By Brendan Ricciardi
For the second time in three years, the Strath Haven Panthers are playing in the state semifinals. For the second time in three years, they will be playing Imhotep Institute Charter in this round. Let’s take a quick look at how they got to this point.
After a midseason loss at home to Marple Newtown, Strath Haven has ripped off six straight wins to make it to the state semifinals. They started out their playoff run with a dominant 42-6 win over Great Valley to get this thing going. They followed that up with a much tougher win against Upper Dublin, narrowly getting by with a 26-21 victory. In the District Semifinals, Strath Haven hung on to a 14-12 win after a Springfield kick came up just short as time expired, sending them to the district title once again. In an absolutely packed house, Strath Haven went on the road to take down Chester 28-20 to win their 13th District 1 title under Head Coach Kevin Clancy and advance to the state semifinals for the second time in three years. In 2021, they lost 36-0 to this same Imhotep team.