Football team scores early and often in Battle at the Beach Aug. 27
OCEAN CITY – Football season could not come fast enough for quarterback Jackson Becker and the Ocean City Red Raiders. It was a long summer of anticipation for the new and improved Raider squad.
The sixth annual Battle at the Beach at Ocean City High School was the Raiders’ first taste of the fresh season that saw the offense score six touchdowns in a 39-0 shutout of Princeton High School Aug. 27. Becker accounted for five total scores off 236 combined yards as Ocean City won its fourth straight Battle at the Beach game.
“The first game is always exciting,” Becker said. “Every day we were putting in work in the weight room and on the field. We have been working on this for a while.”
It did not take long for the Raiders’ offseason work to be put on display. Senior Jake Chapman sacked the Princeton quarterback on the first drive of the game to force a punt.
Pressure created by Chapman on the following Princeton drive led to a fumble recovered by fellow senior Joe Pancoast, which set the offense up five yards away from the end zone.
“We were hungry for this and it means a lot,” Chapman said. “I believe we can be that breakout team. We have strong leaders with a good quarterback and O-line. We maybe aren’t the biggest team, but we have a lot of good players.”
Becker, on the first play after the fumble, found one of his new receivers, Michael Marczyk, for the touchdown. The dominant start was one of second-year head coach Sean Matthews’ biggest takeaways from the game, noting how last year the Raiders’ slow starts ended up costing them down the stretch.
“Getting off to a fast start is something that we have sort of struggled with in the past, so it was nice to see that differ today,” Matthews said. “We came out and played our brand of football early and dictated the first quarter. Coming out of the gates the way we did was a great way to start the season.”
Chapman needed only the first half to stuff the stat sheet with 2.5 sacks along with two tackles for loss that held Princeton to seven straight drives without a first down to open the game.
The extra possessions were eaten up by a new face in the Ocean City backfield, Cole Garreffi. The junior rushed for 83 yards and scored his first touchdown of his career to put the Raiders up 13-0.
With the run game established, Becker showed off some of what he and his receivers had been working on in the offseason. The QB attacked the middle of the field and found Marczyk again for a 38-yard touchdown pass.
“Jackson has come a long way in such a short amount of time,” Matthews said. “He is making a lot of great decisions, and he will be the first one to say that he’s not making good decisions. The successes he had today are great and we are going to keep building off them.”
Becker built upon the lead with a huge run behind his offensive linemen that opened the path to Ocean City’s fourth touchdown in four drives.
“We have a whole new group of receivers, but they have been working and all of those guys are dogs,” Becker said. “Columb Higgins is huge on the outside along with Chase Dessicino and Joe Pancoast. I can’t forget Mike Marczyk, who had two touchdowns today.”
Garreffi is the only Raider who caught a pass from Becker last season after a large group of skill position players graduated in the spring. Pancoast, who played mostly defense last season, picked up more snaps at wide receiver where he and Becker made an immediate connection with two touchdowns alongside Marczyk.
After the game, Matthews selected the entire offensive line as the Battle at the Beach MVP as Becker later fully agreed that “his guys” earned the recognition.
Aron Desch converted the extra point with his kicks after three of the touchdowns. Two run attempts for extra points failed. Becker finished with 70 yards rushing and 166 passing.
Ocean City will be back at Carey Stadium on Thursday night against the reigning Group III state champion Cedar Creek High School. The Raiders were responsible for one of Cedar Creeks’ two losses last season after Ocean City made a walk-off field goal in overtime to upset the eventual champions 20-17 and send Ocean City to the postseason.
This year’s game with two very different versions of those teams will be on Sept 3. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.
– STORY by WILLIAM TRUITT/For the Sentinel
– PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel and Cape May Star and Wave staff
