By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
MAYS LANDING — In a nearly flawless performance, the Ocean City Red Raiders football team defeated the Oakcrest Falcons 48-0 on Friday night in Mays Landing.
Quarterback Joe Repetti threw four touchdown passes — three to wide receiver Jake Schneider and another to tight end Brad Jamison — Jacob Wilson ran for two scores and Elijah Cochran capped off the scoring with a 2-yard run in the second half.
“We’ve got the ability this year to both run and pass as completely as we’ve been able to do since I’ve been head coach,” Kevin Smith said. “It just seems like some years we can throw it really well but our ground game isn’t as strong and other years it’s the opposite. But I think this year we can do both fairly equally, so I think it makes us tough to defend.”
Smith said Repetti gets two or three run/pass options and decides at the line which one to go with.
“When we had the numbers advantage inside, we ran the ball and when they brought the safety down and tried to load things up, we were able to throw it. It’s nice to be able to take what the defense is giving you,” he said. “When he first started out last year as a junior, we would signal which one we wanted him to do. But now he’s so experienced and is a smart kid that we just let him do it on his own.”
It’s no easy task, Smith explained.
“There’s a lot of mental stuff going on there. The kid’s got to be able to process information fast and then execute it, and Joe does a great job,” he said.
Repetti was pleased with the team’s performance.
“We got out of the gate fast and didn’t take our foot off the pedal the entire game,” Repetti said. “We did everything we could do to put them away quickly and leave no doubt who the victor was going to be.”
Playing down the lopsided victory a bit, Smith said Oackrest has all young players with only three starters returning from last year. By contrast, Ocean City is senior-heavy and fell just short of winning the West Jersey Football League championship last year.
“We got off to a really good start and did what we had to do,” Smith said. “I was happy with our execution — we didn’t get sloppy. Fundamentally I thought we blocked and tackled well — you always want to look for those things.”
The defense also showed up to play, consistently getting pressure on Oakcrest quarterback Nissim Respes, intercepting the ball in the end zone, recovering a fumble and allowing only four first downs — one in the first quarter and the other three on the Falcons’ final drive. Michael Rhodes, Zach Mazzitelli and Jimmy Pacifico registered sacks.
“I thought our front seven on defense going into the season would be the strength of the team and so far that has proven to be the case. They are doing a great job. The front four guys are controlling the line of scrimmage and the linebackers are doing a great job running to the ball and making plays. I’ve been really happy about that,” Smith said.
A strong front seven makes life easier on the secondary.
“They can focus a little bit more on defending the pass. They don’t have to get too nosey as run defenders,” Smith said.
A missed extra point and an early fumble were the only hiccups in an otherwise perfect performance.
Oakcrest received the ball first, going three and out after gaining just 2 yards.
Ocean City quickly went to work, with Repetti running for 12 yards before hitting Schneider with a short pass. The speedy wide receiver turned on the jets and ran 29 yards to pay dirt. Place kicker Brendan McGonigle missed the extra point.
“I caught it and got up the field. Joe made a great read and just threw it to me,” Schneider said, adding that offensive coordinator Paul Callahan “designs great plays and lets me get open.”
The Falcons then took over at their own 36-yard line after a 20-yard return. On second down, Respes dropped back and threw long down the field, getting decked by Mike Gray in the process. The ball fell incomplete and, after a short pass completion, Oakcrest punted again.
Schneider, who is a threat in all three phases of the game, returned the ball to the 18-yard line, setting the Red Raiders up with a short field.
Schneider said he watches a lot of film and has a great coach in John Bow, who returned punts for the University of Kentucky.
“He teaches us a lot about the return game,” Schneider said. “You have to look for an opening and get through it, then turn on the speed right away.”
Repetti ran for 10 yards before a running back fumbled on the next play.
Oakcrest started its next drive from the 7-yard line, with running back CJ Hamler picking up the Falcons’ only first down of the first half on a 12-yard run. A fumbled handoff on the next play ended the drive.
Ocean City then took over with a short field, and Repetti connected with Schneider for a 12-yard touchdown on first down. The extra point by McGonigle made it 13-0.
Repetti said his connection with Schneider is special.
