Imani Christian uses star power to overwhelm Central Valley in 3A semifinals

By: Antonio Rossetti
Friday, November 14, 2025 | 10:46 PM

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The second-seeded Imani Christian Saints will be marching into the WPIAL Class 3A finals after a 48-0 shutout of No. 3 Central Valley on Friday night at Montour.

The duo of Gabe Jenkins and North Carolina commit David Davis led the Saints past the Warriors.

Davis ran six times for 242 yards and three touchdowns coming from 75, 83 and 63 yards.

“The guys came together,” Jenkins said.

The Saints compiled 486 total yards, 443 on the ground.

Davis credited the offensive line for the Saints’ success.

“They move people, Davis said. “They do what they need to do.”

Jenkins — a former Penn State commit who wore a Nebraska sticker after a visit which he said “gave him a lot of love”— commended Davis’ performance.

“He’s a dog,” Jenkins said. “When we need him, he’s going to come through and pull it off for us, man. I’m telling you, he’s like that, man. He wants it all.”

Jenkins had the opening score on a 40-yard touchdown. He finished with 160 yards on 15 carries and tossed a 40-yard touchdown pass to Dajuan Craighead.

The Saints went up 22-0 at the end of the first quarter.

“We knew coming in, it would be a test for us,” Central Valley coach Mark Lyons said. “They just got on top, and we couldn’t withstand that initial surge.”

Jenkins also got it done defensively, forcing and recovering a fumble.

He was motivated to get through Central Valley to get another shot at Avonworth, who the Saints lost to last season, 14-6.

“We want to dominate,” Jenkins said. “We got to get payback from last year. We lost to Avonworth, came up short. We had to come through. We have to get our get-back.”

Imani Christian forced six turnovers — two on downs, three forced fumbles and one Robert Torres-Johnson interception.

The Saints tallied two 40-yard scoop-and-scores from Anthony Portis that put them up 22-0 and Maurice Williams that extended their lead to 42-0.

On the opening kickoff, a Davis 45-yard return to the 40 set the Saints up in scoring position. On the first play from scrimmage, Jenkins barreled through a Central Valley defender, taking it to the house for 40 yards.

Imani Christian extended its lead on its next drive when Davis went untouched for a 75-yard touchdown to go up 14-0.

A 40-yard fumble return and two-point conversion from Portis made it 22-0.

Davis broke an 83-yard touchdown run and Daniel Stephens scored on the conversion to make it 30-0.

Central Valley drove down all the way to the Imani Christian goal line, but the Saints toughened up and stuffed the Warriors to get the ball back at the 1.

The Warriors also pushed the ball to the Imani 11, but Torres-Johnson picked one off in the end zone.

Davis followed up with a 73-yard touchdown run to make it 36-0 going into halftime.

Williams’ 40-yard fumble return came on the first play of the second half.

Jenkins forced a fumble and recovered it. He then found Craighead to finish it at 48-0.

Lyons was proud of his Warriors for advancing to the semifinals.

“These seniors played in big games, they continue to hold this program to a high standard, and they’ve set the bar continuously, keeping the bar up there for our guys,” Lyons said. “I just I couldn’t say enough about them. We’ve been on the other end of this quite a few times, and unfortunately, we weren’t today. They were just a better team.”

Davis is happy to get over the hump and into the finals for the second time in program history.

“We went away crying,” he said. “This year, we did it. We got it done and executed.”

The Saints will take on No. 1 Avonworth in a battle of undefeated teams in the Class 3A final at 5 p.m. next Saturday at Acrisure Stadium.

“We’re fired up, but we have to stay focused,” Jenkins said.

Tags: Central Valley, Imani Christian