PIAA Class 5A Semi-Final Preview: A Look At Imhotep Charter

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

Noah Stomsky | November 29, 2023

Imhotep Charter vs Strath Haven
Friday, December 1st, 7:00 PM
@Coatesville High School

(Click Image to see 5A Bracket)

2023 Schedule

The Panthers:

The Panthers traveled to Deleware Valley where they took on the Warriors and won 31-7 last week. While they faced adversity early with two early turnovers and going down 7-0, they still found a way. After a long 83-yard rushing touchdown by QB Mikal Davis, the doors flew open and Tep took over. Unfortunately for Imhotep, history isn’t far on their side. In 2022 Tep came short with a 28-14 loss to Pine-Richland and 2021 came even shorter with a 17-14 loss to Penn-Trafford in overtime. With a win against Strath Haven, the Panthers are hungry to rewrite the last two years.

“The sayings been get it done, everybody knows what’s at stake. This is one of those situations where our guys, the seniors this year were on the field for those first two state championships that we lost. They’ve experienced it, they went through it, especially like last year; even the coaches, all of our coaches are back from last year so everybody kind of understands what’s at stake” Said Coach Johnson.

The Offense:

The Offense is led by Sr. Army Commit QB Mikal Davis Jr and Jr Rb Georgia Commit Jabree Wallace-Coleman. They have been without their Penn State WR Tyseer Denmark in this playoffs, however, they don’t use that as an excuse for anything. With what could be rainy conditions, don’t be surprised to see the run be used a lot. Imhotep is lucky enough to have one of the best running backs in the state and one of the most elusive QBs in the city. So the key for Imhotep will simply be, Run the ball.

The Defense:

In 2023, Imhotep is lucky enough to have what they say could be their most experienced defense. The D-Line is led by Sr. Pitt Commit Jahsear Whittington, Sr. David Johnson, and Jr. 4-star Zahir Mathis. The Linebacking core is led by Sr. Raheem Reid with 41 tackles on the year. Imhotep’s DBs have all bragging rights when it comes to shutting down the air. Penn State commit Sr. Kenny Wosesly, Soph. Willie Norris, Jr. Saimire Locks, and Jr. Kahir Hood set a school record with the most picks in a season for defensive backs. The downside is Strath Haven is a very run-heavy team. The key to stopping Haven is, Slow them down.

Coach Devon Johnson Speaks:

“Any time you got a dynamic receiver with Tyseer, that’s gonna increase your offense. But my main thing was not being one-player-dependent, our whole thing is the next man up…you can’t match guys like Tyseer but you can match his production”. Said Coach Johnson about the absence of Denmark.

“He keeps our practices upbeat, like really competitive,” Coach Johnson said when talking about Davis Jr. He went on by saying “He stays after practice every day with all of our receivers, you got Nile Brown, Kareem Abdul Haqq, Isaiah Prater, Sayeed Buie, Johann Hennigan, you know he stays after practice with those guys working on routes, especially the top routes we gone be running that week”.

“I think one of the biggest differences I’ve seen is just the overall morale of the team, especially in big moments. They stay calm, they stay poised…that’s one of the biggest things for us this year is that mental preparation” Said Coach Johnson on what’s different about this team vs the last two teams that made the state championship.

“I got to give a shout-out to Coach [Patrick] Fish, that’s our defensive coordinator, Coach Nah [Muhammed], that’s our DBs coach” Said Coach Johnson as he went on with more defensive coaches. He continued by saying “It’s eleven guys to the ball at all times, relentless effort, and then we got a lot of depth on that side as well and they’re young, so they took a lot of growing pains early but you’re seeing them start to put it all together”.

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