3A CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: Alozie highlights Trojan defense

STJ defender A.J. Alozie transferred from the Montgomery magnet program to play football with the Trojans. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

When AJ Alozie took the St. James’ practice field for the first time as a sophomore in 2020, he envisioned a team that could be very special in 2022.11.30

“When we came in our sophomore year, a lot of us got thrown into the fire and we didn’t even have a driver’s license,” Alozie recalled. “Some of us were still getting taken to school. My sophomore year, I saw it. We were losing a lot, we went 7-4, but I saw the hunger in their eyes and the determination to get better and better and better.”

Fast forward two years later and the Trojans (12-2) are playing Piedmont (12-2) for the 3A state championship in Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium on Thursday at 11 a.m.

For Piedmont, a team that has reached the finals six times in the last eight years, it’s an annual goal.

“This is a team that’s been there a lot of times,” Alozie said. “I just love the challenge. Us seniors, we’ve been talking about it. We just want the another chance to play football again. We know this is our last chance and we want to go out with a bang.”

For St. James, a team that only reached the quarterfinals twice in the school’s history, it’s a historic event.

“One thing that puts a smile on my face is the support around the school,” Alozie said. “Everybody is saying they’re going to the game, they’re wishing us luck, they’re on our side. That means a lot to have our St. James family behind us.”

Alozie got that feeling four years ago when he arrived as a freshman from Baldwin Arts and Academics Magnet School. He would have gone to LAMP --- a school that doesn’t have a football program -- so he considered Pike Road, where he would be immediately eligible, or St. James, where he would have to sit out a year to comply with Alabama High School Athletic Association transfer rules.

“I was about to go to Pike Road,” Alozie said. “I ended up coming to St. James and really falling in love with the program. That first year, I had to sit out and I was really debating on whether I wanted to sit out or play right away. But when I got here, I fell in love with the coaching staff with Coach (Jimmy) Perry, Coach (Jeff) Corley, Coach (Neal) Posey and I really love it here.”

 Alozie worked on both sides of the ball -- he plays tight end on offense -- but is one of those rare Trojans that plays on one side of the ball. As a defensive end, he is the top tackler among defensive linemen with 73 stops and the leader in tackles for loss, including 6.5 sacks.

“Playing defense is fun,” Alozie said. “I love getting in there, sticking my nose in there, rushing the passer, getting sacks, causing a ruckus on the field. That’s the one thing even my parents say about me, that I love disrupting stuff.”

Head coach Jimmy Perry loves the attitude Alozie brings to practice every day.

“What a great kid,” he said. “He hustles. He wants to do so good so bad. He’s one of those kids who doesn’t want to be told how good he’s doing, he wants to be told how he can be better. And that’s the difference between a good player and a great player.”

Alozie is part of a group that will be key for the Trojans in the championship game. St. James traditionally rotates five players -- Alozie, Jake Streeton, Cooper Wright, Connor Owens and Taylor Hester -- among the front four, a group that will be tested early and often by Piedmont’s offense and its record-setting quarterback Jack Hayes, the state’s all-time leading passer in career total yards and the only player in high school history to have accounted for more than 200 total touchdowns in a career.

“He’s got to tackle Jack Hayes,” Perry said. “He’s the all-time quarterback leader in any category and that dude can run it and run it hard.”

The message for St. James’ players this week -- as it is for any team playing in the Super 7 -- is to focus on doing your job. Alozie has studied game film. He knows his job.

“I’m just trying to box him in and contain him,” the Trojan senior said. “My goal is to not let him have all day to throw the ball, to get pressure on him as fast as I can. If he hands the ball to the running back, then my guys on the inside have him. But if he keeps it, it’s just me and him.”