By Brian Carroll
One more. By virtue of a thrilling victory last Saturday afternoon, the Strath Haven Panthers football team gave themselves one more win on an already brilliant 2023 season. That one more win granted them another District 1 5A championship. That one more win gives the seniors on the sideline, the band, and the cheerleaders one more chance to spend an evening on the football field. And that one more win gives the Panthers a rematch, and one more chance to knock off a state powerhouse this weekend, as they meet Imhotep Charter on Friday evening in the state semifinal for the second time in three years.
Imhotep Charter, the District 12 champion whose mascot is also the Panthers, will be the highest hurdle to clear so far this season, with a team loaded with college prospects and multi-year starters at many positions. The offense, averaging 44 points per game (13th in Pennsylvania, and 2nd best of all 5A teams) is led by senior signal caller #12 Mikal Davis, an Army West Point commit. Davis has guided his squad to two state finals already, and has over 1,900 passing yards, 605 rushing yards, and 38 total touchdowns to his credit this year. When Davis isn’t throwing it, his massive offensive line leads the way for University of Georgia recruit #1 Jabree Wallace-Coleman, who has piled up 1,400 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns. Penn State-bound wide receiver Tyseer Denmark is ineligible due to transfer rules, but #8 Johann Hennigan, #18 Kareem Abdul Haqq, and #17 Isaiah Prater are all speedy and reliable targets. Defensively, Imhotep boasts the fifth-best scoring defense in all of Pennsylvania, with seven shutouts to their credit and allowing only 7.3 points per game. Penn State will have another Panther headed their way next year, as #2 Kenny Woseley is a lockdown defensive back with 5 interceptions on the year. His counterpart in the secondary #21 Willie Norris has seven interceptions, including two in last week’s victory over Delaware Valley. Before they test the secondary, however, Strath Haven will have to find their way past the top-rated defensive lineman in the state, as Pittsburgh signee #25 Jah’Sear Whittington was a force even as a sophomore when these teams last met. #22 Raheem Reid and #9 Zaire Pollard are busy tacklers, as well.
Strath Haven grabbed their District 1 record 13th district title last Saturday with a thrilling, back-and-forth tilt with top-seeded Chester. The Panther offense was clicking, as running backs #5 James Fisher (95 rushing, 44 receiving yards), #32 Shane Green (86 rushing, 9 receiving yards), and #20 Marco Kauffman helped grind out 23 first downs and a time of possession advantage of 33 to 14, keeping a powerful Chester offense largely sidelined. #6 Jake Kitchin powered his way to three short touchdown runs, and connected twice with #44 Sean Henry for a big first down on the opening drive, and a 4-yard touchdown in the second half. The offensive line of #68 Carter Law, guards #55 Gavin Pilson and #57 Jackson Geremia, and tackles #76 Will Leuthold and #77 Bill Brown set the tone throughout the game and eventually wore down an otherwise game Chester defense, and #27 Ben Milligan’s four extra points kept the Panthers on schedule all day. A big story, however, was the Panthers’ outstanding second half performance on defense. After Chester’s Quamere Cosby returned the second half kickoff for a 91-yard touchdown, the Panther defense allowed zero points and just 11 total plays from scrimmage the rest of the way. Defensive tackles #56 Nick Farabaugh, #77 Bill Brown, #4 Mekhi Clark, and Geremia were fantastic in relief of injured starters Alexei Gustafson and Cole Miller, and #81 Jahi Curtis and #34 Vince Hales providing a consistent and effective pass rush. Hales had a textbook pressure on Chester quarterback Jalen Harris to force a Sean Henry interception in the final two minutes to ice the Panthers’ second District title in three years, and 13th in 14 trips to the final dating back to 1992.
Head Coach Kevin Clancy and his staff, a model of consistency in winning another District 1 title thirty years after grabbing their first in 1993, will need every bit of last weekend’s effort and more. Imhotep is looking to reach the state finals for the seventh time since their 2015 state championship. Head Coach Devon Johnson, along with loads of talent at every position, also has Strath Haven alumni Pat Fisher as his Defensive Coordinator, which could certainly provide insight into Haven’s otherwise tricky Wing-T offense. When these two teams met in the 2021 Eastern Final, Imhotep pulled away with a 36-0 victory, but a battle-tested Strath Haven will arrive with confidence this Friday evening that the tables could be turned this year.
The PIAA contracted with NFHS Network a few years ago to be the exclusive broadcaster for all PIAA state playoff events. NFHS broadcasts (via streaming) hundreds of high school sports events from all over the U.S. They are a pay-per-view service, but their charge is monthly (for unlimited events) and is only $11.99 per month. The great news is NFHS has selected Havenfootball.net Broadcasting to be the voice of their broadcast this coming Friday night against Imhotep in the state semifinal. The other great news is that Havenfootball.net will share a substantial percentage of the fees collected for our game! Your membership will help Havenfootball.net continue to produce all our great products for the 2024 season! The final step on the road to the PIAA State Championship game will be broadcasted live beginning at 6:45pm (7pm kickoff) on: https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/havenfootballnet/gam4b94cd6d92
And while we love having live viewers to the broadcast, we would love it even more to see the home stands at Coatesville High School lined in silver and black! Go Panthers!
