Wood holds off Imhotep for district crown

ARCHBISHOP WOOD 42, IMHOTEP CHARTER 34

Since it had previously experienced little resistance after building big leads, Archbishop Wood, taking a 21-point advantage, in the early going, may have thought Imhotep Charter was the next in line to leave quietly.

But the quick-strike Panthers battled back in Saturday night's highly anticipated PIAA District 12 Class AAA final, closing a 22-point, third-quarter gap to 8 with 2 1/2 minutes remaining.

The Vikings finally nailed down a 42-34 victory at Northeast - and their seventh straight district crown - with Alex Arcangeli's 2-yard run on a fourth-and-1 near midfield.

"All we wanted was one more point than them, and we got it," said relieved Wood coach Steve Devlin.

Imhotep, which this season moved up from Class AA to AAA, made things interesting down the stretch with a pair of long touchdown catches by dynamic wideout D.J. Moore.

Against the defending state champs, the Panthers totaled 186 yards on the ground and 308 though the air. "They put pressure on us to score every time we had the ball," Wood senior tailback Jarrett McClenton said.

Next for No. 2-ranked Wood (11-1) is state quarterfinal vs. District 1 titlist Great Valley (12-1) at 1 p.m. Saturday back at Northeast.

In the fourth quarter, the Maryland-bound Moore turned short tosses from Dreuitt-Parks, who connected on 17 of 27 attempts, into scores of 88 and 71 yards.

"We were getting good pressure on [Dreuitt-Parks], but we had a tough time getting to him," Vikings defensive end Christian Lohin said. "He's nimble."

In the first quarter, Wood capitalized on a failed fourth-and-1 try by the No. 3 Panthers (10-2) with Arcangeli's 41-yard TD rumble. Then, after a fumble recovery at the Imhotep 3, McClenton's 1-yard plunge made it 14-0.

The Panthers cut the gap to 28-14 in the third stanza on a 13-yard catch by halfback Mike Waters, but Wood, which netted 301 rushing yards, responded with a 14-play, 80-yard scoring drive that lasted over 8 minutes.

Behind a stout offensive line, the 5-foot-8, 165-pound McClenton carried 25 times for 154 yards and four scores. "Pound for pound, he's a very strong kid," Devlin said.

Imhotep, which was hurt in the first half by two fumbles and seven penalties, was missing Tyliek Raynor, a 1,300-yard rusher, due to a knee injury.

"We had our shots," Panthers coach Albie Crosby said. "I hope the city has some respect for us now."

Archbishop Wood 14 14 14 0-42

Imhotep Charter 0 8 12 14-34

AW: Alex Arcangeli 41 run (kick failed)

AW: Jarrett McClenton 1 run (Anthony Russo run)

AW: McClenton 15 run (Dan McDonald kick)

IC: Mike Waters 3 run (D.J. Moore pass from Andre Dreuitt-Parks)

AW: Jake Cooper 19 pass from Russo (McDonald kick)

IC: Waters 12 pass from Dreuitt-Parks (run failed)

AW: McClenton 6 run (McDonald kick)

IC: Naseir Upshur 13 pass from Dreuitt-Parks (pass failed)

AW: McClenton 80 run (McDonald kick)

IC: Moore 88 pass from Dreuitt-Parks (Dreuitt-Parks run)

IC: Moore 71 pass from Dreuitt-Parks (run failed)