Imhotep Charter is headed to the 5A state finals again after beating Strath Haven, 42-14

Written by: Joseph Santoliquito on Saturday, December 2nd, 2023. Follow Joseph Santoliquito on Twitter.

Kareem Abdul Haqq (18) & Mikal Davis Jr. (12) combined for two 25-yard touchdowns in Imhotep’s 42-14 5A semifinal victory over Strath Haven.

COATESVILLE — This had a more formal business tone to it. Imhotep Charter reached another PIAA Class 5A state championship game after dispensing District 1 champion Strath Haven rather easily, 42-14, in the Class 5A Eastern finals on Friday night at Coatesville High School.

There was no rah-rah to the Panthers’ victory. There was no feeling that this meant something because the bigger picture is ahead.

Imhotep (14-0) remains undefeated, while Strath Haven saw a very successful season end at 13-2.

After winning, Imhotep coach Devon Johnson gathered his team, told him how proud he was of them, and reminded them that their journey is not finished. Imhotep has been here before, though this team is different. This team has always had December in mind at Cumberland Valley for a state title, knowing it has been since 2015 when it last won a state crown.

Imhotep will now face Peters Township, a 14-9 winner over Cocalico in the western 5A final, for the PIAA Class 5A state championship next Friday at 7 p.m.

This year’s version of Imhotep may be more diverse than previous years. That manifested itself in Army-bound, three-year starting quarterback Mikal Davis Jr. completing 20 of 24 passes for 323 yards and three touchdowns against Strath Haven.

Davis became Imhotep’s all-time leading passer with 2,233 career yards, exceeding Nasir Boykin’s previous mark of 2,168. Hopefully, there is some symmetry to the new mark since Boykin was the starting quarterback of Imhotep’s last state champion in 2015.

“We thought the rain was going to be a problem and saw it wasn’t raining that much in the first quarter, so we opened the passing game up more,” said Davis, who now owns the top two single-game passing records at Imhotep after throwing for a school-record 330 yards against Archbishop Spalding last year. “We know what’s coming. We’re ready. The ball felt great tonight leaving my hand. I knew every time I threw it, it would be a catch.”

The game was over by halftime. Imhotep scored on each of its first five possessions, taking a 34-7 lead into intermission.

Through the first 24 minutes, Davis had thrown for 296 yards, completing 17 of 21, including a pair of 25-yard touchdown passes to freshman receiver Kareem Abdul Haqq, and a 5-yard TD toss to Johann Hennigan.

Anything Davis wanted to do, he did. He chopped up and dissected the Strath Haven defense in engineering 400 yards of total offense for the half, which is more than Strath Haven has given up in a game this season. Imhotep also had 17 first downs in the half, while Strath Haven ran just 19 plays.

Jabree Wallace-Coleman scored on Imhotep’s first two drives on a 1-yard and 5-yard score, Imhotep upped that to 20-0 when Davis found Haqq the first time down the middle between two Strath Haven defenders for a 20-0 lead with 9:15 left in the half. Haqq’s second score was highlight-reel material, snaring a Davis in the far corner of the end zone and having enough awareness to get his feet for another Imhotep TD.

With 1:15 left in the half, Davis hit Nile Brown with a 61-yard bomb, which set up the Hennigan score.

Knowing there could not be any room for error, Strath Haven committed two that stung it. On its first drive, Strath Haven had a touchdown called back that would have tied the game, but it was called for an illegal man downfield and the score was wiped out.

With less than five minutes in the half, Strath Haven again harmed itself with a personal foul call on a late hit with the ball sitting at the Imhotep 20 and looking at a fourth-and-two. Instead, the flag pushed Strath Haven back to the Imhotep 45 and it turned the ball over on Imhotep’s Samire Locks.

Davis took the turnover and rolled 91 yards on 10 plays, ending in the second Davis-to-Haqq TD.

Haqq ended the half with six receptions for 99 yards.

Wallace-Coleman put it in the mercy rule with 5:53 left in the third quarter on his third touchdown on a four-yard run, topped by Davis’ two-point conversion run, which gave Imhotep a 42-7 lead.

“We knew we had to throw tonight and we thought the rain would mess those plans up,” Johnson said. “We have been here before. This team is different because they are resilient, they stay together and we have been doing this focus, brain training and that has been helping us a lot. We want to get it done.

“No one celebrated tonight. We have been here before. We know the bigger picture is not just to get to the dance. It’s to win it.”

Scoring Summary

Strath Haven (13-2) 0 7 0 7-14

Imhotep Charter (14-0) 13 21 8 0-42

1st Quarter

IC – Jabree Wallace-Coleman 1 run (Kenny Woseley kick), 7:33

IC – Wallace-Coleman 5 run (kick failed), :34

2nd Quarter

IC – Kareem Abdul Haqq 25 pass from Mikal Davis (Woseley kick), 9:15

IC – Haqq 25 pass from Davis (Woseley kick), 1:36

SH – James Fisher 61 pass from Jake Kitchin (Ben Milligan kick), 1:16

IC – Johann Hennigan 5 pass from Davis (Woseley kick), :15

3rd Quarter

IC – Wallace-Coleman 4 run (Davis run), 5:53

4th Quarter

SH – Kitchin 1 run (Milligan kick), 5:40

Joseph Santoliquito is a hall-of-fame, award-winning sportswriter who has been covering high school football since 1992 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter @JSantoliquito. Follow EasternPAFootball.com on Twitter @EPAFootball.

Follow EasternPAFootball.com on Twitter @EPAFootball

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