Allentown ousted by Brick in first round
ALLENTOWN » It didn’t take Brick Township long to let Allentown know it was going to be a tough night.
The Brick defense forced a three-and-out on the Redbirds’ first possession, and the Dragons’ first play from scrimmage was a touchdown.
It really didn’t get any better from there as the Shore Conference team cruised to a 28-0 win over Allentown in the Central Jersey Group 4 quarterfinals on a bitterly cold Friday night in Allentown.
The loss ends No. 4 Allentown’s season with a 6-4 mark. The Redbirds began the season by winning four of five and were 2-3 in the last five.
This is the first time the Redbirds have been shutout in 79 games. The last time was October 15, 2010 when New Egypt blanked them, 19-0.
No. 5 Brick Twp. (6-4) will now advance to the semifinals, where it will face the winner of the No. 8 Freehold Borough and No. 1 Nottingham, which is being played Saturday.
The game was also a rematch of the 2016 CJ 4 title game won by the Redbirds, 41-6, over Brick Township.
“We came out flat,” Allentown coach Jay Graber said. “They came out way harder than we did, and they wanted it more than us. They took it to us, and they beat us. There are no excuses. They beat us.”
Jimmy Leblo’s 56-yard pass to Cole Groschel gave the Dragons a 7-0 lead with 10:09 left in the first half, and when the stanza ended, 7-0, Brick had run 20 plays to Allentown’s five.
Brick drove to the Allentown eight-yard line using nine minutes of clock before missing a 26yard field goal.
If there was a point of no return for the Redbirds, it came in the waning seconds of the first half.
Brick’s Groschel connected with Dan Venezia for a 21-yard scoring pass and a 14-0 lead with 1:05 left in the half. Then on the ensuing kickoff, Brick’s Nick Malta recovered a fumble at the Allentown 29yard line. On the next play, Groschel again found Venezia in the end zone, and it was 21-0 at the half.
The Dragons scored 14 points in nine seconds.
“That was really important,” Graber said. “It shifted the momentum of the game completely.”
It certainly made for a warmer halftime for Brick.
“We went into the locker room knowing we were going finish this game off,” Groschel said. “It was a huge momentum swing.” Groschel had quite a night. He caught a touchdown pass. He threw two touchdown passes. He ran for a touchdown, and, on defense, he had two interceptions.
“We were doing this for seniors from last year,” Groschel said. “We lost last year, and we wanted a little revenge to come into their house and beat them.”
To his credit, Graber makes no excuses, but the Redbirds are a young team and this game will be a great learning experience going forward.
“I’ve never been a coach that cares about experience or youth,” Graber said. “That’s not an excuse at all. What matters is we need to prepare our kids the right way to get it done. They are on the same playing ground as us. I take full blame. We didn’t prepare our kids enough to get it done.”
Brick Twp. (6-4) Allentown (6-4) First Quarter BT— Second Quarter BT—
Venezia 21 pass from Groschel (Wynkoop kick)
Venezia 29 pass from Groschel (Wynkoop kick)
BT—
Groschel 56 pass from Leblo (Wynkoop kick)
Third Quarter BT— 7 0 14 0 7 0 0 — 0 —
Groschel 2 run (Wynkoop kick)
28 0