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The only thing that stopped Chukwuma Odoh on Friday night was a loose shoelace.
With a chance to help send his team back to a state final for the first time in nine years, Odoh exploded for 301 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 22 carries to lead Paramus Catholic, seeded second and ranked No. 13 in the NJ.com Top 20, to a 50-30 victory over third-seeded/No. 15 Red Bank Catholic in the NJSIAA/Xfinity Non-Public B semifinals on Friday in Paramus.
Odoh scored on runs of 7, 1 and 36 yards while averaging 13.7 yards per attempt, pacing a 382-yard ground attack by the Paladins that sent them to their first state championship game since 2016.
“It feels exciting. This is what I came here for and what I worked all summer for,” Odoh said. “I’m glad it finally came to life.”
Paramus Catholic will play top-seeded DePaul in the Non-Public B title game on Friday, Nov. 28 at 10 am at MetLife Stadium. DePaul defeated Holy Spirit 49-22 in the other semifinal game.
Odoh, a 6-foot, 210-pound back who can punish teams between the tackles and outrun them in the open field, had just 54 yards on 10 carries when Paramus Catholic beat Red Bank Catholic 30-16 on Oct. 17. He was just coming back from an injury at the time and wasn’t close to 100 percent healthy, however. Friday was his chance to show his true ability.
“I know I left a lot on the table last time, so I knew I had to get it back this game,” Odoh said. “And I definitely got it back.”
“He’s a big, strong kid who also runs an 11-flat 100, so when he pops it, it’s different,” Paramus Catholic head coach Greg Russo said. “The way the line was blocking and getting him to the second level, good luck tackling him. The only reason he didn’t score before the half was his shoe came off.”
Odoh broke a 63-yard run down to the Red Bank Catholic 10-yard line late in the half with Paramus Catholic (6-6) holding a 21-17 lead. He was caught from behind only because he ran right out of one of his cleats. RBC (11-2) ended up forcing an incomplete pass on fourth-and-goal on the final play of the half to keep its deficit at four points. The Caseys were set to receive the ball to begin the third quarter and had a chance to grab the momentum after trailing by double digits in the second quarter.
Instead, Paramus Catholic forced RBC to attempt a 49-yard field goal on the opening series of the third quarter. The kick by freshman standout Simon Picinich missed just wide to the right. On the first play after taking over, Odoh ripped off a 58-yard run to the RBC 22-yard line that set up his 1-yard touchdown run for a 28-17 lead.
After forcing RBC to go three-and-out on its next possession, Odoh scored on a dazzling 36-yard run to give the Paladins a commanding 35-17 lead early in the fourth quarter.
“That’s what I was most impressed with,” Russo said. “They scored before the half and then we had a chance to score but didn’t. A lot of teams, that’ll break them and they’ll play bad in the second half. We talk about the next play like every coach, but they went out and did it.”
“We’ve been preaching all year a next-play mentality,” Odoh said. “They were going to throw punches, we were going to throw punches. We just kept coming back, and they couldn’t handle us.”
Paramus Catholic scored on its first possession when sophomore quarterback Rowan Martin tossed a 37-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Nehki Martin. Red Bank Catholic responded on the second play of the second quarter when junior wide receiver Joe Egan was left wide open and freshman quarterback Rahmir Rivera found him for a 29-yard touchdown on 4th-and-four.
The Paladins had an immediate answer.
On second down, Martin threw a jump ball down the middle of the field for sophomore wideout AJ Lopez Jr. The 6-foot-1 receiver won the battle with an RBC defensive back and took it the rest of the way for a 79-yard touchdown and a 14-7 Paramus Catholic lead. A 41-yard field goal by Picinich cut the Caseys’ deficit to 14-10, but RBC’s defense had no answer for Odoh and the Paladins’ ground attack. He ran for 30 yards on first down to jump-start a 9-play, 80-yard scoring drive that concluded with his 7-yard touchdown run, putting Paramus Catholic ahead 21-10 with 2:57 left in the first half.
A personal foul against Paramus Catholic after the touchdown, which RBC elected to have enforced on the kickoff, gave the Caseys a short field on the ensuing possession. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on PC put the Caseys inside the 20, and two plays later Rivera connected with senior Dan Zabora for a 14-yard touchdown that cut Paramus Catholic’s lead to 21-17.
