Imhotep Charter Shows Resilience In 27-21 Victory Over Malvern Prep

Tagged under: District 12, Gameday Hub, News, Non-PIAA, pfn

Davin Ridall | September 13, 2026

PHILADELPHIA – After going into halftime trailing by a touchdown, Imhotep Charter did not back down in the second half, outscoring Malvern Prep 13-0 in the final two quarters to take down the Friars 27-21.

Last season when these two teams met, Malvern Prep had their way with the Panthers, beating them 35-7 at home. Imhotep Charter came into this matchup looking to avenge their loss from last season. These two programs were evenly split over their last four matchups prior to this one.

The first half of the game was all call and response from the Friars and the Panthers, with Malvern Prep scoring and Imhotep consistently finding answers to their touchdowns.

Malvern Prep’s opening drive featured plenty of their rushing attack, with 8 of those 10 plays being running plays, including the first touchdown of the day, a 5 yard run up the middle from Julius Riddick.

Imhotep Charter’s defense proved to be huge throughout the entire game, including some key plays early on in the game. Following a three and out from the Panther offense, Kasim Green got a strip sack of Malvern Prep quarterback Brayden Fallon, which was recovered by Jysair Carson.

The Panthers only needed 3 plays to go the 15 yards that stood between them and the end zone, capping off the drive with a 10 yard touchdown run from Kassan Chappelle that evened the score on the final play of the first quarter.

One of the other things that Malvern Prep was able to do well early on in the game was giving themselves good field position on kickoff returns. The Friars consistently found themselves starting at the 35 yard line or further thanks to some excellent kick returns, including their next drive in which they started at the 40 yard line.

Malvern Prep travelled 60 yards in just 5 plays, the drive being highlighted by two big runs from Julius Riddick. One of those carries being a 24 yard carry while the other was a 14 yard carry that ended up in the end zone.

The 5 foot 9, 215 pound running back racked up 94 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in the first half, which was one of the biggest keys for the Friars in that first half.

Contrary to Malvern Prep’s last drive, Imhotep Charter’s next scoring drive featured nine plays and 63 yards. The drive was capped off by a second rushing touchdown by Kassan Chappelle, this time from 8 yards out.

Both teams had their starting running back pick up two rushing touchdowns on the day, both of them coming in the first half as well. The running attack was working quite well for both sides.

Malvern Prep found their third touchdown just 6 plays later, as Brayden Fallon connected with Cade Cooper over the middle for a 31 yard catch and run score that gave the Friars the lead back at 21-14 going into halftime.

“I told the guys at halftime don’t panic,” Imhotep Charter head coach Devon Johnson said. “All I needed my guys to do was tie the game up, that’s it.”

Imhotep began the second half with possession and did exactly that, driving 58 yards in 14 plays, including a fourth and 13 conversion where Joe McLeish hit Kaleb Woseley over the middle right at the marker getting just barely enough for the first down. The drive was capped off by an 8 yard swing pass to By’ire Murphy for the touchdown.

Imhotep Charter’s defense stepped it up big time the rest of the way, not allowing Malvern Prep to score again the rest of the game.

On Malvern Prep’s next drive, Brayden Fallon pitched the ball to Stephen Smith, but Smith coughed up the football and Kasim Green recovered it at the Friars’ 45 yard line.

“He had a tough week last week, we really grinded him up in film, and he had a great game,” head coach Devon Johnson said about Green’s performance. “He had that forced fumble on the sack in the first half, then he had that big fumble recovery, and that’s just a shout out to him for just being a warrior and fighting through it.”

That fumble recovery was probably the biggest momentum shift in the game, as it allowed Imhotep to score on their next drive and take their first lead of the game.

Imhotep Charter’s score came on a second passing touchdown from Joe McLeish, hitting Brian Culmer right at the goal line from 14 yards out, but Malvern Prep blocked the extra point which kept them within 6.

That blocked extra point ultimately didn’t matter as Malvern Prep never came close to the end zone until their final drive of the game.

The Friars’ last drive of the game had started back at their own 40 and had already featured two fourth down conversions that kept the drive alive. On a 4th and 7 from Imhotep’s 18 yard line, Brayden Fallon dropped back to pass but he was sacked on the play, putting an end to Malvern Prep’s hopes of scoring the tying or possibly the go ahead touchdown.

“It’s all about our coaches, they don’t get the credit for what they do, those second half adjustments that we made,” head coach Devon Johnson said. “We shut them out in the second half after they moved us up and down the field, that’s a great coaching staff that I work with.”

Imhotep got the ball back after the sack with 2:28 left and was able to run out the rest of that time, securing a 27-21 victory over Malvern Prep.

“This is what we expect, we know we had a tough season last year, it wasn’t up to our standard. We knew we wanted to run the table and we came up short last week,” head coach Devon Johnson said. “Last week we gave up a 13 point fourth quarter, but this week we came into the second half down 7 and we finished the game. That’s what I’m more proud of, that’s why we play these tough games.”

Imhotep Charter is now 2-1 on the season with the victory, and next week they will begin their Public League play, facing Belmont Charter at home. Malvern Prep falls to 1-1 on the season, next week they will be on the road once again to face St. Joseph’s Prep.