Palmer helps Imhotep snap Bok’s streak

  Getting pounded again and again while running the football is never easy. But it beats experiencing all kinds of family/personal struggles, especially in the days preceding what you know is going to be a very important football game and what you sense could be one for the record book, especially if you perform at lofty levels.

  Palmer, a 5-8, 165-pound senior (generously listed at 5-10, 185 on the roster), is a skilled and doggedly determined running back for Imhotep Charter. Now, he owns a prominent spot in Public League annals.

  Saturday morning at the South Philly Super Site, he rushed 27 times for 131 yards and touchdowns of 1, 2, 38 and 12 yards as the Panthers bested Edward Bok Tech, 28-6, in Public AA, thus terminating the Wildcats' 43-game, 9-year winning streak in PL regular-season games.

  The 43-gamer is the Pub record. St. Joseph's Prep (55 from 1999-2007) owns the Catholic League and city leagues mark for consecutive regular-season wins.

  In assorted divisions, through various alignments, Bok had won five apiece in 2002 and '03, six in '04, four in '05, five in '06, eight in '07, five in '08, four in '09 and one this season.

  And then there the Wildcats were, powerless to stop Palmer and his passionate playmates.

  "Bok was a little cocky. Underestimated us," Palmer said. "They were telling guys on other teams that we wouldn't score on them. Had to prove 'em wrong."

  The worst part of Palmer's week was dealing with the shooting death of a friend. But that horror was hardly the only negative. As he acknowledged, some of the difficulties were his fault and his grandmom imposed some discipline by making him come right home - near 18th and Cumberland in North Philly - after school, which meant he missed some practice time.

  "It was a rough period. Lots of things were stressing me out," Palmer said. "I needed to release, to get myself in the proper frame of mind, and I had a good talk with coach [Calvin] Shakoor, one of our assistants. He told me not to bring the outside world onto the field.

  "I was really focused. I tried to make the other guys be into it as much as I was."

  Palmer's best run was an 18-yarder on the Panthers' second scoring drive. He broke multiple sure tackles while collecting more yards and more yards and more yards in major traffic. It was a sight to behold.

  "Honestly, that stuff comes naturally," he said. "I've always been a little dude, but I love this game and I always go my hardest. I'm always thinking, 'One move at a time . . . One move at a time.' Focused on each little part of the run. I want to score every time I have the ball. I'm always looking for that touchdown.

  "Football's my way out of problems. A chance to better my life."

  On quick passes from Christopher Lewis that were actually backward and counted as rushing plays, Eerin Young contributed gains of 24 and 31 yards to those first two drives.

  Except for allowing a 45-yard touchdown run by Khalil Neal, the defense was dominant. Nine of Bok's 31 plays resulted in losses. Shakur Nesmith (two) and Eric Richardson combined for three interceptions. Zamir Bell and Kyle Hambright halved 14 tackles. Byron Cooper notched a sack while Bell and Elijah Anthony shared another. Anthony also unleashed a ferocious hit to force a fumble.

  Imhotep's grunts were Richardson at center, Tyrone Barge and Gordon Thomas, both freshmen, at the guards and Nicholas Johnson and Hambright at the tackles.

  Late in the game, an assistant coach, with coach Marc Wilson's long locks in mind, emptied a cooler near the bench. No matter. As the final seconds melted away, defensive end Maurice Howard soaked Wilson's head with the contents of a water bottle.

  Soon, after running toward the west-side stands to thank their supporters, the Panthers gathered in the south end zone to dance and chant and hug.

  "When, as coaches, we schemed for this game, we couldn't figure out why we would always lose to Bok," said Wilson, who was also clutching a game ball. "We seemed to always have the right plays. But we realized this was it: They would always outphysical us.

  "Our seniors, especially, came ready to play. Our plan was to run the ball, and be strong, and not try to finesse them."

  Of Palmer, Wilson said, "He is all heart. All heart. After going through a rough week, where he didn't even practice much, he came out here and delivered."

