2024 District 12 & Inter-Ac League Week 1 Recap

Tagged under: District 12, News, pfn

Anthony Franklin | September 3, 2024

Week 1 is officially in the books and what an entertaining weekend of football in the city of Philadelphia it was. Plenty of upsets, playoff contending teams gaining statement wins and some quality football matchups.

Benjamin Franklin 42 Olney 0: The Ben Franklin Electrons pulled off the first big shocker with their shutout big win over 5A Olney High on the road. Sr. QB Samir Smith & Sr. WR David Winchester dominated enroute to the blowout win. Samir provided 90 yards rushing 1 rushing TD, 110 passing yards & 1 passing TD. David registered 1 interception, 1 rushing TD and 3 receptions for 40 yards. Other stars for Franklin were Sr. DE Yasir Lyons (4 sacks), Sr. RB/CB Tae-Shon Wiggins accumulated 53 rushing yards with 2 touchdowns while also recording 2 passes defended. Last but not least Jr. RB/LB Tyreese Nichols who had 43 rushing yards & 1 TD while also providing 4 tackles on defense.

Frankford 28 Samuel Fels 6: The got their first win of the season in dominating fashion over neighboring Fels. The Pioneers have 8 touchdown passes in their first two games this season.

Bishop Shanahan 21 HS of the Future 18: Bishop Shannon improved to 2-0 while HS of the Future remains winless at 0-2 despite being fairly competitive by throwing for 187 yards in the game along with 3 TDs.

Bonner-Prendie 42 Archbishop Ryan 14: Many expected this to be a tightly contested game with Ryan having previously defeated Father Judge. However Bonner took control early with So. QB Noah Campbell Jr led the team with 247 yards passing to go with 3 touchdowns in the route. For Ryan Jr. WR/DB David Spinelli caught 5 passes for 76 yards & 1 TD. He also nabbed an interception on defense for the Raiders.

Cardinal O’Hara 31 Archbishop Wood 19: O’Hara RB Khalil Epps led the team in rushing with 82 yards (1 TD) while Jr. RB Amajhj Gowans had a productive game with 80 yards (1 TD). Jr. QB John Welde threw for 112 yards & 1 TD in the win. Khalil also registered 2 interceptions on defense. For Wood, Jr. RB Yasin Lowry powered through for 157 yards & 3 TDs in the defeat.

LaSalle 21 Malvern Prep 17: In what was probably the most anticipated game of the weekend amongst two city league teams this game surely didn’t disappoint. The Explorers got huge games from Jr. QB Gavin Sidwar who went 22-28 for 306 yards & 2 TDs in the win. Jr. WR/DB Joey O’Brien (2-60 & 1 TD), Sr. WR Julian McFadden (4-97 & 1 TD), Desmond Ortiz (8-81) & John-Patrick Oates (5-66) paced the receiving core in the big win. For Malvern back-up QB Jackson Melconian came in and performed admirably throwing for 183 yards & 1 TD. His favorite target of the day was Sr. Andrew Pellicciotta who caught 5 passes for 77 yards.

Northeast 26 West Catholic 18: In what turned out to be a down to the wire game the Northeast Vikings escaped with a big win to improve to 2-0. Amongst the big plays was a 70 yard touchdown reception for Sr. WR Demetirus Israel. Senior captain De’Shawn Woodhouse paced the Vikings defense from his linebacker position. For West Catholic Sr. QB Kal-El Durham ran wild rushing for 159 yards and 3 scores while also throwing for 73 in the loss.

Abraham Lincoln 30 Germantown Academy 27: The Lincoln Railsplitters would jump on the scoreboard first with a touchdown right before halftime for a 6-0 lead on a great effort catch & run for Sr. Ziyyon Bredell (Syracuse). Ziyyon wasn’t done on the day as he would account for 2 more touchdowns despite being double & triple covered by the Patriot’s defense. Lincoln would get out to an 22-7 lead before Germantown made its comeback, as the Patriots cut the deficit to 22-13 after Jr. QB Xavier Stearn hooked up once again with his favorite WR Sr. Michael McKee for what would be his 2nd TD reception of the day. Lincoln would respond back quickly getting a 12-yard rushing score to extend the lead to 30-13 with 4 minutes remaining in the 4th quarter. Xavier wasn’t done yet leading the Patriots to 2 more TDs before they finally ran out of time and Lincoln held on for the win 30-27. Xavier would finish the day with 4 touchdown passes all in the second half with 3 going to Michael. Michael ended the day with 7 receptions including 3 touchdowns, while also providing 4 tackles on defense and an interception.

Pocono West 9 Belmont Charter 0: The Belmont Tigers are still in search of their first win of 2024 as they once again were shut out. Albeit this game was a much closer game as they made defensive improvements from Week 0 and stayed in this game until late in the 4th quarter. Up next for Belmont is a divisional battle with neighboring West Philadelphia High.

Lower Moreland 17 Kipp-Dubois 0: Kipp once again fell for the second consecutive week while still remaining scoreless in the 2024 season.

Simon Gratz 2 Capital Prep 0: The Simon Gratz Bulldogs earned a victory and bye week as Capital Prep had issues and had to forfeit the game last weekend.

Overbrook 16 Roxborough 0: A completely turn of events for both programs. Overbrook after their Week 0 defeat to Ben Franklin tightened up defensively to earn the win. Roxborough fresh off their win over Olney failed to gain any momentum on offense.

William Penn Charter 42 Boys Latin 0: Penn Charter ran to the tune of 202 yards in their blowout win over Central. Eian Kilpatrick (5-86), Kristian Athill (11-56-1TD) QB Tom McGlinchey (6-51-1 TD) led the team in rushing. Tom also threw for 2 touchdowns in the win.

