Allentown High School football players are not shy or hesitant about comparing their team to the 2016 edition that claimed a state sectional playoff championship.
“I was a sophomore (in 2016) and just watching the hustle of that team, that’s all we need,” said Allentown running back Rahsaan Emory.
“They were big, fast, strong, and in the fourth when games were close, they just ran teams off the field,” said Allentown quarterback Dan Merkel, who was in eighth grade in 2016 but watched that team from the stands. “Our guys have been working hard all summer. We’re well-conditioned. We’re big and strong. I think we can beat people up this year.”
That squad for Allentown in 2016 posted a 10-2 record and captured the Central Jersey, Group 4 state playoff championship. The Redbirds won the program’s first state sectional playoff title when they soared past Brick Township High School, 41-6, in the championship game during that December of 2016.
Their confidence is justified. Allentown returns 16 starters from a 2017 team that went 6-4 and returned to the Central Jersey, Group 4 state playoffs.
The group for this fall includes most of Allentown’s linemen on both sides of the ball, its two best playmakers in Merkel and Emory and its defensive leaders in linebackers Nick Campbell and Jha’quel Brown.
Allentown opens its season at home against Notre Dame High School on Sept. 7.
“We got everybody back,” Brown said. “We can get another state championship if we all work hard and together.”
Offensively, Merkel, Emory and that experienced line, anchored by seniors Kyle Anderson, Michael Pugliese and Drew Huth, will make Allentown tough to stop. Merkel produced a total of 2,292 yards and 21 touchdowns in 2017 as a freshman.
Of those total yards, Merkel recorded 1,688 yards passing and 17 touchdown completions.
Emory was the featured back when he ran for 1,314 yards and 11 touchdowns.
“Dan has a lot of experience and he got a lot bigger and stronger, so we think he’ll be more confident. We’re excited for what he can do,” said Allentown coach Jay Graber. “Rahsaan had a big season for us last year. I think he got a lot stronger and quicker over the summer.”
Defensively, the same senior trio will anchor Allentown’s four-man front. Behind them, in Allentown’s four-man linebacker unit, Campbell and Brown will be free to attack the ball and make plays. Both are experienced players with great instincts.
Brown had an interception return touchdown in the 2016 state sectional final victory over Brick. Campbell also started for the state sectional title team.
“Anderson, Pugliese and Huth are returning starters and played on both lines. They have a lot of experience and we’re hoping they can control the line on both sides,” Graber said. “Nick is our middle linebacker, so he sets the defense. He’s quick and has a great nose for the ball. He’s very smart, so he makes his reads very quickly. Jah’quel is another key guy. We like to move him around.”
The Redbirds are as motivated as they are talented. They consider last season, when they lost, 28-0, to Brick, the team they wiped out the season before in the state sectional final, in the first round of the 2017 state playoffs, a disappointment.
“Our coaching staff didn’t do a good enough job preparing the kids for what it would have taken to win that game. We came in flat. They beat us up,” Graber said. “But most of our guys are returning this year, so they have that chip on their shoulder. We can’t let that happen again this year.”
“It didn’t go how we wanted, but this year we definitely have the possibility to change that,” Huth said. “I’m hoping we go all the way. We all have that championship mindset.”
Allentown should be pretty good in 2018, maybe even great. Graber, though, is a coach, so he’s thinking of every little thing that could possibly go wrong.
There is really only one factor that can upend the 2018 Redbirds: Football attrition.
“Football is tough with injuries. We have a core. Now we just need to stay healthy,” Graber said. “We’re excited.”
