GLASSBORO – The Ocean City Red Raiders are back in the playoffs after wrapping up the regular season with a trip to Glassboro High School Oct. 22.
It was not the end to a long regular season the Raiders were looking for as they fell to the Glassboro Bulldogs 42-0 and finished with a 6-3 record. On the road against a highly ranked 8-1 team, the Raiders got everything they could handle, and head coach Sean Matthews made sure to reiterate his belief in his team.
“I’m proud of our kids and I’ll continue to say that no one in our community can do what these kids do,” Matthews said. “Our kids were all fight and no quit tonight and every night. We are not proud of the final score but it’s a loss that we can learn from and continue to get better.”
Matthews’s team worked all season long to reach the playoffs and now have it all come down to one-game seasons. The Raiders’ 6-3 record was good enough to earn them the third seed in the Group III Central Jersey bracket and at least one home game in the postseason.
The first game for Ocean City will be against Pleasantville High School for a local matchup in the quarterfinals. Pleasantville finished its regular season with a 4-5 record and will be coming off a big win over Delsea High School to ensure it made the playoffs.
The two schools have not met since the 2023 Battle at the Beach in which Ocean City won 14-6. Pleasantville now sports an efficient running game that has carried the team to the postseason with two players over 600 yards on the ground. Kickoff from Carey Stadium is set for 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30.
Luckily for Ocean City, Pleasantville and any team in their bracket will not have offensive deep threats as scary as Glassboro that fields two Division I wide receivers.
Glassboro quarterback Charlie Foulke had a big 300-yard game against Ocean City, making full use of his two weapons on the outside.
Senior Xavier Sabb is committed to the University of Oregon next fall and showed off his breakaway speed with a two-catch game for 104 yards and two touchdowns. Sabb is a top five recruit in all of New Jersey and has already committed to playing big time college football in Oregon.
Across the formation opposite of Sabb is Mekhi Parker, who has offers across the country for the 2028 season. Against Ocean City, Parker used his all of his 6’4” frame to haul in three touchdowns and rack up 113 yards.
The Raiders were put into a 30-0 hole at halftime as a result of the duo’s efforts. Jake Chapman and the Ocean City defensive line put pressure on Foulke to throw him off his spot, but he bought himself enough time to find either of his receivers.
Chapman did not record a sack in the game and finished the regular season with 7.5. His career sack total at Ocean City of 19.5 is only two sacks away from breaking the school record of 21 set by Ernie Nelson in 1998. Chapman will have at least one more game to try to break the record and help Ocean City stack wins in the postseason.
“We’re going to build off the good things that we did tonight and of course look at and fix the things that didn’t go right,” Matthews said. “It always comes down to the fundamentals, and we will make sure were a little bit more sound on all facets.”
On offense, the Raiders’ run game looked improved from a week prior against Holy Spirit with the bell cow running back Cole Garreffi leading the group. The junior was a driving force for Ocean City with over 100 carries this season for nearly 600 yards.
Glassboro also did a good job keeping Jackson Becker’s deep passes to a minimum. The Raiders have leaned on the explosive plays Becker and his receivers have created all season, but the opportunities were rare last week.
Ocean City will have full week to prepare for Pleasantville and figure out how to get Becker and Garreffi back into a sustainable rhythm.
– By WILLIAM TRUITT/For the Sentinel