BP to no gain.  Second down saw the Panthers go off sides and move the ball to the 3.  Replaying the down Friars running back Charles Ingram III gained 2 yards to the one. On third down Ingram was stopped for no gain.  Now facing 4 and goal from the one Ingram took a direct snap from center and as soon as he had the ball Imhotep Linebacker Miykeal Matthews was in the backfield and forced a fumble which rolled perfectly into the hands of Keon Wylie who then ran 91 yards for one of the most back breaking TD’s in the long history of Bonner-Prendie football.  Talik Burton  booted the PAT and instead of an even score the Panthers led 14-0 with 1:25 left before halftime.  Imhotep scored on their first offensive play of the game after the Friars went three and out.  QB Jalen Sutton found a speedy Dshaun Seals wide open for a 45 yard TD strike.

The third quarter was scoreless but again it was a big Panther score at the 11:50 mark of the last stanza when Sutton burst 41 yards to pay turf and the scoreboard read 20-0 . BP finally got on the board after QB Pat Lazer led his team on a 59 yard drive by completing one pass for 15 yards to James Welde and running 3 times for 35 yards setting up a one yard TD run  by Oscar Uduma.  The 2 point PAT try was successful as the Friars came within two scores behind by 20-8 at the 9:27 mark of the final quarter. Unfortunately less than 2 minutes later Imhotep scored again on another big play when Sutton hit Kristen McAdams on a 44 yard TD toss.  Each team would score one more time , the Panthers on a 1 yard run by Will Robinson and the Friars on a Lazer 32 yard pass to Nasim Rhodes-Nelson making the final score 35-14 and a District 12 4A title for the Panthers.

BP controlled the football running 54 offensive plays to the Panthers 30, but when push came to shove the speed of Imhotep made the difference.   The Friars put up 270 yards of total offense while Imhotep registered 275.  The Friars had 17 first downs compared to just 9 for the Panthers.  Lazer passed 13-21- 185 yds- TD. Welde was the leading receiver snagging 5 balls for 76 yards. Sutton passed 6-10- 151 yds -2 TD’s.  Bonner Prendie’s Ian Edwards had and interception and both Matthews and Cameron Jackson had Panther picks.

Notes: Although Bonner Prendergast was the home team, the game was played at the home of the Panthers, Benjamin Johnson Memorial Stadium in the Germantown section of Philadelphia.  Social media was filled with questions asking why.  What is know is that the home team is determined on a rotating basis.  This year it was the Catholic League’s turn to play as the host.  However the sites for All district 12 games are determined  prior to the start of the playoffs.  The feeling around the stadium last night was perhaps the game should have been held at the South Philadelphia Super Site.  However what people didn’t know is that the site in South Philly was scheduled for possible games on Friday and Saturday . Although no games were played there, it wasn’t known until earlier this week whether or not games would be played at that site.  Also logistics always seem to be a problem as far as transporting players, students and fans so the best thing to do was to play the game where it was scheduled originally.

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