Mainland sprints out of gate against Minutemen, scores twice in first 3 minutes
OCEAN CITY – Mainland Mustang football is back, looking like they picked up where they left off in last season’s South Jersey championship run.
Mainland Regional High School’s football team opened the third annual Battle at the Beach tournament in a sprint. The Mustangs scored two touchdowns on their first two plays from scrimmage, going on to defeat the Washington Township Minutemen 26-7.
After a false start penalty set the Mustangs back to 1st and 15 on their own 16-yard line on the opening drive, junior running back Rocco DeBiaso started the 2023 season with a bang. DeBiaso received the handoff, broke a tackle and never looked back on his 84-yard race down the left sideline for the first touchdown of the season.
“It felt awesome. I’ve never felt a better feeling in my life. It’s just awesome,” he said after the game. “I was coming around the edge and Cohen Cook and Stephen Ordille set great blocks for me and I just turned up.”
“We were trying to send a statement; we want to come in here and dominate every day,” DeBiaso said.
With a 10 a.m. start at Carey Stadium in Ocean City, the help of his teammates blocking and his own speed, DeBiaso may have scored the first touchdown in New Jersey for the 2023 season. His sideline was jumping around for him as he returned from the end zone.
An extra point by sophomore Nate Kashey put Mainland up 7-0.
Outside of a pass interference call on Mainland, the Mustang defense held the opposing offense to 3 yards gained on 5 plays, forcing the Minutemen to punt.
On a windy morning, the punt attempt was thwarted by a low snap, forcing the punter to race after the ball and fall on top of it to keep Mustang Liam Kennedy getting an easy scoop and score a touchdown.
After the turnover on downs, the Mustangs got the ball in fantastic field position on the Washington 11-yard line.
Senior wide receiver Cook kept the scoring going with a tough 11-yard touchdown run up the middle on the first play of the drive. At this point Mainland had only run two offensive plays but scored two touchdowns and gone up 13-0 in the first quarter.
On the next Washington possession, senior quarterback Jared Dzierzgowski had a good pass for 13 yards to the sideline to get the Minutemen near midfield. On the next three plays the Mustangs put pressure on Dzierzgowski, forcing two scrambles for minimal yards and an incomplete pass that was almost picked off.
With 3 minutes left in the first quarter, the Minutemen started a long drive thanks to Dzierzgowski’s running ability. He converted on fourth down twice, once on a run on the right side and again on a pass to get to the Mainland 6-yard line. After a 4-yard gain on 1st and goal, Dzierzgowski ran up the middle for a touchdown on a quarterback sneak.
Washington Township made the extra point to get within striking distance, down 13-7 with 11 minutes left in the second quarter.
As the wind was getting worse and a light rain started in Ocean City, Mainland’s offense took to the field and made some costly mistakes.
Another two false starts were called on the offensive line throughout the drive. On a 2nd and 12 the offense fumbled the ball and recovered it, losing 3 more yards. On 3rd and 15, sophomore quarterback John Franchini, who had pressure inbound, threw a desperation pass down the field and was intercepted.
“Offensively we had our moments, but we must get better up front obviously. We have a lot of talented guys on the offensive side of the ball who showed their capabilities at certain points today,” Mustang coach Chuck Smith said. “There were a lot of bright spots. Defensively I thought we played very well. Overall, I think the defense played very smart today.”
With 7:51 left in the half, Mother Nature decided the game needed to slow down as the rain poured down. Mainland cheerleaders and players described the fat raindrops like hail.
The hard-hitting rain did slow the game down through the rest of the half. Mainland defensive lineman Dan DeFeo recovered a fumble with 2 minutes left.
DeBiaso set up the offense with a 14-yard run but the opportunity ended with a clutch interception in the end zone by Minuteman Jordan Potts.
Mainland’s defense started the second half hot, forcing a quick three and out. The offense featured senior running back Ordille. Ordille, who had a great block on the first huge run of the game, got his own highlight reel run on the third play of the second half.
Ordille looked like he was stopped near the line of scrimmage, but broke multiple tackles and spun out of another en route to the end zone for a 58-yard touchdown that looked like a play out of a video game.
“I felt contact right away, I kind of hit a 360. I looked up and saw green and kept my legs moving,” Ordille explained after the game.
Now up 20-7 the Mustang defense was determined to hold onto the lead. Senior Jamie Tyson picked off a Minutemen pass on the following drive.
A fumble by Ordille in the hard rain, caused by a defender swiping the ball, halted the Mustangs’ drive.
After a punt, Mainland got solid runs by Ordille and DeBiaso, setting up the team at the opposing 15. Wide receiver Kennedy followed in Ordille’s footsteps and had a crazy spin move of his own on his way to the end zone in a 15-yard touchdown run.
Down 26-7 and with the rain subsiding, the Minutemen started throwing the ball more with a new quarterback, Cole Aquino. DeBiaso was leading the defense, making pre-snap adjustments by calling audibles and telling defensive linemen to slide along the line.
After trading punts to start the fourth quarter, Ordille made his presence felt on defense by getting an interception and running it back 30 yards.
“I love playing both sides of the ball. I love them equally,” Ordille said happily when asked if he preferred touchdowns or interceptions.
As the fourth quarter was winding down the Minutemen were mounting an impressive drive led by Aquino’s arm. On 4th and 1, Washington completed a pass behind the line of scrimmage and multiple Mustangs made a group tackle, causing a turnover on downs, effectively ending the game.
Coach Smith gave out game balls to DeBiaso and Ordille for their strong play on offense and defense. Both ended the game with more than 100 yards rushing with Ordille getting a Battle at the Beach MVP trophy.
Next up, Mainland hosts rival Ocean City at 6 p.m. Friday in the Mustang Corral. The Red Raiders handed the Mustangs one of their few losses last season, but the Mustangs won the NJSIAA Group IV Central Sectional title with a 34-24 road victory over No. 1 seed Middletown South.
STORY by WILLIAM TRUITT, PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel
