District 12 Public League Finals Previews

Tagged under: District 12, Gameday Hub

Anthony Franklin | November 11, 2021

Tep DB Jamir Reyes

Northeast Edge rusher Kion Wright

Frankford QB Anthony Torres

Olney Stud LB leads into the PL 6A Finals

We have finally arrived at championship week in the Public League for the 2 higher classifications in the Public League. In 5A Imhotep will play Frankford for the right to claim the league title as well as represent the Public League in the City Title game against Father Judge. In 6A we get a rematch of an earlier game this season that was halted at halftime as Northeast will play Olney with the winner set to advance to the 6A City Title game against the winner of the CL Final between SJ Prep & La Salle College which is being played Saturday at 4pm at Franklin Field. The Public League has decided to restrict fans for this game for “safety” purposes so each player is only allotted 2 tickets for the games which will dampen the atmosphere as the Frankford and Imhotep would definitely both pack their stands with students and alumni.

5A Title Game Preview: Frankford (8-0) v Imhotep (7-1): The Pioneers enter this game as the last undefeated team in the City sitting at a perfect 9-0 with 2 of those wins coming in the post season. They began the season with 6 consecutive shutouts which opened the eyes of observers that they may indeed be returning to the glory days when they were dominant in the Public League. On the season they’ve scored a whopping 271 points while only surrendering 20 points. In the games they did give up scores they were 14 (Boys Latin) and 6 (Mastery Charter) points. They have a balanced offense which is led by Jr. QB Anthony Torres who is a dual threat QB who displays great touch and can launch the ball with ease downfield. His favorite targets are So. WR Nayshawn Corley, Jr. TE/WR Nysir Lipscomb and Sr. RB Nadir Mitchell. Defensively they are stout at the line of scrimmage and create havoc on opposing offensive lines which helps the defensive backs with taking advantage of rushed throws. Frankford is the underdog because they haven’t been tested like Imhotep but they will put up a valiant fight.

Imhotep comes into this game with a stout defense of their own that isn’t talked much about. They are only giving up an average of 6 points per game. They’ve faced 3 teams ranked in the top 10 of their classifications in their state rankings and went 2-1 in those games with the lone loss coming to La Salle College (13-8). The Panthers offense is a work in progress and they haven’t scored like they have in past seasons but they’re still young in many key positions offensively and still average 23 points per game and that number would be higher if not for a 2-0 forfeit win they received over Olney who was still working through academic issues. The Tep has 2 All American Senior DE’s in Keon Wylie (PSU Commit) & Enai White (Georgia/Bama/Texas A&M) who cause hell for offensive lineman, QB’s and RB’s. They also boost a solid defensive backfield with Jr. Rahmir Stewart,  Sr. Jamir Reyes, Sr. Makhi Sutton & Rashaan Wright.

Look for this game to be won with who can limit the number of turnovers. Frankford has played tighter games the last few weeks with the MLK game only being 11-0 at halftime and them getting the last score late in the 4th quarter. Their other playoff game was a 12-6 win in overtime. They’ll need to find a way to sustain drives and keep those stud Imhotep DL off their QB and out of the backfield. As for Tep they may be rusty starting off the game as they haven’t played a game in 21 days.  With resting so long they should be healthy ready to start a lengthy state playoff run if they can of course win this game. For Tep the game plan has to be to exploit an aggressive Frankford defense in the air while mixing it up with play action. Tep has a stud RB in So. Tre McLeod who they will need to utilize in the run and passing game. This game will come down to coaching adjustments as well as discipline. The team who commits the least amount of penalties as well as capitalizes on turnovers and good field position will win. Most will project Tep to run away by 21+ but I think Frankford comes in with a huge chip on their shoulders and finds a way to keep this game close.

Final Prediction: Tep 24 Frankford 16

6A Title Game: Northeast enters this game 3-3 with an early season win over Olney 8-0 in a game that was halted at halftime due to the AD at Olney getting academic reports on players not being eligible due to grades. Olney would forfeit the remainder of that game as well as the following week against Imhotep to get their academics in order and thus became eligible for the 6A playoffs where they won in convincing fashion 32-3 over Central in the 6A Semi-Finals. The Vikings are led by Mr. Do It All Ken Talley (PSU Commit) who has lined up as an OL, TE, RB, DL, LB this season doing whatever is needed for his team to compete and win. His defensive mates Rodney Benjamin, Ronel Nukah & Kion Wright are studs along the defense who constantly penetrate and disrupt RB’s and QB’s in the backfield while Benjamin patrols the backend. The Vikings also possess one of the top DB’s in the state in Sr. Geo Fabian. Olney is led by Sr. LB Zahfir McCullough (Temple offer) who is a menace on the field as a bruising tackler. They also possess talented athletes Jahiem  Miller & Jabari Morgan. With this game being limited crowd the players will have to create their own energy and ride the momentum. Across the board NE is more talented, deeper and has more chemistry. They should win going away but Olney won’t lay down and quit. In the early season game Olney defense smacked NE in the mouth and outside of the first score they shut the offense out and headed into halftime down just 8 points. I’m sure NE won’t take Olney lightly this week and will walk away with yet another 6A title.

Final Prediction NE 28 Olney 6

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