Redbirds begin new era with Lachenmayer at helm
ALLENTOWN >> It’s a new era of Allentown football as for the first time in 10 falls, Jay Graber will not be on the sidelines.
But the Redbirds didn’t have to look far for a new head coach. The school hired Andrew Lachenmayer, who was an assistant for seven years under Graber, in April to take over the program.
“I really feel at home at Allentown,” said Lachenmayer, a 2006 graduate of West Windsor South. “With the head coach position becoming available, it was only natural that I’d want to take on an increased role in our program … and I’m very excited for the opportunity.”
Lachenmayer has big shoes to fill. Graber, who accepted another head coaching job at Matawan, guided Allentown to a 61-34 record, including two sectional title games and the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV championship in 2016.
But the Redbirds are fresh off their first losing season since 2009. After winning the first three games last year, the team stumbled down the stretch and finished 4-5 with a first-round exit in the state tournament.
“Last year we were in a lot of games that maybe we didn’t quite finish, but we’re taking it one step at a time right now and just looking to compete with whoever is put in front of us,” Lachenmayer said. “We have kind of a loaded slate of scrimmages right now, just constantly looking to compete with whoever we’re lined up against and continuing to get better.”
Much like his predecessor, the first-year head coach hasn’t shied away from challenging the program against tougher competition. Allentown’s preseason schedule featured Bridgewater-Raritan, Immaculata and a quad scrimmage with Chatham, Rahway and Randolph.
From a personnel standpoint, the most significant transition will likely come on defense. Allentown graduated 10 starters and is running a new scheme under new defensive coordinator Tom Daly, who previously coached in Pennsylvania. He was most recently at McDevitt High School.
“We’re really looking for a couple of guys to step up, one of which is (senior) Dan Schweitzer who’s our nose guard,” Lachenmayer said. “He started every game last year. But then we also have some seniors who have put their time in. … We’re excited for them to show what they can do now that they have their opportunities to play.”
One of those seniors is defensive end Pasquale Savarese, who gained valuable experience last season. Seniors Gino Giacolona and Kaushal Kallam are projected to start in the secondary, while junior Ramsey Ben Flah will man the team’s hybrid outside linebacker/safety spot.
Look for sophomores Jake Searing and AJ Blitz to step at linebacker this season after Allentown graduated AllArea linebacker Nick Campbell.
“Both have proved early on in camp and showed they are deserving of playing on the varsity football team, so they’re going to kind of fill that void,” Lachenmayer said.
Offensively, Allentown is in good shape with one of the area’s top quarterbacks. Junior dual-threat signalcaller Dan Merkel has already totaled 4,565 yards and 35 touchdowns in two years starting.
“We’re really excited to see him take his game to the next level this year,” Lachenmayer said. “We’re going to kind of center the offense and kind of focus around him.”
In front of Merkel are three returning starters at offensive line: junior Aidan Benjamin, junior Steven Lally and senior RJ Franzien.
Senior Chris McCrea is Allentown’s top receiver (734 yards, five touchdowns in 2018) and one of the area’s top kickers.
Ben Flah is projected to be the starting tailback and also play slot receiver. Giacolona and Searing are players to watch at running back, where Allentown has to replace workhorse Rahsaan Emory.
“Offensively we’re going to do a lot of the stuff the same,” Lachenmayer said. “I was mainly an offensive person while Jay was here, so we’re not completely throwing out what we’ve done on offense. Not having a back like Rahsaan or Joe Mannino … kind of that true bell cow back, definitely is going to change the way that we operate. But we have a lot of different guys that we feel comfortable with getting varsity carries.”