IT'S A RALLYING cry that's bellowed, oh, at least 100 times every football game.

"C'mon, man! Show that heart!"

For Leland Smith yesterday, hearing and uttering that phrase never meant more.

Smith's mother, Deborah Jackson-Smith, suffered heart miseries this week. She felt out of sorts as early as Sunday, but since her life had recently been difficult because of a series of medical issues - a bout against MRSA among them - the last thing she wanted to do was make another trek to a hospital.

"It was a prolonged process," Smith said. "She has high blood pressure. When I called her on Tuesday, she was very scared. I told her, 'Mom, get dressed. I'm going to take you to the hospital.'

"When they took her blood pressure, it was something like 220 over 113. They said she had a mild heart attack. They kept her for 24 hours and I was going to miss practice on Wednesday to be with her, but she kept saying, 'Go to practice! You have a big game this week!'

"When I got there, I told the guys, 'Let's do this. Bring your heart. Mine is real heavy right now. I need you.'"

Smith, a 5-9, 160-pound senior at Imhotep Charter, mentioned those particulars shortly after 5p.m. at 29th Street Stadium. All around him, teammates and coaches and cheerleaders and general fans - some with tears in their eyes - were enjoying the afterglow of the biggest win in the program's 5-year Public League history.

In previous seasons, the Panthers had been unable to dislodge the Edward Bok Tech-Ben Franklin logjam atop the standings in smaller-school divisions. But in a Class AA opener, Imhotep posted a 14-6 win over Franklin.

Breaking a 6-6 tie, Smith scored the winning touchdown on a 35-yard pass from junior Christopher Lewis with 5 minutes, 45 seconds left. Devin Sanders added the conversion run.

The Electrons had two late chances to forge an OT-forcing tie; the second one came down to a fourth-and-goal play from the 9 with 6.2 seconds remaining.

Evander Barkley, a lefty, launched a pass to the left corner of the zone. Franklin's Clarence Cohen and Imhotep's Maurice Palmer battled hard. Neither came down with the ball.

This finish was not for the faint of you-know-what.

"I can't believe this," Smith said. "We've been waiting so long to get a win like this. The whole game I was saying to my teammates that we had to show heart. 'Just bring it! Just bring that heart!'

"This was such a rough week. Not knowing when to cry. When to smile. My emotions were all over the place. I didn't know what was going on. I had that heavy heart."

The decisive drive covered 43 yards. It began with Lewis, hit as he threw, launching a serious popup to Jimmy Rollins. We mean Marquis White. White, Franklin's franchise, was all alone and, as the ball came toward him, he was undoubtedly thinking about how he'd be soon be entering the end zone 70 yards away with a defensive score.

Oops. The ball went right through his hands.

Imhotep coach Marc Wilson then unveiled his Wildpanther formation and Smith took direct snaps on two consecutive plays, an 8-yard rush and an incompletion. Fourth-and-2. Lewis back at QB. Smith out wide.

"On that play, I run 5 yards and then come back toward the sideline," Smith said. "If the cornerback comes up on me, I turn it into a fly pattern. Chris saw the cornerback come up. I gave him a nod. He gave me one back. He did the right thing - threw it long. I kept saying, 'Don't let me drop it...Don't let me drop it.'

"I've never made a bigger catch than that."

Smith, who now also is a cornerback, was strictly an offensive player in 2008. He started this season as the QB, but later became a handyman.

"I'm a leader and I would like to lead us," he said. "But I'm also a team player, so I'd play center if they asked me to."

Lewis finished 5-for-11 for 139 yards. Smith's three snags produced 65 yards. Dasir White led the rushing attack with five carries for 49 yards. Palmer notched a 7-yard scoring run to cap the game's first possesion.

For Franklin, White carried 16 times for 91 yards (53-yard TD) and Barkley passed 7-for-13 for 75 yards. Steve Garrett produced 41 yards on four receptions.

For a while, it appeared head ref Denny Williams would be the game's best ground-gainer. The teams combined for 198 penalty yards. Imhotep won that battle, too, 125-73.

Though Smith lives with his father, Troy Smith, in Olney, he also spends a lot of time at his mother's house in Germantown. They both have inspired him to strive for greatness.

"I'd like to make the NFL," he said. "I know it's a pipe dream, but everybody comes up lucky once in a while. I have to think that way. As for another career, I'd like to be a trial lawyer."

What side of the ball?

"Defense," he said, smiling. "The money's at defender."

Just like, by definition, yesterday, when Imhotep showed the bigger heart.