Ex-Newark running back knows patience pays off

Ose Imeokparia was overshadowed by teammates, three of whom earned Division I scholarships, during his senior football season at Newark High.

But coach Butch Simpson felt the running back’s emergence “finalized that team,” which went unbeaten through the regular season before a state final loss to Middletown.

“He was kind of a late arrival,” said Simpson, who’d seen Imeokparia zip for 201 rushing yards on just 14 carries in a 43-35 state semifinal win over Salesianum. “Everything was late blossoming for him.”

The same goes for his college career. Yellowjackets teammates David Grinnage and Xavier Griffin signed with North Carolina State, with Griffin later landing at North Carolina A&T instead. Another Newark teammate, Taylor Reynolds, headed to James Madison.

Imeokparia, who received plenty of Division II and III attention while making third-team All-State, sensed he could also play at the Division I level. He felt a year of prep school was the proper path, and it got him to his planned destination.

Now a red-shirt freshman at Sacred Heart, which visits Delaware Saturday at 3:30 p.m., Imeokparia’s talents are again eclipsed by others. As the No. 3 running back behind a pair of seniors – Payton Award candidate Keshaudas Spence and Sean Bell – Imeokparia’s time will come, said third-year Sacred Heart coach Mark Nofri.

“The kid’s got a lot of ability,” Nofri said. “He’s very fast. He’s athletic. He’s done a great job in the offseason. I think he’s put on 10 pounds already. He does a good job for us on some special teams. We get him some touches here and there but it’s kind of hard when you have those two seniors who are doing a great job. I think the kid’s got a huge upside and I think he’ll be good down the road . . . He’s just a great person to have on our team.”

The 5-foot-10, 180-pound Imeokparia, whose family lives in New Castle, has 17 yards on eight rushing attempts and a 22-yard kickoff return this season.

After graduating from Newark, Imeokparia spent a year at Northfield Mount Hermon in Massachusetts, where he played running back, wide receiver, cornerback and returned kicks. He was directed there by Jim Stone, who had coached Imeokparia’s older brother, Ed, at Blair Academy in New Jersey.

“I thought it was the best way for me because I wanted to get more exposure and more prepared before I went to a four-year college,” said Imeokparia, who went by the first name “Jordan” in high school but now prefers his given name, “Osedebamen.”

“That’s just how things happen,” he added, referring to not getting Division I attention at Newark. “Everything happens for a reason. I would go back and do it again because I’m happy where I am now.”

Imeokparia was also state Division I 400-meter champion in outdoor track as a Newark senior in 2012, running a 48.76. He was also sixth in the 100 (11.26) and third in the 200 (22.31).

“He was one of the most industrious high school players I’ve ever been around in that he made every phone call, every email, sending of his film,” Simpson said of Imeokparia’s prep school search. “I mean, I’m getting calls from all over the country. They’re saying ‘Coach, Jordan Imeokparia, tell me something about him. From New England to the Midwest.’ I’d say ‘Coach, how do you know about him?’ And he’d say, ‘He contacted us.’

“He kept analyzing and analyzing and search and searching,” Simpson added of Imeokparia’s prep school quest, which wasn’t based on academics, in which he did well, but in his desire for a Division I scholarship.

It paid off. Several Division I FCS programs offered scholarships after the prep year, including Monmouth, which had taken notice when he was at Newark but didn’t have scholarships available. Sacred Heart, a Northeast Conference member located in Fairfield, Connecticut, fit best.

“I had faith all the way,” Imeokparia said. “Everything’s not going to go your way. I was fine with that. I had faith in my ability. It worked out for me going the prep route. When I came [to Sacred Heart] on my visit, everything just seemed right. They treated me like family. The guys on the team, we just clicked.

“Now, I’m trying to do whatever I can to help out the team.”

Imeokparia relishes the chance to play in Delaware Stadium, where he helped the Gold beat the Blue in the 2012 DFRC All-Star Game.

Delaware’s concerns center on the 5-foot-10, 235-pound Spence, already Sacred Heart’s all-time leading rusher with 3,254 career yards. He has 289 this year, five fewer than quarterback R.J. Noel. They operate behind an offensive line that starts four seniors and a junior.

The Blue Hens are 112th nationally in rushing defense (258.0 ypg).

“The back’s a good player,” Delaware coach Dave Brock said of Spence. “If you try to take away the back, the quarterback’s a good player. They can win one-on-ones if you try to match up and load the box and just play one-on-one football on the perimeter. So we’ll have to do a good job there defensively and continue to tackle better. We did that for a week and we need to do it now for a second week.”

Hen scratch

Senior strong safety C.J. Jones will miss Saturday’s because of an injury, Brock said. Simba Gwashavanhu will likely step in . . . Also on the Sacred Heart roster is true freshman linebacker Matt Boylan, a Middletown resident who played at Caravel. Boylan was bidding for playing time before being sidelined by a concussion . . . While he has begun to practice some, senior DE Laith Wallschleger, attempting to return from reconstructive knee surgery last fall, is still not ready for game duty . . . Delaware red-shirt freshman defensive tackle Blaine Woodson is first in the CAA and sixth nationally in FCS with 1.25 sacks per game . . . Former UD athletic director Edgar Johnson will be honorary captain Saturday . . . Delaware has won 22 straight nonconference home games, including NCAA playoffs.

Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @kevintresolini.