Allentown High School enjoyed its finest season in the history of the football program during 2016.
Allentown finished 10-2 and captured the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Central Jersey, Group 4 title — the first state sectional playoff championship in school history.
Repeating as a state playoff champion will be a difficult task this fall.
The Central Jersey, Group 4 field now includes perennial powers such as Middletown High School South and Middletown High School North. Last fall, Middletown North fell to Sayreville War Memorial High School in the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 title game.
Central Jersey, Group 4 is also home to Jackson Memorial High School, Freehold High School and Brick Township High School, the team that fell to Allentown in the 2016 playoff championship game.
Allentown head coach Jay Graber is focused on this year’s edition and believes that there is plenty of work to do before the Redbirds bid to retain the Central Jersey, Group 4 title.
“Right now, we are just focused on preparing for the first game,” Graber said. “We are only concerned about our opening game [against] Nottingham. We try not to look ahead in the schedule and focus only on the task at hand, so right now, the game we are concentrating on is Nottingham.”
Allentown plays at Nottingham High School on Sept. 1 at 12 p.m.
Graber, who is entering his eighth year as Allentown head coach, knows that his team has some holes to fill in its roster before it can realistically talk about championships.
“We need to replace our running backs and quarterback,” Graber said. “We hope to be competitive in every game and work together as a team each week. [We want to] continue to be disciplined and well-conditioned in the fourth quarter.”
Allentown lost quarterback Jordan Winston and running backs Joe Mannino and Aydon Chavis to graduation in June. All three were big contributors to Allentown’s running game last season, including a stellar performance in the Central Jersey, Group 4 championship game against Brick Township.
The Redbirds defeated Brick Township, 41-6, behind Winston, who scored two touchdowns and rushed for 103 yards; Mannino, who ran for 138 yards and one touchdown; and Chavis, who gained 103 yards and one touchdown.
Winston, who also earned All-State honors in baseball and is going to play that sport at Oklahoma State University, finished the season with 1,238 rushing yards and nine touchdowns. Mannino concluded the season with 1,197 rushing yards and seven touchdowns.
According to Graber, Jha’Quel Brown, Rahsaan Emory and Dennis Hahn will all compete for the starting role at running back, while Luke Brown and Dan Merkel will battle for the starting quarterback spot.
“There is going to be a lot of competition,” Graber said. “We look forward to seeing what players will rise to the challenge.”
Graber believes that his offense can still be a major factor due to a strong line.
“Offensive line and fullback are our biggest strengths,” Graber said. “I’m expecting big things from our offensive line this year.”
Graber likes his defense coming into the year as well.
“We’re expecting big things from our linebacker core as well,” Graber said. “[They are] Max Boyle, Jha’Quel Brown and Nick Campbell. We have big expectations of X’Zavier Harris, a defensive back and receiver as well.”