“He always runs great routes and is in position to catch the ball. About every time I look at him he’s always open. He’s super fast and gets behind defenses and is a great football player,” Repetti said, adding that they are “pretty tight” off the field as well.
The Falcons started their next drive from the 29-yard line, running twice for no gain before Rhodes stuffed Respes, forcing a punt.
A short kick out of bounds set the Red Raiders up at Oakcrest’s 42-yard line. Running back Jake Inserra picked up 15 yards on two runs before Wilson took it to the house from 27 yards out. McGonigle made it 20-0 with 2:15 left in the first quarter.
On the ensuing kickoff, Charley Cossaboone made a bone-jarring hit on Falcons returner Shamar Gonzalez. Zack Mazzitelli then sacked Respes before a 1-yard pass and an incompletion ended the drive.
The second quarter began with Ocean City at its own 44-yard line. A short pass got the Red Raiders to the 50-yard line and Repetti hit Schneider on the next play for a 50-yard touchdown pass. The extra point made it 27-0.
“Those guys are so familiar with each other and they have a good idea about what the other is going to do. I think we saw that on the third touchdown pass, which was a 4-vertical route. Joe saw the alignment of the safety before the snap and I think Jake saw it too, and they both understood that Joe was going to be able to look the safety off and come back to Jake, and Jake did a nice job staying on his landmark on his route. That was a pretty play,” Smith said.
Oakcrest’s woes would continue on the next drive, which started at the 17-yard line. A false start backed the Falcons up to the 12 before Rhodes sacked Respes at the 4-yard line. An incomplete pass on third and 18 forced another punt.
Ocean City again started with a short field from Oakcrest’s 45-yard line. Running back Sean Mazzitelli ran for 12 yards and Repetti picked up 32 on the ground before Wilson pounded it in from the 1-yard line. McGonigle made it 34-0.
The Falcons started the next drive from their own 26-yard line. They ran for no gain and threw incomplete before Rhodes and Gray got in the backfield, forcing a fumble that Oakcrest recovered.
Ocean City was back in action from midfield, with Repetti hitting wide receiver Gavin Parto for 26 yards. Wilson ran for 12, Mazzitelli ran for 3 and Repetti picked up 2 on the ground before hitting Jamison in the end zone for a touchdown. McGonigle’s extra point made it 41-0.
Starting at its own 27-yard line, Oakcrest picked up 7 on a run by Respes before Pacifico sacked him for a 6-yard loss. The Falcons picked up another 4 yards on the ground before having to punt again.
The Red Raiders received the ball first in the second half, with quarterback Riley Gunnels taking over for Repetti.
Ocean City kept the ball on the ground for the entire drive, with Jack Hoag picking up 21, Cochran running for 14, Inserra carrying for 18 and Gunnels collecting 6 before Cochran took it in from 2 yards out. McGonigle made it 48-0 with 7:35 remaining in the third quarter.
Smith said one thing he was really pleased with was the play of the second team and backups.
“I thought they did a nice job executing and everything as well. I don’t feel like the level of play fell off significantly,” Smith said.
Repetti said Ocean City’s high-powered offense is always ready to play.
“We are going to try to put up as many points as we can each week. We will face tougher teams down the road but we will fight as hard as we have to to come out on top,” he said.
Oakcrest picked up its second first down of the game on the next drive, with Hamler running for 13 yards against Ocean City’s second-team defense. Respes threw 5 yards to Gonzalez, who was quickly greeted with a hard hit by Micco Dawkins.
On the Falcons’ best play of the game, just before getting hammered, Respes tossed the ball to running back Deen Jones on the option play for a 28-yard gain. The quarterback then ran for 18 yards to the Red Raiders’ 12-yard line, threatening to score and spoil the shutout.
But the defense wasn’t having it as cornerback Timmy Waller picked off a pass 2 yards deep in the end zone and returned it out to Ocean City’s 42-yard line.
“We’ve got much bigger challenges coming up in the next couple of weeks so we are going to have to keep playing well to be successful,” Smith said.
Ocean City improved to 2-0, averaging 48.5 points a game in its first two contests. The Red Raiders next play at noon Saturday at Cedar Creek High School.