District 12 Week 6 Preview

Tagged under: District 12, News

Anthony Franklin | October 6, 2023

District 12 Week 6 Preview:

There are some key league divisional games this weekend so let’s get into the top tier games.

Public League

Northeast @ Imhotep: The Vikings enter 5-1 winners of 5 straight games and will travel across town to take on Tep who is 6-0 and the top ranked team in the state in the 5A classification. The Panthers have been relentless on defense with their front 7 causing mayhem and chaos. Jahsear Whittington and David Johnson both are great run stoppers and can get after the QB as well. The secondary is stacked with So. Willie Norris leading the team in interceptions (4) while Sr. CB Ken Woseley (Penn State) is a lock down corner. Offensively the Panthers have a dynamic rushing attack led by Jr. Jabree Coleman-Wallace (Georgia) and his sidekick So. Syeer Coleman. Sr. QB Mikel Davis has a few WR’s who can take it to the house in Sr. Tyseer Denmark (Penn State), Johann Hennigan & Sayeed Buie. Northeast is a run heavy team led by Jr. RB David Akpuru who leads the team with over 500 yards rushing for an average of 111 yards per game. He also has 7 TDs this season. Defensively they are deep in players, but Sr. LB George Truitt is the leader with 31 tackles, 1.5 sacks, a blocked punt and a fumble recovery. Deshawn Woodhouse has 22 tackles on the season, a pick 6 he returned for a 58-yard score and has 4 tackles for loss. In the secondary Jr. Dymere Durham leads the pack with 2 interceptions. Tep has the experience, chemistry and more depth to win this game. Northeast will have to control the line of scrimmage and win the time of possession in order to keep this game from getting away.

John Bartram @ Lincoln: Both teams experienced firsts last week as Bartram faced their first defeat a 42-0 loss to Imhotep, while Lincoln got their first win of the season a 54-0 shutout win over Simon Gratz. Lincoln scheduled a very challenging non-league schedule with 3 of their first 5 opponents currently ranked in the top 10 of the PAFootballnews.com polls at the 5A and 6A classifications (Downingtown West 6A #4), (Roman Catholic 5A #3), (Imhotep 5A #1) and played them all close. Bartram had an easier first 4 games but did what they needed to as they were undefeated until they ran into Tep last week. Look for this game to come down to limiting turnovers, being disciplined to not commit costly penalties and to be won in the trenches.

Lincoln’s QB Gabe Smalley

Belmont Charter @ West Philadelphia: A neighborhood rival game in its infancy but will be played in front of a large crowd as both teams jockey for playoff position. The Tigers look to move up in position within the division as they play West Philly. The Speedboys are led offensively by Zamir Poteat who leads the team in rushing. They win upfront on both sides of the line. This game will be a very closely contested game as the players are all familiar with one another and while West has the size advantage Belmont has played larger schools and came out victorious over the last two years.

Kipp-Dubois @ Boys Latin: Kipp-DuBois is fresh off their first loss of the season at Edison and looks to rebound while Boys Latin Charter looks to rebound as well from a loss to MLK last Saturday. The Warriors will probably be favored as they have depth, size, experience & tougher played opponents to date. Kipp last week did play hard to the whistle despite being down in numbers due to being a small program and having injured players available. Boys Latin on paper should win easily but don’t be surprised to see a feisty Kipp team keep it close.

Catholic League

St. Joes Prep v La Salle (Franklin Field): The SJP Hawks will take on their PCL Red rival La Salle in front of thousands at historical Franklin Field on the campus of University of Pennsylvania. The Hawks are formidable on offense with weapons at QB, RB, WR and have a great OL. Defensively they’re stacked along the front 7 and have all American CB Omillio Agard patrolling the secondary. Last week they easily dispatched Wood 61-0 in a game where the backups played midway through the 2^nd quarter. Last season La Salle took Prep to the wire in the PCL Red Championship game so look for Prep to be focused and ready for the Explorers. So. QB Gavin Sidwar is one of the area’s top signal callers with almost 1500 yards passing on the young season and will look to get his first win over SJP in his high school career. While Prep has more talent, look for this game to be competitive and physical. Prep will probably win but LaSalle will make it a close game.

Neumann Goretti @ Bonner-Prendie: The Saints travel to Darby to take on the Friars in a key CL Blue Divisional game. The winner is in the driver’s seat for the top seed. Both teams sit at 4-1 and have blue chip recruits as Bonner has PSU commit Malachi Williams and So. DB Dylan Abrams (V-Tech, Temple, PSU offers) and last year’s CL Blue MVP Isaiah Session. NG has Sr. DB Khamir Prescott (Wisconsin), Sr. CB Khari Reid (Stanford) and Wydeek Collier (multiple p5 offers). Sr. QB Mekhi Wharton has thrown for 570 yards & 4 TDs so far. For Bonner they have utilized a 2 QB system with Kenjai Gatling & Noel Campbell sharing duties. Kenjai leads the team in passing with 344 yards & 5 TD passes. The rushing attack for Bonner is led by Avery Hankey who has 595 rushing yards to go along with 5 overall touchdowns Isaiah Session is his backfield mate has 4 rushing TDs. Their leading receiver is Jalil Hall who has 4 receiving scores. For the Saints they rely heavily on Terrence Page in the running game as he has 6 rushing scores while also mixing in Amaj Gowens (2) and Kahmir Prescott (1). Khamir leads the team in receiving yards & scores with 288 yards and 2 TDs. This game truly doesn’t have a favorite as both teams are evenly matched, and it can go either way. This may even come down to overtime.

Bonner-Prendie WR Jalil Hall leads the team in receiving.

Conwell Egan @ Cardinal O’Hara: The Conwell Egan Eagles look to stay within distance of an CL Blue Division Playoff berth. Being 3-0 within the division this game is a must win to stay within striking distance of Bonner & NG. They’ll utilize their stingy defense & ball control offense spearheaded by Sam Cooper to limit the time O’Hara has the ball. The Lions are still young, led by So. QB John Welde and RB Sr. Keon Powell (510 yards rushing). They currently sit at 3-3 overall and need a win to have an outside shot at qualifying for the playoffs.

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