Ocean City faces Hammonton in opening round
HAMMONTON — Spectators got their money’s worth in the last game of the regular season as the Ocean City Red Raiders played in their best game of 2023 in a 24-21 win over the Hammonton Blue Devils thanks to big plays and a game-winning field goal.
In a must-win game for the Raiders’ playoff hopes, Ryder Hay delivered a 30-yarder as time expired. The senior kicker was gifted the ball deep in opposing territory thanks to a weird punt by Hammonton in the fourth quarter.
Throughout the game, each team traded punches with neither of them ever backing down.
“That was exciting,” Ocean City head coach Kevin Smith said after the game. “Two good football teams playing their hearts out. There were a ton of big plays, and we just made the biggest one at the end.”
“This game was a roller coaster. We knew it was going to be a dog fight. We knew we had to come out fighting and work together as a team,” senior wide receiver Jon Moyer said.
Ocean City ended the regular season 3-5 by winning two out of their last three games. They will face the Blue Devils again Friday night in the first round of the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV playoffs. Kickoff is 6 p.m. in Hammonton.
The Blue Devils struck first as they almost immediately broke off a 50-yard run for a touchdown. However, a holding call took the score off the board and backed the offense up 10 yards. It did not seem to bother Hammonton, as the then scored a 60-yard touchdown on the next play. The Raiders were in a quick 7-0 deficit and needed to respond.
A positive Ocean City drive drained most of the clock in the first quarter before being turned away by a sack.
Outside of the two big plays at the start of the game, the Raider defense was stout all night long and were tested often.
After a Raider punt went astray, Hammonton got the ball on the Raider 35-yard line. But the defense held strong, not giving up a first down and forcing a turnover on downs.
All season Ocean City has relied on senior running back Duke Guenther and the rushing attack to generate offense. Their first scoring drive of the game had Guenther run the ball 10 times as he imposed his will on the defense. After seven minutes of game clock passed, Guenther scored his first touchdown of the night to tie the game at 7-7
The Raiders dominated the time of possession in the first half and held the Hammonton offense to only 7 points.
Another forced punt by the Raider defense to start the second half set up the offense for a big play of its own.
A bad handoff put the Raiders in a third-and-long situation as Hammonton started to clamp down on their rushing plays.
But quarterback Walker Bailey found a solution as he threw a pass over the middle of the field to a wide-open Guenther, who took it to the house. The 51-yard touchdown pass put Ocean City ahead 13-7 and the sideline was buzzing with excitement.
Hammonton was ready to take the lead as they marched down the field to the Ocean City 11-yard line, but junior Joey Berardis made a huge stop and recovered a fumble in the end zone, stopping Hammonton in its tracks and preserving the six-point lead.
Ocean City’s offense would slow down in the second half after Guenther started to cramp up and penalties forced the team into third-and-long situations.
The crazy fourth quarter featured 25 points and three lead changes after Hammonton struck quickly with another long pass. It set up a 1-yard touchdown run to put the Blue Devils up 14-13.
Guenther went down with another injury with six minutes left in the game and had to leave for a play. That one play is all Moyer and Roy Salugta needed.
On third down with the leading scorer for the team on the sideline, Salugta set up a perfect block for Moyer as he sprinted down the field 78 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. The Raider sideline erupted as Moyer ran down the sideline. Guenther re-entered the game and converted the two-point conversion to give the Raiders the lead at 21-14.
“We were trying to get Jon the ball and they were doing a great job taking him away,” Smith said. “They were doubling him, so we figured, hey, why not hand the ball off to him.”
Everyone on the Raider sideline was bursting with energy but Hammonton was not going down easily. On the following kickoff return, the Blue Devils ran the ball back 80 yards for the game tying touchdown.
At 21-21, the game seemed to be heading to overtime with only 50 seconds left in regulation. The Raiders were about to receive a punt and presumably take a knee to head to overtime. That punt was the miracle Ocean City needed.
On the snap, the ball did not reach the punter and bounced toward him like a skipping stone. He picked up the ball and punted it away like normal. After the play, the referee ran over and called it a dead ball where it bounced, forcing a turnover on downs and giving Ocean City the ball on the Hammonton 19-yard line with only 38 seconds left. Both sidelines seemed confused on the ruling but quickly moved along.
After draining the clock, the Raiders sent out Hay with only 4 seconds left and a manageable 30-yard field goal attempt.
Just before he kicked the ball, Hammonton called its last timeout to try to ice the kicker. He shook it off as he nailed the walk-off field goal to send Ocean City to the playoffs. The sideline cleared as they ran to congratulate Hay and the field goal unit.
Ocean City saved their best so far for the final regular season game as they did not flinch in the face of adversity like previous games.
The season has not been perfect, but the Raiders made the playoffs and are looking to do damage.
By WILLIAM TRUITT/For the Sentinel
