Mainland leads Millville through state semifinal; Bolts score with 39 seconds left
MARLTON – For 47 minutes and 20 seconds on Sunday, it looked like the Mainland Regional Mustangs would be the team that would take part in New Jersey’s first true Group IV football state championship in December.
Defending Group IV state champion Millville had other plans as the Thunderbolts rallied in the final seconds of the NJSIAA state semifinals to nip the Mustangs 18-14 at Cherokee High School.
The loss ends Mainland’s historic season at 10-2, during which the Mustangs captured a couple of firsts, including winning three playoff games in a single season, capturing the West Jersey Football League’s United Division title and winning its first sectional title since 2008 with a victory over Middletown South the week before.
“Unfortunately, the game is 48 minutes long,” said Mainland coach Chuck Smith, who turned around the program to lead Mainland to the state semifinals. “Millville is a hell of a football team, but I’m very proud of my guys. We played a good football game against a very good team.
“Millville has a lot of talented skill-position guys and they really force you to play the entire field to make sure you have all of them covered. We were able to get that done most of the game but it’s a constant challenge to get that done.”
It was the second time in four years that Mainland racked up double-digit wins. The Mustangs never trailed in the state semifinal game until the final seconds, robbing them of their 11th victory of 2022.
Na’eem Sharp’s 18-yard touchdown run with 39 seconds left in the game completed a two-touchdown fourth quarter for Millville (10-2), lifting them to the Group IV state title game against North Highlands on Dec. 3 at Rutgers University.
“This was a championship football game and we expected it to come down to something like this,” Smith said. “The game came down to the wire and the difference was that they were the team that made the plays at the end.”
But it was the series Mainland didn’t score on that would be the true turning point in the game. Millville gained the momentum on a Bricere Hunter 1-yard touchdown run at the start of the fourth quarter to cut Mainland’s lead to 14-12.
Mainland senior Ja’Briel Mace, who has been the Mustangs’ offensive spark plug for four seasons at the school, took the ensuing kickoff from the 12, shifted right and back left away from Millville defenders before being tackled at the Thunderbolts 4, setting up a first-and-goal.
A touchdown on the series would have likely given Mainland a two-score lead in the final quarter.
Millville, though, performed its best defensively the entire game, stuffing the Mustangs on two consecutive running plays that backed up Mainland two yards and freshman quarterback John Franchini was sacked on a third-down play. An incomplete pass on fourth down denied Mainland a chance to build on its lead and opened the door for the Millville comeback.
“That was a big deal not being able to score after Ja’Briel’s kickoff return,” Smith admitted. “But we continued to hang in there after that.”
Millville needed a touchdown in the final minute of the game to beat Hammonton 18-16 for the Group IV South sectional title a week earlier.
Mainland struck first against Millville in the first quarter. The Mustangs’ defense pushed back the Thunderbolts on a fourth-and-one attempt on Millville’s 40 on the opening series.
Getting the ball in Millville territory on the change of possession, Franchini connected with Jamie Tyson on a 29-yard touchdown pass, giving the Mustangs a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
Franchini finished the game 5-of-11 passing for 75 yards as he faced an intense pass rush for one of the rare times this season. Franchini was sacked twice in the game for minus 16 yards and the Thunderbolts managed to get consistent pressure on the first-year starter.
In another rarity for Mainland most of the season, Millville managed to out-rush the Mustangs in the contest, 168 yards to 118.
After stopping Millville on their next possession, Mainland appeared to be in good shape with the ball near midfield. But a fumble on a bad pitch left Hunter, playing defensive back for the Thunderbolts, to pick up the loose ball and return it for a defensive touchdown.
A failed extra-point attempt, though, left Mainland with a 7-6 lead going into halftime.
Mainland appeared to seize the momentum with its best drive of the game to open the third quarter. Sparked by a 32-yard catch-and-run pass from Franchini to Cook, the Mustangs drove into the Millville red zone before Stephen Ordille finished off the drive with a 9-yard touchdown at the 8:04 mark.
After both teams failed to convert on their following possessions, Millville went on one of its best possessions of the game, going on an 80-yard drive that extended into the fourth quarter. Behind the play of Millville junior quarterback Jacob Zamot, the Thunderbolts overcame two holding penalties to extend the series for Hunter’s touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
Penalties never seemed to phase Millville, as the Thunderbolts overcame 100 yards in penalty yards, something that would kill most high school squads, to stay in contention until it found an opening in the final moments of the game.
“This was a hard game to win,” Millville head coach Humberto Ayala said. “Everybody we played got better from last year and Mainland’s a prime example of that. The elements didn’t help the situation for us because we weren’t able to stretch the field the way we like to.
“The game showed we could win in adverse moments. Our guys are confident and when you’re confident and believe in each other, you can grind through anything,” Ayala said.
Smith said his team was coming off two consecutive losing seasons. Despite Sunday’s loss, it was a sign of the program’s tremendous progress. Mainland lost to Millville 62-0 last year.
“Considering where we’ve come from the past couple of years to where we are now, I’m very proud of them,” Smith said. “They’re a tough group of kids and did everything we’ve asked of them. This season was the foundation to help us turn the corner. I don’t want to talk about next year until we get to it.”
By CLYDE HUGHES/Special to the Sentinel
