Ocean City football uses passing attack to beat Mainland 27-21 in gritty game
LINWOOD – The Bridge Trophy went back over the bay to Ocean City. The Red Raider football team took down the Mainland Mustangs for the first time in three seasons.
Quarterback Jackson Becker and his receivers lit up the stat sheet with 280 yards through the air as Ocean City beat Mainland 27-21 Friday night, Sept. 25. The Raider win snapped a four-game losing streak to Mainland that included twice last season, one a lopsided playoff loss.
Becker afterwards admitted that it was not “just another game” against the Mustangs. “Last year left a bad taste in our mouth and I knew we had to come out this year and get it done,” he said. “It’s intense and this rivalry is definitely the best one around. They know us in and out and we know them in and out so it’s just who wants it more.”
“We’ve worked so hard since the summer and coming into this we knew it was going to be a dog fight,” receiver Columb Higgins said after a huge 8-catch, 152-yard game. “It’s a good rivalry and we got the best out of it today.”
Ocean City switched up their usual game plan of the ground game and attacked Mainland down the field with Higgins and fellow wideout Michael Marczyk.
The Raiders roared out to an early 14-0 lead that included a Becker touchdown run and Marczyk’s first time with the ball in his hands.
The senior showed how much he wanted this game over Mainland by turning a 3-yard pass into a 42-yard run down the field. He broke multiple tackles en route to the end zone,1 which elevated the already energetic Raider sideline to another level.
“Any time you beat a well-coached, great program like them, it’s a good day for us. It means a lot for our kids, and it means a lot to the community,” head coach Sean Matthews said.
Down by two touchdowns, the Mustangs showed their own grit. Lucas DeBiaso led the way for Mainland on both sides of the ball to get his team back in the game.
Mainland dialed up the pressure on Becker and found success rushing his passes, eventually sacking him five times. DeBiaso’s two sacks in the first half gave Mainland great field position, which he took advantage of himself at running back.
DeBiaso and quarterback Crew Russo took turns running the ball straight up the middle of the Raider defense for 11 straight plays. Five first downs later Russo ran in a 13-yard touchdown in his first action in the rivalry. After a blocked extra point by Aaron Desch, Mainland quickly got the ball back after another sack but was forced to punt with only two minutes left in the half. Ocean City, however, failed to hang onto the punt and watched as the loose football fell into the hands of the Mustangs 18 yards away from a potential tie football game.
Sophomore Ryder Watson got the first carry after the huge turnover and wasted no time. He ran the 18 yards right through the defense on the first play. Russo completed the two-point conversion with a pass to Jacob Guerrieri.
Suddenly, the game was tied at 14-14 with halftime closing in.
Ocean City moved quickly down the field thanks to a couple of long catches by Higgins and set up one chance at the end zone before halftime. Higgins caught the ball leaping in the back of the end zone and almost got a foot down for the touchdown, but ended up out of bounds.
“They came back and punched us in the mouth and evened things up and we had to respond,” Matthews said. “So it was a nothing-nothing game.”
In the second half, Mainland kept up the momentum on defense with two sacks by Leo Morales and forced a long Raider fourth down.
Becker found a wide-open Higgins in the end zone for the go-ahead score on fourth down to put Ocean City back in the driver’s seat. Higgins knew he was open immediately and threw his hand up. Becker saw him and delivered.
Higgins made another fourth-and-long conversion two drives later that resulted in a touchdown run by Cole Garreffi. Garreffi ran the ball 17 times in the game for 72 yards and a touchdown that effectively sealed it.
Matthews credited the second-half surge to slight adjustments in pass protection at halftime.
“We were able to make that adjustment on the O-line during the second half and those guys executed extremely well. (Mainland defensive coordinator) Coach (Tim) Watson likes to bring a ton of pressure, so we were able to keep guys in and stay clean,” he said.
Down 27-14 with four minutes remaining, the Mustang offense made a push. Russo led the offense right down the field with his arm and legs and capped the drive off with a five-yard touchdown pass. With time running out and down six points, the Mustangs lined up for an onside kick, hoping for a miracle finish, but the kick went out of bounds. Ocean City was able to run out the clock by taking a knee.
The 1-4 Mustangs have had growing pains this year with a new lineup of young players getting meaningful playing time. Their next game will be a matchup against Atlantic City High School at home on Oct. 2. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. in the Mustang Corral.
The 4-1 Raiders will have a little more time before their next game with an unusual Saturday morning home game against Oakcrest High School. Ocean City will have early alarm clocks with kickoff set at 10 a.m. Oct. 3.
–STORY by WILLIAM TRUITT/For the Sentinel
– PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
