Football opens at Notre Dame
By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
Jay Graber is looking forward to seeing his Allentown High School football team in action against his alma mater.
The Redbirds open the season on Friday at Notre Dame, where Graber passed for 2,802 yards and 35 touchdowns as a senior quarterback 12 years ago. He expects a challenging test in the first game of the year.
”We think it’s going to be a really tough opener,” Graber said. “Playing at Notre Dame is always difficult. We know it’ll be a tough environment. They’re big, strong up front. They have a couple good linebackers and good in the secondary too. We know it’ll be a tough team for us.”
Graber would like nothing more than to see his team start off with an opening win over a Notre Dame team that beat them two years ago. He knows it would piggyback off a strong preseason and get a team that shows a lot of potential going on the right foot.
”I think our preseason has gone very well for us,” Graber said. “We’ve been able to have a lot of competition. Guys have been able to win spots on the team. They’re excited to get started.”
There are some significant changes with some moves in key positions, but there are a lot of familiar names in place for the Redbirds, who went 5-5 last season.
”We really only lost Daivone Thomas and Jimmy Roselli,” Graber said. “We lost a couple other starters and a couple other players, but we think the guys that are going to step in are going to be just as good or better. We have a good group coming in and a good nucleus of guys back.”
The offseason work has put the Redbirds into a good position where they have players vying fiercely for playing time. It has helped Allentown improve overall in all aspects. Allentown is hoping its defense is improved from allowing 17.1 points per game.
”We think we have a little more depth on defensive line this year,” Graber said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to wear teams out with our defensive line. We have a lot of guys that have worked hard in the weight room. We’re having a hard time figuring out who will play so we’re deep. We’re in good shape conditioning wise. We have a bunch of guys going both ways, so that should be good for us.”
The Redbirds would love to be stingier on defense than they were a year ago when they gave up 17.1 points per game. Allentown lost every time it gave up 20 points or more last year, but feels equipped better to do its job.
”Defensively, we always concentrate on playing base defense and being able to stop the run,” Graber said. “We focus mostly on being able to stop the run.”
On the other side of the ball, the Redbirds are changing things up in their backfield. It is a move that isn’t quite as breath-taking as it sounds.
”I think we should be balanced on offense,” Graber said. “We moved Michael Curry to quarterback, and moved Dean Apostolico to running back. I think that’ll help Dean, too, because he plays linebacker, and Michael plays corner as well.”
Graber believes that Curry can bring some balance to the offense. The Redbirds will look to run first, but can also take to the air with Curry behind the controls.
”I think he’s very tough,” Graber said. “He played some quarterback last year and he’s played it in the past. He’s a very smart kid. He has a 4.0 GPA. He’s very smart. He immediately grasped what we’re doing. He’s athletic. He plays defensive back. We’re excited to have him.”
On special teams, the Redbirds are happy to have a familiar face back. He brings consistency to a unit that can make a difference.
”We have our kicker, Matt Derisi, back and he’ll handle the punting duties also,” Graber said. “We think we have a good chance to be solid in special teams, especially with the kicker coming back. He’s very accurate kicking off and with extra points and field goals. We feel confident with him.”
Allentown is counting on those facets of the game to come together for a fourth winning season in five years. The Redbirds lost four of their final six games, including a playoff game against Lawrence. Three of those games, including the Lawrence game, were decided by a touchdown or less.
”Last year, we played tough in every game outside the one,” Graber noted. “We just came up a little short. We focused in the offseason on finishing, whether it’s a sprint or a play. We think that’ll help us this season.”
The Redbirds are looking for continued growth as they look to come together through the season. The West Jersey Football League will pit them against some of the top teams in Mercer County plus Rancocas Valley and Lenape.
”Right now, we’re just looking at the first game,” Graber said. “We’re worried about Notre Dame. We see our division is tough with bigger, stronger schools. When you play a schedule like that, you can only really worry about the first game. Then we’ll take the rest as it comes.
”I just think overall our team has to continue to stay competitive and stay tough because every game is going to be a tough game.”
The Redbirds’ expectations have grown under Graber, who is in his fifth season at the helm at AHS. This year, those expectations are for the Redbirds to be one of the best in their league and with a good batch of newcomers mixing in with some talented veterans, there is optimism aplenty going into a tough opener.
”We think we have a good nucleus of experienced guys and guys that played JV or freshman last year and have given themselves an opportunity to compete this year,” Graber said. “We don’t have any freshmen right now. We have a good nucleus of guys. We have a decent group that came back from last year.”

