2024 Season Preview: A.P. Randolph Cougars Eye PSAL 3A Championship

After finishing with a 6-2 record and making all the way to the PSAL’s Division 2A Conference finals against South Shore, a game in which A. Philip Randolph Campus High School lost, 42-28, the Cougars are looking ahead to another highly successful season.

Now moving up to the Division 3A Conference, A. P. Randolph head coach Eric Perlowitz said the mission is still the same: win and win. He said his boys are inspired and hungry.

“This team is still stinging from last season’s championship loss,” Perlowitz said. “They want to get back to where they were last year. They’re using that as motivation, for sure.”

Perlowitz likes their title chances, saying the Cougars did not lose many players, and the younger ones are primed and prepared to jump right into the fray, making them a contender.

The 2024 A. P. Randolph team is similar to 2022 squad that captured the B Division Conference crown due to their skill and cohesiveness, Perlowitz noted.

“We only graduated five to six starters,” he stated. “A lot of the guys coming know the system. Our depth, we’re going to be on the younger side, but we’re going to be dangerous. This team reminds me of the 2022 group. They’re all in. It’s nice to see.”

At the top of the Cougars’ talent list is rising junior Travis Gamble, a gifted two-way player, whom high school insiders consider one of the top New York City football players. The 5-foot-8, 165-pounder has garnered ample recruiting recognition. That is because of what Gamble brings to football table, Perlowitz said.

Gamble rushed for 563 yards and 10 touchdowns on 60 carries in eight regular season PSAL games and added 477 yards and five TDs on 50 touches in three playoff contests. Also, he tacked on 427 receiving yards and 15 receptions with six scores during the year and five catches,115 yards and a touchdown in the postseason.

“All the attention is well deserved,” Perlowitz said of Gamble. “It’s hard to think he is going into his junior year. He is a pleasure to coach. He is never content of where is at now.

“He came to us as a defensive player (in the secondary), but we converted him into a running back as well,” he continued. “He had over 2,000 all-purpose yards last year.”

Another highly gifted player is rising senior GMaryah Mnahsheh, a 5-foot-9, 155-pound wide receiver/safety who is picking up football recruiting steam, according to Perlowitz.

“He’s final starting to get the attention he deserves,” Perlowitz said of Mnahsheh. “He’s kind of a jack of all trades. He’s a tremendous leader.”

As for the two standouts, Perlowitz could not stop singing their praises, despite their lack of size.

“Pound for pound, they may not be as big as other high school (recruited players) in the country,” he attested. “But they’re as good as any of the players.”

Rising senior Jaden Padilla will provide the team with another option in its running attack.

With last season’s starting quarterback Jaden Haly taken an extra year at Myrtle Beach Prep, rising sophomore Emmanuel Opoku is ready to slide right in under center and excel, Perlowitz noted.

“He is pretty unknown to the rest of the city, but not us,” Perlowitz said of Opoku. “He backed up Jaden last year. The rest of the PSAL doesn’t know him (right now) at the beginning of the year, but they will at the end. I have all the confidence in the world (in him). I have no reason to believe he’ll be anything but great for us.”

Opoku cannot only fling the pigskin. He is also a solid rusher and expectational field general, per Perlowitz.

“Manny is a true dual threat,” he said. “He’s got good instincts. He’ll have a lot of support around him. He, himself, is a hell of a leader, too.”

Perlowitz foresees A. P. Randolph being strong up front on the offensive and defensive lines due to a new addition and other formidable linemen.

“We’re definitely bigger up front than we were last year,” the sixth-year gridiron coach at the Manhattan school said. “We have a few starters that stick out on the line.”

One such standout is Donte Rhoden, a 6-foot-2, 230-pound Archbishop Stepinac High School transfer who plays defensive end/offensive line. Plus, returning two-way seniors Aiden Scriba, who mans the right side of the O-line, and Roddrick Vivieca, who is situated on the left, among other linemen.

With Gamble and Mnahsheh entrenched in the Cougars’ secondary, rising sophomores Zahaire Jones and Isaac Suazo will slot right in at the corner spots. They have earned their coach’s confidence after learning the ropes on the lower level.

“The two sophomores are tremendous football players who are growing into their bodies,” Perlowitz said. “I brough them up after their JV seasons (last year). These kids are football players. They can be, and will be, (lockdown corners. They’re well on their way.”

According to Perlowitz, “We think it’s one of the better secondaries in the league, if not the city.”

As A. P. Randolph reloaded and gained a year of experience, Perlowitz was not shy when it came to title talk, but he said talk is cheap.

“Our goal is to win a championship,” he said. “I see our team will be a tough team to beat, but we have to walk the walk.”

The Cougars open up the 2024 PSAL campaign on Saturday, August 31st with a non-league tilt against host JFK.

— Jerry Del Priore

Photos Courtesy of ShotbyLJay.