LINWOOD — Ja’Briel Mace followed his six-touchdown performance Sept. 9 with an all-around dominating outing Friday night as the Mustangs topped the Vikings 56-26 at home.
The Corral Crazies were out of their minds as the senior scored two rushing touchdowns, blocked a punt for a touchdown, blocked another to set up a touchdown and had an interception to go with his 75 yards rushing.
Mainland Regional High School running back Cohen Cook added three rushing touchdowns and freshman quarterback John Franchini threw one to wide receiver Jamie Tyson. Running back Rocco DeBiaso busted free for a 21-yard gain and finished off the drive with a 13-yard run to pay dirt to complete the scoring for the Mustangs.
“We really came out of the gates and played well offensively and defensively,” coach Chuck Smith said.
Atlantic City showed speed and skill on occasion, with running back Allen Packard accumulating 228 rushing yards and two touchdowns and quarterback Joe Lyons tossing a pair of TDs to Sah’nye DeGraffenreidtt, but was its own worst enemy with untimely penalties and poor play resulting in unfavorable field position throughout the game.
Mainland was opportunistic, taking advantage of the Vikings’ miscues to jump out to an early lead the team would never relinquish.
Atlantic City opened with the ball and was forced to punt after a couple of holding calls. That’s when Mace began his terrific night, getting a hand on the ball for a partial block and a short kick.
The Mustangs took over at the Vikings’ 18-yard line and wasted no time. Cook busted through the line, running for the touchdown at 10:31 of the first quarter. Place kicker Nick Kashey knocked through his first of eight extra points to make the score 7-0 Mainland.
“The line was doing great. They were opening the holes and it was pretty easy for me. Got to give the credit to the line up front,” Cook said.
After a short kick, Atlantic City started its next drive from its own 44-yard line. Senior Joe Sheeran sacked Lyons on first down but on the next play, Packard scampered for a touchdown with 8:14 remaining in the first. The Vikings went for the 2-point conversion after the Mustangs were flagged for encroachment but the attempt failed and Mainland maintained a 7-6 lead.
Cook went back to work on the ground for the Mustangs on their second drive, picking up more than 20 yards and a touchdown from 4 yards out to make it 14-6 with 2:31 left in the quarter.
Middle linebacker JJ Sinclair put an end to the Vikings’ next drive, scooping up a fumble to give the Mustangs a first down at Atlantic City’s 40-yard line.
Franchini completed his first pass of the night, a 29-yarder to Tyson, and Mace finished off the short drive with a record-tying 43rd career touchdown from 9 yards out. The extra point put the Mustangs up 21-6 with 37 seconds left in the quarter.
“I didn’t know how far I was from the record and just looked at it as an opportunity for us to win and shock the world, which we did tonight,” Mace said.
The Vikings picked up more yardage on a personal foul penalty than on offense on their next drive. Senior Nick Timek got the first of several sacks on the night and a bad snap on fourth down gave the Mustangs the ball at Atlantic City’s 34-yard line.
A combination of Cook’s running and some more penalties gave Mainland a first down at the 12-yard line. Two plays later, the junior scored his third TD of the game, putting the Mustangs up 28-6 after Kashey’s kick.
“Cohen is just a phenomenal athlete. He can play quarterback, he can play running back, he can be a receiver, he’s an outside linebacker, he’s our kicker. He had a great game running the ball,” Smith said.
Back on offense, the Vikings committed a holding penalty and suffered a sack by defensive end Paul Lombardo to force a punt, setting the stage for Mace. Coming off the end, he blocked the kick and picked the ball up in the end zone for the score, giving Mainland a 35-6 lead with 5:00 remaining in the half and setting the school touchdown record.
Mace said he doesn’t care how he scores, on offense of defense.
“I just like doing whatever’s best for the team and whatever makes a difference on the scoreboard,” he said.
Smith said Mace passed “two all-time greats here at Mainland,” George Landis and Brent Caprio.
“It was nice to see him break it here at home, too,” Smith said.
Atlantic City was not lying down, though. Starting at their own 40-yard line, the Vikings picked up a first down through the air and gained more than 20 yards on penalties before Packard got loose for a 21-yard TD run with 3:17 to cut the lead to 35-12. The 2-point try failed and the teams went into the locker room.
“We knew they were capable of breaking a couple of plays, and it happened, but overall I couldn’t be more proud of the team and the way they played tonight and the way they handled themselves in some sticky spots later in the game,” Smith said.
Mainland picked up where it left off in the third quarter, taking the next drive 54 yards for another touchdown, this one on a pass from Franchini into the back corner of the end zone to Tyson, giving the Mustangs a 42-12 lead.
“Franchini showed maturity, took another step forward tonight,” Smith said. “He’s a very smart on-field quarterback, and even corrected me tonight. He’s still making freshman mistakes but gets better every week.”
The Vikings showed they had some fight left on their next outing, with Packard picking up 52 yards on first down to set Atlantic City up at the Mustang 14. A couple of plays later, DeGraffenreidtt came down with the catch on a fade route to cut the lead to 42-18 after the 2-point attempt failed.
Trying to run out the clock, the Mustangs featured the power running of Mace on the next drive, with the running back picking up more than 30 yards and his third touchdown of the night, giving him 44 and the opportunity to add to the tally in the coming weeks.
“They didn’t take their foot off the pedal all night. We had good field position, capitalized on the field position and we even drove the ball down the field,” Smith said.
The Vikings’ next drive went backward due to a holding call and then Mace put an end to it with an interception, giving Mainland the ball at midfield up 49-18.
The Mustangs got some playing time for their backups, with DeBiaso getting a chance to score Mainland’s eighth and final touchdown of the game from 13 yards out. Lyons connected with DeGraffenreidtt for a 44-yard touchdown pass, but it was too little too late.
The Mustangs (3-1, 3-0, in the United Division of the West Jersey Football League, will host Hammonton (4-0) Friday.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
