Prep Charter's Davis honors father with every TD

They aren't just touchdowns.

For Prep Charter senior John Davis, they're an opportunity to reconnect with a father who never got a chance to see his son play football.

Last season - his first playing high school football - Davis scored his first career touchdown against Germantown Academy and then pointed both fingers to the sky.

"When I was younger, my dad passed away," Davis said at the Huskies' practice field at 24th and Jackson in South Philadelphia.

"He always wanted me to play football and always wanted to see me play. So, when I do that touchdown celebration it's like we're both in that moment. It's like we're still sharing the moment even though he's not here. So, in that moment, when I'm pointing to the sky, it's like he's there."

John Davis Sr., 59, died from complications from sarcoidosis when Davis was just 4.

According to the National Institutes of Health, sarcoidosis is a disease of unknown cause that leads to inflammation in the body's organs. It is the same disease that killed actor and comedian Bernie Mac in 2008.

Davis will have another chance to celebrate with his father Friday when Prep Charter (1-0) hosts Germantown Academy (1-0) at 6:30 p.m. at the South Philadelphia Supersite (10th and Bigler streets).

Davis, a 5-foot-7, 161-pound wide receiver and defensive back, led the Huskies in receptions (21), receiving yardage (471) and touchdown catches (8) last season.

The tribute to his father, however, began when he was 11 and a member of the Dynasty Dragons youth football team.

"One game I scored a touchdown and I couldn't really think of what to do," Davis said. "I just thought of my dad and all the memories about football and him wanting to see me play, so I just pointed, and I've been doing it ever since."

Well, at least up until high school.

For his freshman and sophomore years, Davis attended Greater Hope Christian Academy (Southwest Philadelphia), which didn't have a football team.

But his coach with the Dynasty Dragons, Danny Hand, happened to be the younger brother of current Prep Charter coach David Hand.

"My brother told me about him," said David Hand, now in his third season as the Huskies' coach. "When we really got him here, he exceeded all expectations. Just a smart football player with great hands and a relentless work ethic."

That hard work also extends to the classroom. It had better.

"He's a very great student," Davis's mother Cornelia Davis said. "He better be. He doesn't have a choice."

She added: "I told him anything he does, make it a passion, not just a fashion. I told him if football is really what he wants, learn the educational parts of it. There are different areas other than just playing. If you can't physically play, you can go into commentating or physical therapy . . . and education is a big part of it."

To that end, Davis, who earned a 3.3 GPA last year, contemplates pursuing communication, with broadcasting or writing as possibilities. Anything to stay close to the game, and perhaps, his father.

"My dad loved football and we just share memories about the Eagles, sitting around watching football games," Davis said. "My whole family is big-time football fans, especially my mom. She's a big-time Eagles fan."

"Yes, I am," Cornelia Davis said, laughing. "There's no other team. Are there any other teams out there?"

"That's all my household does," she added. "Eat, sleep, drink . . . football."