Mainland hands Burlington first loss of the season, to face Cedar Creek
BURLINGTON – The Mainland Mustangs are heading to their fourth straight sectional title game after a chaotic finish on the road against the undefeated Burlington Township Falcons Friday, Nov. 7.
Mainland held on to beat Burlington Township 15-13 after the Falcons miraculously hauled in an onside kick and got into field goal range with time running down. The Mustang sideline could only watch as the kick narrowly went wide-right to give Mainland the win.
“When that kick was in the air, my heart dropped and I didn’t know if it went in or not until the signal,” quarterback John Franchini said.
The game-deciding field goal was the final play in a dramatic final four minutes that started with Lucas DeBiaso getting the Mustang defense’s third interception of the game.
Points were at a premium the entire night but with the good field position from DeBiaso’s pick, Franchini and the offense delivered. Up 9-6, the Mustangs reached fourth down and decided to go for the dagger.
Mainland head coach Chuck Smith put the ball in his senior quarterback’s hands and called a play to give star receiver Jake Blum a chance to score. Blum got single coverage on the outside and scored from 31 yards out for his second touchdown of the game to give Mainland a big 15-6 lead with only 3:42 to play.
“We saw a little thing they were doing with their secondary and figured, hey, let’s take a shot here,” Smith said. “It was fourth down and we knew we were going to call that play. We just waited on the timing. It was a good pass, but Jake made an outstanding catch on that play.”
Up by two scores with so little time left, Mainland seemed to have full control until two big plays ramped up the dramatics.
Gerald Sackie already had over 100 combined yards for the Falcons but kept his team in the game with a 62-yard touchdown. He broke multiple tackles before winning the foot race to the end zone. The scoring drive for Burlington Township took only a minute off the clock.
It was the first points the Mainland defense had surrendered the entire game as the Falcons’ first touchdown came on a punt return from Sackie in the first half.
The Falcons were forced to attempt an onside kick after using all three of their timeouts. They went for an unorthodox kick. The kicker squibbed the ball directly up the middle of the field. It bounced off the Mustang players in the front and landed in the hands of a Burlington Township player.
The Falcons used all the momentum on their side to push the ball 30 yards down the field into field goal range. Their first attempt never got off as the play was stopped for a false start. Backed up five more yards, the try became a 34-yarder, which sailed just right of the goal posts.
“You have to find a way to win and somehow we found a way to win,” Mainland head coach Chuck Smith said. “Hats off to Burlington Township and coach Everette. Those kids never quit. When we scored that touchdown at the end, I thought that might be the icing on the cake, but they did not give up and were running the ball with a shot to win it at the end.”
With the win, Smith’s Mustangs are back in the sectional title game for the fourth year in a row. Mainland knocked off the No. 1 seed Falcons in dramatic fashion and now will travel to No. 2 seed Cedar Creek at noon Saturday, Nov. 15. Just like Mainland, Cedar Creek won its semifinal round game 15-12 over Pleasantville High School in a nail-biter.
Game time for the South Jersey Group III sectional title is set for noon at Cedar Creek High School.
To beat Cedar Creek and its offensive firepower, the Mustangs will need a defensive performance similar to what they did against Burlington Township. Mainland shut out the Falcons for the first three quarters and came away with three turnovers, including two forced by senior Jack Dougherty.
Dougherty was all over the field the entire game and stopped a red zone drive by the Falcons with an interception right after a big 62-yard catch by Sackie.
Just before halftime the Mustang defense made its best play of the game featuring Dougherty and Eban Kuhns. With only 50 seconds left in the half, Dougherty slammed into a receiver right as the ball arrived and popped it up for Kuhns to come down with the interception.
“It felt like we were in a flow state today,” Dougherty said. “It all just came down to preparation and we prepared better than anyone.”
Senior Nate Kashey, who has been the team’s kicker for his entire four-year career, cashed in on the turnover and made a 30-yard field goal as the half expired. The kick gave Mainland the 9-6 lead and proved to be a very influential three points later in the game.
– STORY and PHOTO by WILLIAM TRUITT/For the Sentinel