Paramus Catholic was unable to score after having first-and-goal from the 10 with just under a minute left in the half, but that ended up being only a speed bump. The defense came up with two key stops in the third quarter to allow an offense that has scored 113 points in two playoff games to do its thing.
“I feel like when our offense is going, we can’t be stopped,” Odoh said. “And our defense shows up when it’s time.”
Down 35-17 with 9:56 left in the fourth quarter, Red Bank Catholic drove 79 yards in two minutes to pull within nine points. Rivera scored on a 1-yard sneak on fourth-and-goal to make the score 35-24. The Caseys attempted an onside kick that Paramus Catholic recovered just shy of midfield.
On the next series, Paramus Catholic’s Achylles Dupont got loose for a 28-yard run on first down to set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Nehki Martin for a 42-24 lead.
Senior free safety Aiden Acevedo put the finishing touches on the victory with a 50-yard interception return for a touchdown, and Christopher Ventura ran in the 2-point conversion to extend the Paladins’ lead to 50-24.
RBC scored late on a 30-yard run by Luke Lonczack.
When Russo took over the Paramus Catholic program four years ago he inherited a group that had not won a game in two years. As a former Paladins standout and assistant coach, he knew what a return to glory would mean for the school community. Now, they’re one win from a state championship.
“These seniors came into this program when we hadn’t won a game in two years and there were 27 guys in the program,” Russo said. “So in four years to be going to MetLife, it’s a massive thing for them.
Paramus Catholic 50, Red Bank Catholic 30
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
|---|
| Red Bank Catholic (11-2) | 0 | 17 | 0 | 13 | 30 |
| Paramus Catholic (6-6) | 7 | 14 | 7 | 22 | 50 |
First quarter
Paramus Catholic: Nehki Martin 37-yard pass from Rowan Martin (James Bortnick kick), 8:59
Second quarter
Red Bank Catholic: Joe Egan 29-yard pass from Rahmir Rivera (Simon Picinich kick), 11:06
Paramus Catholic: AJ Lopez 79-yard pass from Rowan Martin (James Bortnick kick), 10:03
Red Bank Catholic: Simon Picinich 41-yard field goal, 6:55
Paramus Catholic: Chukwuma Odoh 7-yard run (James Bortnick kick), 2:57
Red Bank Catholic: Dan Zabora 14-yard pass from Rahmir Rivera (Simon Picinich kick), 1:17
Third quarter
Paramus Catholic: Chukwuma Odoh 1-yard run (James Bortnick kick)
Fourth quarter
Paramus Catholic: Chukwuma Odoh 36-yard run (James Bortnick kick)
Red Bank Catholic: Rahmir Rivera 1-yard run (Simon Picinich kick)
Paramus Catholic: Nehki Martin 3-yard run (James Bortnick kick)
Paramus Catholic: Aiden Acevedo 50-yard interception return (Christopher Ventura run)
Red Bank Catholic: Luke Lonczak 30-yard run (pass failed)
TEAM STATISTICS
| RBC | PC |
|---|
| First downs | 17 | 18 |
| Rushes-yards | 34-198 | 39-382 |
| Passing yards | 160 | 149 |
| Passes Comp.-Att.-Int. | 12-22-1 | 5-9-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| Punts-Average | 1-44 | 1-24 |
| Penalties-Yds | 6-40 | 6-70 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING - Red Bank Catholic: Gabe Kemp 26-126, Luke Lonczak 3-49, Rahmir Rivera 4-13, Joe Egan 1-10; Paramus Catholic: Chukwuma Odoh 22-301, Achylles Dupont 6-33, Rowan Martin 7-27, Nekhi Martin 3-18, Feury Diaz-Rinaldo 1-3.
PASSING - Red Bank Catholic: Rahmir Rivera 12-22-1 for 160 yards; Paramus Catholic: Rowan Martin 5-9-0 for 149 yards.
RECEIVING - Red Bank Catholic: Jason Berecsky 5-71, Joe Egan 1-29, Dan Zabora 2-24, TJ Walsh 2-21, Gabe Kemp 2-15; Paramus Catholic: AJ Lopez 1-79, Nehki Martin 3-58, Feury Diaz-Rinaldo 1-12.
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