High School football roundup: Chester’s freshman RB emerges, powerhouse clash awaits, and more

Three weeks into the high school football season, area teams are reestablishing identities with new faces or still searching for one. The newcomers are also starting to make their arrival known.

Here’s a look at what has happened so far, including a peak at what is ahead for two major programs and a new beginning for several players at different schools.

Sa’Mhad “Showtime” Williams does not seem to run by defenders. It’s more like the 5-foot-10, 180-pound Chester freshman tailback glides by them. Each time he carries the ball, he makes a quick survey of the field, finds a crease, and off he goes, kicking up rubber turf pellets in his wake.

Chester reached the PIAA District 1 Class 5A championship last season, relying on generational talents Jalen and Daron Harris. The twins led the Clippers to historic heights in their four-year high school tenure, going 45-7 along with winning four-straight Del-Val League titles. When they graduated (Daron is at Temple and Jalen at Lincoln), Chester would need to rebuild — or so it was thought.

The Clippers are off to a 3-0 start and ranked No. 2 in District 1 5A behind Central League power Garnet Valley. Williams is one of the reasons why. In three games, he has rushed for 412 yards and leads the area in scoring with nine touchdowns, three coming last Friday night in Chester’s 32-30 victory over a good Northeast team who had previously beaten Coatesville. Williams scored on a 90-yard kickoff return, and on 80- and 26-yard runs— all in the first half. He scored on two of his first three touches and had amassed 215 total yards by halftime on six carries.

“The scary part is, he’s just a freshman,” Northeast coach Nick Lincoln said about Williams. “You hear things about how special certain kids are, and they rarely back it up. This kid is special.”

Williams has shown, even as a freshman, an innate ability to slow down the game.

Each touch comes with an emphatic intent: “To score every time I have the ball,” said Williams, who had several private schools approach him last summer, but was committed to Clippers coach Dennis Shaw. “I don’t think I really felt comfortable [at the varsity level] until I scored my second touchdown [in the season opener against Strath Haven]. I like to pattern my running after Saquon Barkley and Jahmyr Gibbs, run fast, run physical.”

Shaw was highly impressed by Williams’ maturity. Shaw said when Chester gave up its first touchdown to Northeast, Williams consoled the defense as they walked off the field. When Northeast scored on a kickoff return, Williams, who is also Chester’s kicker, blamed himself.

» READ MORE: The Philly area’s top 10 high school football programs to watch in 2026

“That’s just who [Williams] is,” Shaw said. “He’s mature. He’s accountable. We’re happy he stayed home in Chester. Some people I see on social media are already comparing him to Kevin Jones (the former Cardinal O’Hara star who was a 2004 NFL first-round draft pick by the Detroit Lions). He does things beyond his age. He runs with patience, and with great vision.

Chester may be getting even better with the return of quarterback Kenjai Gatling to the area. Gatling started as a freshman for Bonner-Prendergast, then transferred to national powerhouse DeMatha Catholic in Maryland for his sophomore and junior seasons, before deciding to return and attend Chester this season. Gatling, now 6-2, 200 pounds, threw his first two touchdowns of the season against Northeast.

“I’m getting more reps and each game I’m getting more confident,” Gatling said. “This is the first time that I’m playing regularly in two years. We have a lot of athletes, and once we develop more chemistry, we’re going to be better. I feel confident about everyone around me. This has been a good situation for me. I love my guys.”

It’s been a while, dating back to 2015, since traditional area powerhouses Malvern Prep and St. Joseph’s Prep have played. That ends this Saturday, when the Hawks host three-time defending Inter-Academic League champion Malvern Prep at Franklin Field at 7 p.m.

Both teams enter the game 1-1. Malvern fell, 27-21, to Imhotep Charter, while St. Joe’s Prep lost to Bergen Catholic, 33-3. The Hawks also lost starting quarterback Max Rogers in the process, who reportedly suffered “a significant upper body injury” late in the first quarter. Junior Nickee Holden replaced Rogers, who may be out for a longer period of time.

» READ MORE: Can La Salle’s Brett Gordon — now with his son Luke at starting QB — return the Explorers to Catholic League glory?

Malvern will counter with one of the best tailbacks in the area, junior Julius Riddick, who has rushed for 201 yards and four touchdowns so far this season. He scored twice and gained 71 yards in the Friars’ 21-0 victory over La Salle, and rushed for 130 yards and two touchdowns against Imhotep.

Riddick had to bide his time behind Zeke Bates, now at Minnesota, the last two years. Now, Riddick’s become Malvern’s primary weapon and will be the focal point of the Hawks’ defense on Saturday night.

“Julius is a downhill runner who is the strongest player on our team, including linemen,” said Malvern coach Dave Gueriera. “He is hard to bring down with one defender. He runs hard, he runs low, and has great vision. He’s 205 pounds, and we were hoping to see this from Julius. I think he is exceeding everyone’s expectations.”

Gueriera likes his team up front, featuring Duke-bound offensive tackle Tyler Graham and major Division I junior edge rusher George Parkinson IV. He also has one of the prime targets in the state in LSU-bound receiver Cade Cooper.

What promises to be an interesting matchup is the possibility of Cooper, a two-way player, defending St. Joe Prep junior receiver Jett Harrison, who’s committed to Ohio State.

“Prep’s front on both sides are big and good. Jett Harrison is a matchup nightmare anywhere he is on the field, and there could be a possibility Cade will be on Jett,” Gueriera said. “Their running game is good, Brandon Lockley, their linebacker, is very good. Prep is tough, physical and well-coached.”

Last October, Lincoln beat Philadelphia Public League power Imhotep, 26-25, snapping the Panthers’ 35-game Public League winning streak. Railsplitters coach Hakeem Cooper returns a young team this season, with three starting seniors on defense and four on offense. Lincoln did, however, receive a significant boost with four transfers from Cheltenham, which cancelled its 2026 varsity and junior varsity football seasons following a hazing incident during the 2025 season.

Seniors Kendall Jackson, Cheltenham’s starting quarterback last season, and junior offensive lineman Mason Jones are eligible to play, while senior offensive lineman Kaiden Rogers and senior cornerback Andre Jones still have to undergo District 1 hearings on their playing eligibility, according to Cooper.

Lincoln is 1-2 overall entering its Public League season against West Philadelphia on Friday at 3 p.m.

“These Cheltenham kids are good kids who wanted a chance to play,” Cooper said. “They’re good kids that deserve it. They’re learning the system, and they are still trying to figure things out, but they have fit right into our culture and they work hard, honestly.”

» READ MORE: These are the Philly area’s top high school football recruits to watch this season

Cooper returns senior safety/wide receiver Rei Talley, junior running back/safety John Nichols, senior receiver Naz Holley, and an electric transfer from Delaware Military Academy, 5-9, 175-pound junior Isaiah Muhammad, who leads the team in passing and rushing.

“This is one of the youngest teams I have had in the last couple of years, but we still have high expectations and with a lot of new kids, the biggest thing is forming a family and learning about one another,” said Cooper, who is in his fifth season and led the Railsplitters to the 2023 Public League Class 6A championship, the first Public League title Lincoln has won since 1979. “We do feel really good about this team, and we feel we will only get better.”

With Imhotep dropping to Class 5A, Lincoln has a good chance to take the Public League 6A championship.