ALLENTOWN: Poised Redbirds ready for Neptune

By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
   Chi Oriji was a nervous wreck the first time that he started a game for the Allentown High School football team two years ago.
   Now a senior, the Redbirds linebacker is one of the poised veterans who will lead the top-seeded AHS team into its Central Jersey Group III semifinal. Allentown hosts Neptune 7 p.m. Friday. The Scarlet Fliers knocked Allentown out in the program’s first playoff appearance last year, 40-33, in overtime.
   ”I just think about that last play of the game, the incomplete pass,” Oriji said. “We could change history. I really regret it. I think about it every time we practice. We don’t want that same thing to happen again.”
   The Redbirds return a large group that played in last year’s inaugural playoff showing, and they are plenty motivated to go to their first sectional final. Oriji was in his first full year starting in last year’s playoff. Oriji was originally a safety, but broke into the lineup midway through his sophomore year at linebacker.
   ”I went out and played as hard as I could,” he said. “I was nervous. I was scared. Junior year, I could be nervous at the beginning. Now I know what’s coming up. I don’t get nervous at all. I know what’s coming.”
   Oriji and Allentown knows what is ahead of them. Neptune returns another talented team that has put together an impressive season and is looking to repeat as sectional champions.
   ”They’re very good,” said AHS head coach Jay Graber. “They’re fast. They have big receivers. They’re very aggressive on defense. They’re a great team.
   ”They’re just as good this year as they were last year. The quarterback can throw the ball a little more than last year, but he can still run also. They’re very good.”
   Oriji is looking forward to the challenge. Last year, some of the Redbirds inexperienced showed early as they fell behind, 20-7, in the first quarter. They trailed 33-17 before Allentown rallied to force overtime.
   ”We never played against a team of that caliber,” Oriji said. “They were big, fast, strong. I know our team was intimidated. But this year, I don’t think it’s going to be like that. I believe we want it more than them and we’ll do whatever it takes.”
   Last year, Allentown didn’t have a player on the roster that had been to a state playoff game. They battled back to go to overtime and give Neptune a better game than they had in the semifinals. That first experience is still fresh on the returning Redbirds’ minds.
   ”It doesn’t hurt,” Graber said. “It may help a bit. This year is different. We have to come in just as prepared, just as ready as any other game.”
   Said Oriji: “The thing we took out of it was when we played them last year, you just felt like, this team is extremely fast. Just that experience of playing in a game with really fast players — this year they’re really fast also — and just the feeling of knowing how fast they are, we didn’t take them lightly, but we didn’t play with people as fast as they are. Now we know what it takes. I took that out of the game the most.”
   Oriji expects a closer game from the outset this time. He doesn’t expect it will take long for Allentown to understand the speed of a playoff team of Neptune’s caliber.
   ”That whole game I was feeling like we never played a team like this,” he recalled. “They have a very unique offense. I’ve never ever seen an offense of their caliber. They’re athletic and fast. They wanted it. We wanted it also. All game I was just thinking I didn’t want to lose the game. We were one or two plays away from beating them. We have another chance to do it again and go to the finals.”
   The Redbirds have not played since their state opening 35-7 win over Ocean Township two weeks ago. Their loss to Neptune has been on their mind even longer.
   ”We can’t wait,” Oriji said. “The more time we have, the better. These two weeks have given us a chance to get everything in sync and coagulated and be one defense and offense. Everything we have in our game plan is stronger now that we have these extra days.”
   Oriji is more confident heading into this year’s matchup with Neptune. The Scarlet Fliers return another good team, and Allentown has grown as a team since last year.
   ”One, we have a little more talent offensively and defensively,” Oriji said. “Two, we were all on the team. We had about seven seniors that graduated, but we have the experience. We know what it takes. We know the feeling of losing and know we don’t want to experience it again.”
   Allentown has lost just once this year, an eye-opener against Notre Dame. It’s the only blemish in 10 games for the Redbirds.
   ”I knew we were going to do great things,” Oriji said. “The one loss to Notre Dame was a little setback. We wanted to be undefeated. This one loss taught us what it was like to lose and calmed us down. We were a little cocky. It taught us to stay humble and work hard.”
   Oriji doesn’t have time to get arrogant, not with a Neptune attack that will present the toughest challenge of the season for Allentown’s defense. They have been tested in the regular season, but know the offenses they will see now get better.
   ”At the end of the day, you have to be able to play defense,” Graber said. “You have to be able to stop the other team and play defense. We know you have to make a big defensive stop, like against Ocean. We had to make a big stop at the goal line (in the first half). We know that inevitably that our defense is going to be what has to win the game.
   ”Last year, we gave up 33 points in the first half and first series of the second half,” he added. “Then we stopped them the rest of the second half. We just weren’t able to stop them in overtime.”
   The Redbirds will have to play the sort of physical defense they did during the second-half comeback last year.
   ”Like we always say, defense wins games,” Oriji said. “Offense can score as much as they want, but you can win, 3-0, and you can’t count on beating a team, 47-45. We have a lot of pressure, but we can handle it. We’ve been here before. We have experience. We know what it takes to win.
   ”Our defense, our motto is we’re elites. There’s nothing stopping us. When we have that mindset gong into the game, it’s very hard for an offense to be productive because we’re very confident. We’re good on defense.”
   Oriji’s development helps. He has plenty of experience in his third season at outside linebacker, and brings the sort of qualities that match up well with Neptune.
   ”He’s quick,” Graber said. “He has great instincts. He is very, very smart. He always knows what he’s doing on the field. He always reads the checklist. He makes big plays. What separates him is he covers very well. He can cover like a defensive back. He’s extremely versatile for us.
   ”He’s always been like that. I coached him when he was a freshman. He’s always been very instinctive and had a nose for the ball.”
   Allentown is hoping to help its instincts through film study of the Neptune offense over the last two weeks. The idea is to know what is coming before they run it, but also to be able to react quicker than they did last year in the first half.
   ”We have to dissect their offense and when we’re lined up in the right place at the right time, there’s no stopping us,” Oriji said.
   The Allentown offense can help as well by keeping the ball away from the Neptune offense. The Redbirds offense should have confidence after being able to move the ball on Neptune last year, largely through the air. “We just have to execute on offense and read our keys on defense,” Graber said. “If we can do that, we’ll be able to stay with them.”