Springside Chestnut Hill Academy 42 Central 0: SCHA got off to a fast start & never looked back. Junior WR Aaron Clark was sensational racking up 4 receptions for 135 yards & 3 TDs in the win.

Wissahickon 56 Archbishop Carroll 21: Wissahickon gained over 400 yards of offense and on defense forced 3 turnovers in the big win. For Carroll QB Jay Boyd rushed for 2 TDs & RB Aaron Barnes rushed for 99 yards & a TD in the loss.

Springfield-Monto 41 Kensington 0: Springfield jumped out to an early lead and as a result the mercy rule was in place for the 4th quarter as they held Kensington scoreless.

Conwell Egan 38 Chichester 0: Conwell Egan’s duo RB of Monty Zoryea (108 yards & 2 TDs) & Sincere Fairey (115 yards) led the Eagles. Other Eagles who got in the scoring column were QB Aubrey Kimbrough who rushed for a TD and threw one to Chris Tombs.

William Allen 36 Thomas Edison 8: For the first time in over 20 years William Allen starts the season 2-0. They led from start to finish over Edison.

Vaux Big Picture 12 Academy at Palumbo 6: In an upset Vaux won over 5A program Palumbo in a non-league matchup.

Chester 33 West Philadelphia 8: Chester raced out to a 33-0 lead before the Speedboys got some offensive momentum and found the endzone after Sr. RB Zahfir Cleveland had a few impressive rushes that got them down to the goal line. Defensively the Speedboys got a huge game from Sr. LB Saire Bailey who had 15 tackles and 2 forced fumbles in defeat.

Pope John Paul II 18 Neumann Goretti 0: Neumann fell behind early and never got going on offense. PJP held the Saints to less than 200 yards of total offense. Sr. QB Deante Ruffin threw for 127 yards with 97 of them going to Wydeek Collier.

Pennington 35 Mastery Charter North 6: In what was to be the debut of the Mastery Charter new home stadium this game was over quickly as Pennington came out firing on all cylinders and put the game away by early 3rd quarter.

St. Edwards 35 St. Joseph’s Prep 21: The score is deceiving as SJ Prep probably wins this game if played again. If not for a disastrous 2nd quarter that saw them turn the ball over and blow assignments the outcome could have been flipped. Prep went into the half down 35-7. They’d shut the St. Edwards offense down and out the rest of the way but ultimately fell short. So. QB Charlie Foulke in his first varsity start threw for 239 yards & 2 TDs in defeat. The younger brother of Marvin Harrison Jr (Jett) a freshman made his varsity debut as a starter and hauled in 4 passes for 56 yards. Alijah Turner was active offensively racking up 83 receiving yards and a TD on the day.

Roman Catholic 52 St. John’s (DC) 21: In a complete shocker the Roman offense came out firing on all cylinders as they amassed over 500 yards of total offense. Led by Jr. QB Semaj Beals (465 yards & 6 TDs) Roman handled their opponent fairly easily. 6 different receivers hauled in a pass led by Jr. Eyan Stead who recorded 7 receptions for 177 yards & 3 TDs. Sr. Rayshawn Scott recorded 5 receptions for 148 yards & 2 TDs.

South Philadelphia 3 Martin Luther King 0: The South Philadelphia Rams defense swarmed all afternoon and when the game was on the line the Rams got on the board with under 3 minutes remaining in the game when they nailed a 27-yard field goal after a roughing the kicker penalty got the ball closer. RB Khair Glasgow was key in helping Southern get the ball close within their kicker’s range.

George Washington 40 John Bartram 13: The George Washington Eagles got a huge victory over a team in the top Public League division. The Eagles amassed over 400 total yards of offense in the win. Tyson Scott who serves as QB and WR led the Eagles with 2 TD passes. Jamar Coleman caught a TD pass and the Eagles coasted to victory.

Imhotep 56 South Shore (Brooklyn, NY) 14: Tep ran away with this game early and the mercy rule was enacted before halftime. Sophomore QB Joe McLeish threw for a career high 271 yards and 4 TDs in the win. He only was needed for the first half as the lead was great enough to rest him.

Haverford School 20 Wyomissing 3: The Haverford School Fords opened up a 13-0 lead at halftime thanks to a short TD run by Matthew Jones and a Thomas Gaffney 54 yard TD pass to Nick Krakovitz. Jones would add the final score of the afternoon on a 58 yard reception from backup QB Tim Finnery to put the game out of reach.

Father Judge 17 Lansdale Catholic 7: This game was dubbed “The Crusader Bowl” since both teams mascots are Crusaders. Father Judge would turn the ball over twice in the first quarter via fumble and interception. Lansdale would capitalize by striking first with a 23 yard TD pass from Yeobah Cobbold Jr. to Darren Jackson. From there on Father Judge would answer 17 unanswered points on the way to victory. Leading Judge was RB Derrick Kennedy (15-196) and a touchdown on the ground. QB Sean Long threw for 134 yards & 1 touchdown to Patrick Murphy (3-82). The final score came on the foot of Kicker Ryan Shelton’s 34 yard field goal.

Special Feats/Accomplishments:

Roman Catholic Jr. QB Semaj Beals broke the Philadelphia Catholic League game record for most passing yards in a game (465) and tied the record for most TD passes in a game (6) in their win over St. Johns (DC).

South Philadelphia earned their biggest win in the last decade by knocking off MLK which plays in the top PL division this season.

Imhotep’s Jabree Coleman had a 56 yard touchdown run in which he broke 9 tackles before reaching the endzone. Pretty sure that’s a Public League record on one attempt hahahaha.

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