40 teams in 40 days – Day 22: Imhotep Charter (12)

Written by: David Mika on Sunday, August 12th, 2012. Follow David Mika on Twitter.

2011 season

Eerin Young led the way in rushing with 1,059 yards on 133 carries and 13 touchdowns. Andre Dreuitt passed for 411 yards and five touchdowns. The top two receivers are Najee Goode who caught 14 passes for 165 yards and Shakur Nesmith who caught 10 passes for 219 yards.

Nasheed Parker led the defense with three interceptions.

Imhotep Charter finished the season with an 8-4 record and 5-1 league record.

Q & A with Imhotep Charter head football coach Albie Crosby

We sat down with Crosby and talked to him about his team for the 2012 season.

How is your off-season going this summer?

It’s been a very good experience for my first year as head coach. It’s been a learning experience and I am getting to know the kids on the team.

They are getting to know me and the system that I am putting together. The key word for us in the off-season is learning.

Getting to Know Albie

This is my first time as head coach. I was an assistant coach at West Catholic. First I was the running back coach. Then for two years I was the running back coach at LaSalle University. Once they dropped football I came back to West as the offensive coordinator and wide receiver coach. I was at West for a total of 10 years. I am a graduate of West Catholic.

Who do you have coming back on offense?

My key players on my offensive line are going to be led by my center Junior Gordon Thomas (6-0, 270). He was a starter last year. My right tackle is going to be Junior Aaron Ruff (6-4, 285). Junior Tyrone Barge (6-1, 255) plays offensive guard. All three kids were all-public last year. There is a battle for the other spots.

My quarterback is the returning starter from last year, Sophomore Andre Dreuitt (6-2, 170).

At running back is David Williams. He played at West Catholic and had a tremendous sophomore year. He did extremely well at the state football game. He is being recruited by a lot of the BCS schools. He was the workhorse for us last year at West Catholic. Last year he ran for about 1,900 yards. He is coming close to making his decision on which college he is going to. His top eight schools are Penn State, Tennessee, South Carolina, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Arizona State, California Berkley and Nebraska.

Another man who is going to play tailback for us at receiver is Eerin Young. He was the team leading rusher last year. The fullback position we are still looking at. We have a couple of kids fighting for that position, Christopher Rhone, Quinzell Lassiter and Shahyodd Chavis.

At receiver is Sophomore Denniston “DJ” Moore (6-1, 180). Two other receivers we are excited about are Fajri Stewart and Brandon Smith (6-3, 185).

At tight end is CJ McCollum (6-0, 190). He has good hands. Another tight end we are excited about who is a basketball player is Nigel Grant (6-6, 240).

Who do you have coming back on defense?

The key defensive lineman is Tyrone Barge. He is going to be our anchor and force. Another couple of guys is DE Jared Jackson and DE Eddie Lynch.

Brandon Chatmon (6-1, 220) will be our outside linebacker. Steven Denby (6-1, 230) who led the team in tackles is back at linebacker. We also have three other young men playing for the other couple of spots.

Our secondary is going to be led by Najee Goode. He will be the anchor back there. Another guy back there is Aramon Piedra. Than we have some young safeties.

League

The biggest thing we have to do to be successful is to compete each week. There are going to be strong teams this year in the league. You have Prep Charter and Delaware Valley Charter. Both of those programs had young teams last year. They are peaking at a good time. University City and Roxborough dropped to 2A from 3A this year. Comm-Tech is always in the mix.

It should be competitive this year.

To have a successful season you have to?

We have to compete each week. We have a lot of depth. We need to compete on the field and in the classroom.

Home Opener

Imhotep Charter opens home against Strath Haven on August 31^st

40 teams in 40 days

Day 1 – Mount Carmel Area (4) Day 11 – Scranton (2)

Day 2 – Manheim Central (3) Day 12 – Pottsville (11)

Day 3 – Delaware Valley (2) Day 13 – Cardinal O’Hara (12)

Day 4 – Southern Columbia (4) Day 14 – Shenandoah Valley (11)

Day 5 – Berwick Area (2) Day 15- Central Dauphin (3)

Day 6 – Easton Area (11) Day 16 – Scranton Prep (2)