Imani Christian routs Freeport in regular-season finale

By: Jerin Steele
Friday, October 25, 2024 | 10:47 PM

Using some explosive plays on both offense and defense, Imani Christian cemented an outright Allegheny 7 Conference championship and likely the top seed in the Class 3A playoffs.

In a span of four minutes in the second quarter, the Saints scored two long touchdowns on offense and had a score on an interception return on their way to a 44-14 victory at Freeport.

With the victory, Imani (10-0, 6-0) completed an undefeated regular season. It is the only unbeaten team in Class 3A.

“When I first showed up here (three years ago) there were eight kids in the weight room, so to come now to this point is a whirlwind to me,” Imani coach LaRoi Johnson said. “I’m incredibly proud of my guys and proud of the whole entire program we’ve built. The first year we barely had enough kids to field a team, and we were just trying to teach them. To be at this point two years later is a proud moment.”

Freeport (7-3, 4-2) is playoff bound as the third-place team in the conference.

After a scoreless first quarter, Imani took command in the second.

Its quick-strike scoring started with an 82-yard touchdown run by Gabe Jenkins.

Freeport went three-and-out on its next possession, and it took one play for the Saints to score again.

Saints quarterback Steve Vandiver threw a long pass to Dashaun Burnett, and Burnett won a one-on-one battle to haul it in for a 65 yard touchdown.

Then the Saints defense got involved.

Dajaun Craighead intercepted a Drew Ross pass and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown. Jones ran in a 2-point conversion to make it 22-0.

Freeport had some missed opportunities in the first half.

After stopping a fourth-down attempt by Imani in its own territory in the first quarter, the Yellowjackets had good field position in a scoreless game.

A bad snap on a third down forced Ross to dive on the ball well behind the sticks. That forced a punt, and Jenkins scored on the next Imani possession.

“(Imani) has some extremely talented student athletes that are tough to stop,” Freeport coach John Gaillot said. “We missed a couple plays by inches and if you look at it, we could’ve been up by two scores, but I’m proud of the boys with how they handled themselves. They’re a great group of kids.”

Vandiver connected with Williams again in the second half, this time for a 66-yard touchdown. Vandiver also scored on a 29-yard run, and Jenkins had a 52-yard score.

Jenkins finished with 243 yards rushing. Vandiver had 176 yards passing, and Williams had 146 yards receiving.

All five of Imani’s offensive touchdowns came from outside the red zone.

“We have a lot of very good players that can do a lot of different things,” Johnson said. “The most important thing is that they’re unselfish. If you watch how they block for each other, they are so unselfish and want to get the other guys into the end zone. When you have so many talented players you have to get them to understand that they need to want their teammate to score just as bad as you want to score yourself, and I think we’ve learned that throughout the year.”

Freeport got on the board when Ross hit Sean Selinger with a 2-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter, which made the score 29-7. Ross also connected with Owen Neistein on a 10-yard touchdown in the fourth.

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer

Tags: Freeport, Imani Christian