OCEAN CITY – Defending New Jersey Group IV state champion Mainland Regional will entertain traditional power Hammonton for its home opener on Friday with a 1-0 record after holding back Atlantic City 30-18 at last Thursday’s Battle at the Beach season opener at Ocean City’s Carey Stadium.
The Mustangs will be looking forward to shaking off the cobwebs from last week that saw Mainland trail in a football game for the first time since the 2022 season. What stood out for Mainland was that each time Atlantic City tested the Mustangs, they responded resoundingly, much like last year’s state championship team.
MAINLAND MUSTANG CHEERLEADERS
“That just shows how gritty our team is,” said junior Jake Blum, one of Mainland’s stars who played a big role in its scoring drives last week. “When we were trailing today, we had no doubts that we were going to win that game. We’ve grinded and worked for moments like that.
“We don’t expect to be [behind] but when we are there, we’re ready.”
Running back and linebacker Rocco DeBiaso said Mainland takes a lot of pride in overcoming the adversity that a bigger Group V school like Atlantic City provided for them and it was a good test of their character to start the season.
“Our coaches really focus on getting us to fight through adversity,” said DeBiaso, who also scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter. “We see adversity as a good thing. It just makes us fight harder and keep working.”
Mainland will enter Friday’s game with a 15-game winning streak, the longest currently among public schools in New Jersey, and the winners of 11 straight at home.
The Mustangs will be trying to take advantage of the best passing game of quarterback John Franchini’s career, after throwing for 188 yards, on 8-for-14 passes with one touchdown and one interception against the Vikings.
The statistic easily passed the junior’s best yardage mark. He was 12-for-15 for 141 yards in a victory over Ocean City last year.
“John Franchini was a difference maker for us on offense,” Mainland coach Chuck Smith said. “He was able to hit timely passes for us today.”
It also marked breakout games offensively for Blum and Hoag. Blum made two impressive catches from Franchini, a 28-yard over the shoulder catch to set up Mainland’s first touchdown in the second quarter and then a 37-yard touchdown catch in coverage in the third quarter.
“He’s our Mr. Everything and he’s only going to get better and better,” Smith said. “He played a lot last year, mostly on defense, but he’s one of our guys. When he gets going, he’s going to be one of those guys who will rise to the top.”
With the Vikings bottling up the Mustangs’ running game for most of the night, Hoag provided the back-breaker with a 58-yard touchdown run to give Mainland some needed breathing room.
Hoag finished the game with 100 yards on nine carries to lead Mainland rushing.
Atlantic City did not make it easy for Mainland. The Vikings led twice in the contest with standout wide receiver and Rutgers commit Sah’nye Degraffenreidt catching two touchdown passes while quarterback Khajuan Rosenborough rushed for 122 yards and threw for 185 more.
A 13-yard touchdown catch by Degraffenreidt from Rosenborough late in the first quarter gave the Vikings a 6-0 lead. Blum’s catch on the following series put Mainland inside the Vikings 10 with Blum scoring on a 4-yard run. Nate Kashey’s point-after put Mainland up 7-6.
Mainland’s defense then came up big with a goal-line stand just before halftime, denying the Vikings three times with the ball inside the 2. Atlantic City’s final try for a touchdown ended about one inch short.
“We only have five starters back on defense, we had six new guys out there today,” Smith said. “We have a couple of injuries that’s affecting us, but they answered the call when it was time. They bent, but they didn’t break.”
Rosenborough gave Atlantic City the lead again when he broke free from the passing pocket for a 20-yard touchdown run but continued to trail when the 2-point conversion failed.
“Atlantic City made some plays against us and put themselves into good positions,” Smith said, “but our guys responded. They didn’t get flustered or hang their heads. It was tough out there. Atlantic City did a good job taking a lot of things away from us.”
Mainland responded again on Blum’s 37-yard touchdown catch from Franchini on the ensuing series, lifting the Mustangs to a 14-12 lead.
Hoag gave his blockers the credit on his big run in the third quarter that gave Mainland a two-score lead.
“All I saw was green grass in front of me,” Hoag said of the run. “Rocco DiBiaso and Jake Blum along with the offensive line just cleared it. All I saw was green jerseys and green grass on that run. Atlantic City is a great team, so getting a chance to break lose and demoralize them a bit gave us the team energy we needed.”
In Mainland’s upcoming game against Hammonton, the Blue Devils have traditionally played the Mustangs tough, despite Mainland winning the last three contests. Smith’s squad needed a fourth-quarter drive and touchdown to escape with a 14-7 road win against Hammonton last year.
“We know we’re going to get everybody’s best game, so it’s just going to make us work harder,” Blum said. “Today we were short on our defensive backs but we had guys step up. We were playing against these big Division I receivers and backs but we’re ready for all challenges.”
DiBiaso said the Hammonton contest will be another test for Mainland’s new team as they develop their own character and chemistry.
“We know that we’re going to get everybody’s best game but we’re looking forward to a new year,” he said. “We have a lot of new players to its different experience from last year. Everybody’s still learning what it’s like to play in this atmosphere and their doing a great job at it.”
Smith said his team knew that Atlantic City would be a formidable opponent and a great Week 1 test.
“Atlantic City is going to win a lot of games this year but for us we have to watch film and get better. It’s always a tough game against Hammonton. It’s always a nail-biter.”
– STORY by CLYDE HUGHES/For the Sentinel
– PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