--

WEBSITE REPORT
SEPT. 18
PUBLIC AA
Imhotep 28, Bok 6
  Let's say you're a player or a coach with a team that boasts a very long winning streak. When it's time for the fun to end, how would you like to have it happen? Emphatically? Or in heartbreaking, last-second fashion? Well, over nine seasons, Bok had posted 43 consecutive wins in Public League regular season play. And it wasn't too long into game No. 44 that coach Tom DeFelice and his assistants and players pretty much knew they'd be waving bye-bye to such a wonderful accomplishment. Imhotep was THAT impressive. Coach Marc Wilson's Panthers blocked and tackled and ran hard and defended the pass and "everythinged" with skill and passion. The far-and-away headliner was sr. TB Maurice Palmer, who scored all four TDs while accumulating 131 yards on 27 carries. Late in the first quarter, Palmer uncorked an 18-yard gain on one of the best runs you could ever hope to see. He powered through three-four "sure tackles" -- groups of tacklers, actually -- while getting the ball from Bok's 27 to 9. It was just outstanding! Imhotep already led at that point, 8-0, and I'm guessing lots of people at the South Philly Super Site had the exact same feeling I did . . . This could be the day. Bok did momentarily stiffen, but a regular facemask penalty helped to move the ball from the 6 to the 3 on third down, and Imhotep took advantage of the do-over to get into the end zone; Palmer ran 1 yard, then 2. An interception by jr. LB Eric Richardson (his dad, also Eric, is an assistant) set up the first TD while the second followed a punt of minus-3 yards. On each drive, 'Hotep received one big gain -- 24 yards, then 31 -- from soph. RB/WR Eerin Young, a transfer from McDevitt. The plays were passes from sr. QB Christopher Lewis, but since they were backward the resulting stats went into the book as rushing plays. Young also posted the first conversion in that manner. Sr. WR Devin Sanders got the second on a pass from Lewis. Let's face it: 16-0 is much more daunting than 12-0 or 14-0. The Panthers scored once more before halftime as Palmer took a draw for 38 yards. The defense was also performing at a high level. On the ensuing kickoff, jr. DB Elijah Anthony absolutely crushed the return guy and sr. LB Maurice Howard recovered. Later, jr. FS Shakur Nesmith, a basketball player who goes 6-4, soared for an interception. He also had one in the second half. As the second half opened, there again was a "sign." Bok's franchise player, the very physical/spirited sr. RB-LB Khalil Neal, could not control the kickoff as it skidded right through him all the way back to the 4. Uh, oh. To its credit, Bok did quickly regroup and zipped down the field for a TD. Jr. QB Marquise Brown, the third-stringer (the first two guys are out with injuries), notched three straight completions (of just four for the game) and Neal followed with a 45-yard TD burst straight up the middle. So much for momentum: Bok ran just 11 plays thereafter and garnered no first downs. The four possessions yielded two turnovers as Nesmith made his second pick and frosh DE Tyrone Barge recovered a late fumble with Bok's second unit on the field. The Wildcats ran 31 plays and nine went for losses. That's unheard of, folks, and goes to show how much Imhotep controlled this game. Jr. DE Byron Cooper had one sack while jr. LB Zamir Bell and Anthony shared another. Anthony added a TFL sr. DL Nicholas Johnson added two. As the game wound down, an assistant coach emptied one of those big, round buckets of whatever was in it (water or Gatorade, not sure) in an attempt to protect coach Wilson's long locks. Well, sr. Corey Stroud picked up a small plastic bottle of water and wound up dousing Wilson anyway. A little bit, at least (smile). This is Imhotep's sixth year as a PL member. Counting a playoff last year, the teams had met six times. Only in '07 had the Panthers come close, at 20-14. Major props, of course, go out to Bok for the skill -- and better yet, the CLASS -- it showed while rolling to those 43 consecutive wins; that's the longest league winning streak in Pub history. Almost half (21) resulted in shutouts and only four times did they win by seven points or less. The average score was 27.8 to 5.2. Here's that page. Monday or Tuesday, hopefully, we'll set up a page to celebrate Imhotep's accomplishment like this one from '08 when La Salle ended SJ Prep's 55-game winning streak in CL regular season play.