District 12 5A Philadelphia Public League Championship Game Preview

Tagged under: District 12, News, pfn, Playoffs

Anthony Franklin | November 10, 2023

In the 5A Classification Roman Catholic last week ran past Archbishop Wood 43-6 for their second consecutive 5A CL Title. They’ll be idle this week and attending the Public League 5A title game Saturday at South Philadelphia Supersite to scout their next opponent in which they’ll battle for the district 12 5A title next weekend. Undefeated Imhotep Charter (10-0) will battle Martin Luther King (9-1) at 4PM at the South Philadelphia Supersite for the Public League title and the right to battle Roman Catholic for the District 12/City 5A Title.

Imhotep: The Panthers are undefeated have a +405-point differential and have been flat out dominant most of the season. In their 10 games only 3 were decided by less than 35 points. In fact, their defense has pitched 7 shutouts and held their other opponents to under 20 points in each game. The offense is led by Army commit Sr. QB Mikal Davis Jr (1449 yards & 10 TDs, 341 rushing yards & 9 TDs). Georgia commit Jr. RB Jabree Wallace-Coleman (1033 yards & 19 TDs) leads the rushing attack. This year the Panthers have a stronger passing attack. Penn State commit Sr. WR Tyseer Denmark leads the team in receiving yardage & TDs with 350 yards & 4 TDs. Other top targets for Mikel are Sr. Nile Brown (304 yards & 1 TD) & Sr. TE Johan Hennigan (235 yards & 2 TDs. Tep is big across the offensive line with Illinois commit Sr. OT Zafir Stewart (6-5 330), Jr. T/C Nick Williams (6-2 275), So. Brian Moore (6-3 265), Sr. Anthony Richardson (6-5 270) & Sr. David Johnson (6-0 260). Defensively they’re led by Pitt commit Sr. DL Jahsear Whittington who leads the team in sacks with 9. Other top contributors are Jr. DL Zahir Mathis (2 sacks), Pitt commit Sr. DB Ken Woseley Jr. (4 interceptions) & So. CB Willie Norris (5 interceptions).

Martin Luther King: The Cougars enter the contest at 9-1 winners of 9 straight games after a season opening loss at Pottstown. Early in the season they were a run dominant team but in recent weeks they’ve opened up the passing game and seen more contributors make an impact. The leading offensive players are Sr. QB/RB Isaiah Robinson, Sr. RB Shamir Norton, & Jr. RB/WR Makhai Robinson. The grunts upfront who have helped pave the way for those guys to rush for a combined 1200+ yards are Sr. Danny Pajuste, Sr. Demitrius Jones, Sr. Devin Caufield, So. Zion Valente-Lowe & Sr. Keith Jenkins. Defensively the team is led by Jr. LB Khalid Bueno, Sr. DE  Sahfi Reed (Houston Commit for track), Sr. DE Savion Terry, Sr. LB Kasir Wimber, Sr. DB/LB Amir Muhammad & Jr. CB Sameer Keith who leads the team in interceptions. The Cougars reached the finals with a thrilling 20-14 win over West Philadelphia HS and are looking for their first Public League title since 2019.

Previous Meeting: These two teams haven’t faced each other since 2021 the last season that MLK was in the Independence Division and Tep dominated that game 42-3.

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