James Monroe is back in the football playoffs this season for the first time since 2017.
A big reason the Mavericks are playoff bound has been the opportunistic play of their defense.
One of the key components for the stingy Mavericks defense has been junior defensive back Eli Allen who has recorded six interceptions on the season.
“Our defense, I guess you could say, has been our strong point this year,” Allen said. “We have some good defensive backs and lineman. We haven’t given up a lot of passing yards”.
“I was tickled to death he decided to come out this year. He has done a lot for us on the defensive side,” James Monroe head coach John Mustain said.
Over his first two years of high school, Allen has been known for his exploits on the basketball court.
After averaging over 12 points per game a freshman, Allen averaged 17 points per game last year to help the Mavericks compile a 17-2 record, earning first-team all-state honors along the way.
During the fall, however, Allen had played soccer instead of football with basketball conditioning in mind.
“The two years I didn’t play football, I played soccer to stay in shape and give me something to do. This year it started off that I was going to play soccer again,” Allen said. “Seeing my buddies playing football, I kinda missed it when I saw them on the field. I wanted to be out there with them.”
A key factor in Allen’s decision to play football had to do with a his body size. A four-inch growth spurt going into his sophomore season has Allen now standing at 6-foot-2 and 160 pounds.
“Being smaller was a big part of why I didn’t play football earlier. I was only about 5-8 then I jumped up to 6-2. I was also in the weight room more, so I was feeling confident that I wouldn’t get knocked around,” Allen said.
Allen comes by his athletic ability naturally being the son of Rodney Allen. The elder Allen played football and baseball for West Virginia University and spent about eight years playing minor league baseball.
“Yeah, I guess you could say he was a great athlete. I can give him a run for his money though,” Eli said, playfully. “We always talk smack back and forth to each other. He has been there every day and every game. He has been pushing me the whole time. He got us started in basketball around fourth grade.”
Making the playoffs has been an added bonus for Allen in regards to his decision to return to football. However, the playoffs seemed far away for James Monroe to start the season.
“We are a young team. We have several seniors playing, but we also have a bunch of sophomores and freshman playing. There was some talk in the school that we weren’t going to any good,” Allen said. “After we lost that first game to Sherman, there were some doubts, but we were missing our best running back, Cooper (Ridgeway). After that we started rolling.”
After his sophomore season was cut short on the basketball court in a stunning upset in the regional co-final, Allen takes nothing for granted in the postseason.
In its first round playoff game this year, No. 7 rated James Monroe will host No. 10-rated Trinity Christian (7-2) Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
“Losing that regional game last year really hurt. It has given us motivation for this year, but we take nothing for granted,” Allen said. “It’s going to be a really tough game Saturday. We are not sleeping on them at all.”
