District 12 Week 1 Rankings & Preview

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Anthony Franklin | August 30, 2024

This week will feature all of the Inter-Ac teams playing as well as most of the Philly Public League & Catholic League teams in action. Last week’s game showed La Salle is very formidable & will be a legit threat in not only the CL race but in the PIAA 6A race. Imhotep had a convincing & big win while Roman did what many didn’t think was possible in handling Neumann Goretti fairly easily. Without further delay here are my weekly rankings followed by the top games of the week in all 3 leagues.

Week 1 Top 10 Rankings:

1. Imhotep
2. La Salle
3. SJ Prep
4. Roman
5. Malvern Prep
6. Martin Luther King
7. Abraham Lincoln
8. Bonner-Prendie
9. Archbishop Ryan
10. Haverford High

Week 1 Games of the Week:

1. St. Joe’s Prep @ St. Edwards (OH): The Hawks open their season on the road in Cleveland where they’ll take on a St. Edwards team that is currently ranked #25 in the country. With a new starting QB under center and replacing their top pass catchers who are at Cincinnati (2) & West Virginia now they’ll rely heavily on the running attack led by Ohio State commit Isaiah West. Defensively they will be stout and keep the team in this game.
2. Malvern Prep v La Salle: Malvern will open their season with La Salle who is riding high after their convincing blowout win over Harrisburg last week. La Salle put up 45 points against a formidable Harrisburg team so look for both teams to air it out as Malvern has a D1 commit QB under center as well in Skylar Smith (Lafayette). Under the lights at the Beach (Ocean City, NJ) this game surely will include plenty of highlights on both sidelines.
3. Archbishop Ryan @ Bonner-Prendie: The Ryan Raiders upset neighboring Father Judge last week behind stellar play from QB Frankie Mawson, WR Damien Morgan & stout defense that snagged 2 interceptions. Bonner will be playing their first game in 2024 looking to get off to a fast start offensively against the optimistic and aggressive Ryan defense. This game will probably be a 1 score game that comes down to who makes the least number of mistakes via penalties & turnovers.
4. South Shore (NY) @ Imhotep: The Imhotep Panthers with a new QB was able to knock early rust off to win comfortably over a pretty coached and talented Clarkson-North team. So. QB Joey McLeish was in command of the offense and showed his dual threat skills, tossing 3 scores and rushing for one as well in the win. Defensively Ohio State commit DE Zahir Mathis and Jr. DL Joseph Sondah were active & aggressive early and often creating pressure & tackling the rushers for losses. South Shore is playing their first game which will be on the road in front of the reigning state champs in what should be an electrifying environment. Tep should be able to win via the line of scrimmage on both sides which will allow their athletes to make things happen in space with the ball in a convincing win.
5. West Philadelphia @ Chester: The West Philly Speedboys look to get back on track after losing on the road last week to Manheim Central. The Speedboys offense struggled to maintain momentum & costly turnovers proved to hurt their chances at pulling off the road win. Chester is a formidable opponent with a dynamic dual threat QB in Jr. Jalen Harris. This game will come down to the trenches & which team can sustain & finish drives while limiting penalties and turnovers.
6. Roman Catholic @ St. Johns (DC): In a heavy weight battle Roman travels south to the nation’s capital to take on a powerhouse St. John’s team filled with Division 1 prospects. Roman is very strong on the defensive side of the ball especially in the secondary and at the edge rushing positions. They’ll look to get pressure early and often on St. John’s to disrupt their rushing attack while also forcing the quarterback to throw the ball away. Offensively look for Roman to utilize their handful of receivers in multiple ways out in space to score. This will be a high scoring back and forth tilt with Roman having experience in big time games they should return home with a key non-league victory.
7. John Bartram @ George Washington: A key non-league matchup between two programs with rich history in the public league. Both programs suffered big defeats to suburban teams in Week 0, so a win is necessary for each program. George Washington is breaking in a new quarterback but rely on an experienced & tough defense while Bartram is working through finding a new workhorse RB & go to receiver after graduating their top 2 offensive playmakers. This has the making of a tough nosed defensive battle with the team who can capitalize on the opponent’s mistake comes out victorious.
8. Lincoln @ Germantown Academy: This game serves as the season opener for Germantown Academy while Lincoln is 0-1 after falling to D1 Downingtown West by a of couple scores. Germantown is led by star QB Xavier Stearn & WR AJ Townsend while Lincoln is paced by two-way star Ath Ziyyon Bredell (Syracuse). GA has the weapons offensively to score in bunches. Lincoln while having a decent passing attack is still working out kinks in their running game which they’ll need to keep GA from bringing pressure & halting the passing attack.

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