Philly City League Week 8 Preview:
Tagged under: District 12, News
Anthony Franklin | October 20, 2023
Philly City Leagues Week 8 Preview:
For the Philadelphia Public League this is the regular season finale weekend with many division titles still up for grabs. In the Independence Division Imhotep has already clinched the title and #1 seed in the 5A playoffs. In the 2nd tier division, the Liberty Division Martin Luther King & West Philly both sit at 4-1 with Frankford having recently been charged with a forfeit for violation of rules during the week of the West Philly game. The winner of the MLK/WP game will be the 5A playoffs 2nd seed and will also move up to the top Independence Division next season. In the National Division George Washington has gone undefeated and has already clinched the division thus claiming the promotion in 2024 to the Liberty Division. Lastly in the American Division Academy at Palumbo has clinched the American Division and will move up to the National Division next season.
Best of the Best:
Martin Luther King @ West Philadelphia (10/20 @3pm): The Cougars travel across town to face the Panthers in a game that will decide the division title winner. At stake also is the #2 5A playoff seeding. Both teams are run dominant while also showing at times they can move the ball through the air. For MLK they have a trio of rushers in Shamir Norton, Isaiah Robinson & Makhai Robinson who have all combined to rush for over 1200 yards this season. For West they have relied heavily on their star athlete Zamir Poteat (904 rushing yards & 12 TDs) and mixed in Zahfir Cleveland (288 yards & 3 TDs). This game will come down to the grunts. While West Philly has the size up front do not undersell MLK’s line which has been great at getting out in space to create large rushing lanes. They’ve also been good at getting push inside. Expect a hard-fought battle with this game probably coming down to the final possession.
SJP @ Archbishop Spalding (10/20 @7pm): The Hawks final non-league contest will be one against a highly formidable opponent. Spalding has only lost one game this year which was a narrow defeat at Imhotep early in the season. Since then, they’ve won 4 straight games. The Hawks after their narrow defeat to #4 IMG they’ve ran off 6 consecutive wins and look for one final statement win before they begin their second half of CL Red Division play and their playoff run. Spalding is a very balanced team averaging over 200 yards passing while also rushing for almost 140 yards per game. For the Hawks they’ll look to control the line of scrimmage with their physical defensive line while also spreading Spalding out wide defensively when the Hawks have the ball to create mismatches for their talented WR trio.
Bonner Prendie @ Conwell-Egan (10/20 @7pm): The Bonner Friars got back on the winning track last week at Lansdale and travel one again on the road to another formidable opponent. Both teams already have a divisional loss so can’t afford another if they want to get their rematch with Neumann Goretti in a few weeks. Both teams generally are heavily successful running the ball so look for the team that can force a key turnover to come out victorious.
Roman Catholic @ La Salle College (10/21 @1pm): Roman fresh off a bye week looks to stay undefeated in CL Red play as they travel to La Salle. So. QB Semaj Beals has thrown for 1974 yards & 20 TDs this season so far (a school single season record), while they’ve also had success scoring on the ground with 10 touchdowns with Dazhaun Hopkins & Xavier Kincade both having 4 rushing scores. La Salle last week ran past Archbishop Wood and look to stay on pace to get a rematch with SJP in the CL Red Division title game in 3 weeks. They’ll rely on the great QB/WR connection So. QB Gavin Sidwar (1672 yards & 19 touchdowns) and WR Julian McFadden (32/568 yards & 9 Touchdowns) have formed.
Germantown Academy @ Springside Chestnut Hill Academy (10/21 @1pm): The GA Patriots are coming off their first defeat of the season which also meant starting Inter-Ac play 0-1. On the flip side SCHA Blue Devils are 6-0 with a 1-0 league record. The Patriots have had tons of success most of the season with the dynamic duo of So. QB Xavier Stearn & WR AJ Towsen but the rain last weekend hampered their production as well as the stout defense played by Haverford School. Springside Chestnut Hill Academy main offensive threat is star RB Jayden Sumpter who has rushed for just under 1000 yards already this season despite missing a game.
Mastery Charter North @ Boys Latin Charter (10/21 @7pm): The Warriors will take on the Pumas in what has recently been a competitive rival of charter programs. Mastery coached by John Davidson is very disciplined, doesn’t commit many penalties and despite losing a good deal of talent to graduation last year they’ve been competitive even in their divisional losses. Amir Northern has been their key offensive weapon. For Boys Latin they’ve started to utilize the passing game more despite their bread and butter being the rushing attack. Coach Marcus Fulton has the Warriors peaking just as the post season is nearing. Winning time of possession with both teams being so good at running the ball will determine who comes out victorious.
Key Notes for Week 8:
Both Abraham Lincoln & Northeast will sit this week out and are charged with forfeit losses for their actions at the end of their game last week. Despite the forfeitures both will be participants in the 6A playoffs next week. Lincoln by virtue of their win at Northeast will be the top seed while Northeast due to being the 2nd highest ranked team in Independence division will be the 2nd seed.
This St. Joes Prep team has probably faced the toughest schedule any city league team has ever faced. They’re on the road this weekend once again to take on a top ranked program in Archbishop Spalding (#4 in Maryland) whose only loss this season was a 4-point loss at Imhotep. They also have wins over 2 NJ powerhouse teams and the #14 ranked team in the state of Florida.
Haverford School who went undefeated in 2022 with a perfect 10-0 record scheduled a very tough out of conference trio of opponents in Imhotep, Garnet Valley & La Salle. While they’d lose all 3 of those games outside of the Imhotep game, they were within 2 scores of both La Salle & 1 score of Garnet Valley.
Currently 3-3 Thomas Edison looks to finish with a winning record for the first time since 2005. They’ll travel to Academy at Palumbo with a chance to end the season on a high note.
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