By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
All good things must come to an end, but the Allentown High School football team had hopes of extending their best season in program history into December.
The Redbirds came up a day short and a play short. Top-seeded AHS fell, 28-21, to fourth-seeded Neptune in the Central Jersey Group III semifinals Friday night.
”Our guys played really hard,” said Allentown head coach Jay Graber after closing the year 9-2 overall, a school record for wins in a season. “They played as hard as they could, but Neptune just beat us in the end.”
It was the second straight year that Neptune had ended the Redbirds’ playoffs. Last year’s loss came in the first round in overtime.
”We didn’t take them lightly for one second, not last year, not this year,” Graber said. “We knew they’re a great team and extremely fast. When you play against speed, you know any play they can go for a big gain.”
There were plenty of big gains for both sides, but Neptune got the better of them Friday. Allentown’s final chance, a 40-yard Hail Mary from Nick Palladino was intercepted as time ran out on the Redbirds’ best season.
”I’m extremely proud of our guys,” Graber said. “I think we had a great season. Our seniors took this program to a great place. We hope to continue that.”
The big plays began early. Neptune hit a 36-yard pass play to set up an 8-yard touchdown pass from Ajee Patterson to Geoff Fairbanks to start the scoring. The Redbirds countered with a 59-yard pass from Palladino to running back Norman Williams, and when Markus Colin connected on the first of his four extra points, Allentown had a 7-6 lead with 9:13 left in the first quarter.
The Redbirds couldn’t add to their lead on their next drive, and Neptune took advantage with a 46-yard touchdown pass to take a 13-6 edge that held into halftime. It might have been more if not for a red-zone tackle of Patterson on fourth down by AHS senior Michael McGinnis.
”We came into the game and wanted to stop the big play, and we had trouble doing that tonight,” Graber said. “They have a couple big-play players and they made plays. We made a couple penalties that we shouldn’t have. They cost us a couple drives. When you get in big games like this, you can’t make those penalties, you can’t make those mistakes.”
Allentown gained momentum early in the second half when Mark Duffy picked off Patterson’s pass and returned it to the Allentown 15-yard line. Palladino connected with Duffy as a receiver on a nifty misdirection on the next play from scrimmage for the touchdown, but the 14-13 lead would be the last for Allentown.
”Not for one second did I think the game was going to shift,” Graber said. “I knew they were a great team and they were going to bounce back and we were going to go for 48 minutes.”
It only took Neptune one possession to bounce back. A 74-yard drive that included a 44-yard run by Mi’jaut Berry ended with a touchdown pass and two-point conversion to give the Scarlet Fliers a 21-14 5:20 left in the third quarter.
Allentown also showed its resilience by marching right back at Neptune. Williams picked up his best gain of the night, a 40-yard scamper down the right sideline to set up his own 2-yard touchdown run to make it 21-21 with 1:45 left in the quarter.
”I think we just executed better in the second half,” Graber said of the run game. “We made a lot of adjustments at the half, and I thought we were able to open the holes up a little more running-wise. They’re a great team. They’re fast.”
Only 21 seconds after Williams’ score, Neptune took the lead for good on a 76-yard touchdown pass from Patterson to Fairbanks. It would be the last score of the game for either team.
”They went over the top on us a couple times,” Graber said. “It’s feast or famine when you blitz. We had a game plan. We thought we had a pretty good game plan and were right there until the end.
”We changed our coverages, changed our pressure,” he said. “We tried to do a lot of different things against them. But they’re a good team, they read coverages, they did a good job.”
The Redbirds had chances to bounce back in the fourth quarter. On their first drive, they overcame a first-down false start to get it to a manageable third-and-2 from the Neptune 16, but a holding penalty washed out Frank Juba’s first-down rush. Palladino was sacked on fourth down.
”Yards are hard to come by in big games like this,” Graber said. “You can’t commit penalties and make some of the mistakes we made.”
Allentown was flagged seven times for 50 yards. The Redbirds had yet another chance when Williams picked off Patterson in the end zone with 3:22 left in the game.
”Norm played an excellent game,” Graber said. “He played cornerback sparingly during the season. He played the whole game there. As a running back, he did a great job. I can’t say enough about him. I think he has a really bright future.”
Williams finished with 94 yards rushing, 83 in the second half. Allentown looked to convert his turnover as it moved to its own 45, but when the Redbirds attempted a pass from Palladino who had lined up at receiver, he was tackled for a 12-yard loss, then sacked on the next play and the Redbirds couldn’t recover.
Their final chance came when Neptune punted the ball back to the Redbirds’ 4-yard line with 46 seconds left and Allentown without a time out. Palladino’s 37-yard pass to Jake Lewis moved the ball to the Neptune 40, but after an incomplete pass, their final Hail Mary was taken away by the Scarlet Fliers, who will play for their second straight sectional title.
”We think we’re going in the right direction with our program,” Graber said. “Coach (Mark) Ciccotelli has done a fantastic job there. He won a couple state championships at Freehold, and now he’s doing the same at Neptune. He’s done a great job. We have a lot of respect for him and his team. He gets it done.”
Graber has seen his own Redbirds come together swiftly over the last three seasons. They have grown each year, right along with the senior class that pushed them to new heights. They will graduate such playmakers as Williams, Juba, McGinnis, Lewis and Palladino, who finished 17-for-26 for 291 yards through the air.
”Our seniors did great things here,” Graber said. “They changed the culture of the program. That’s what we wanted to do. They left a legacy here at Allentown. They did a great job of that. We’re just hoping that the younger guys can step in and kind of fulfill that, see what the older guys did and work just as hard to keep the program at this level.”

