MRHS defeats Clearview 41-14
MULLICA HILL – With little else to play for except playoff positioning after wrapping up the West Jersey Football League United Division title the week before, the Mainland Regional football team still looked motivated and impressive in a 41-14 road victory over Clearview last Friday.
Mainland, which will be one of the top seeds in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group IV playoffs in a couple of weeks with a now 7-1 record, will wrap up its regular season this Saturday afternoon at home against Capital Prep Harlem Charter out of New York City.
Going into that game, Mainland has proved to be a model of consistency, averaging 40.9 points per game while surrendering 11.0 points, including three shutouts. After last weekend’s games, Mainland ranked No. 4 in the United Power Rankings South Group IV.
In the South rankings, Mainland trails Hammonton, a team they beat this year, Middletown South and defending state champion Millville.
Clearview fell to 1-7 in an untypical year for the strong Pioneers program. The victory avenged a home loss Mainland suffered at the hands of Clearview last year, which prevented them from having a winning record in 2021.
It was also easily the largest victory margin for Mainland against Clearview in four tries in a series that has come down to one score in the previous outings.
Mainland won the West Jersey Football League’s United Division title a week earlier with a 5-0 record.
“Clearview is always a tough team for us year in and year out,” Mainland coach Chuck Smith said after the victory. “They’ve had our number in four other games we’ve played against them. We lost to them last year, which was a big game for us going into the playoffs. As far as the playoffs, this was essentially our last game points-wise, so we did what we had to do.”
The last time Mainland built this type of record was 2019 when the Mustangs went through the regular season undefeated before falling to cross-bay rival Ocean City in the first round of the playoffs in the last minutes of the game.
Junior slot Cohen Cook watched his older brother Jake Cook lead that team in receiving. The younger Cook scored two touchdowns against Clearview and he continued to build his own offensive resume to rival his brother’s.
“We want to get him more involved all around in our offense,” Smith said of Cook. “He’s a big, strong kid and we were able to hit him with a couple of passes. Cohen makes plays. He’s a really good athlete.”
“He always wanted me to do better than him,” Cook said of his older brother. “I’ve been working to do that. Our team right now is just working hard and sticking together. Everyone does his job and we’re getting it done.”
Mainland once again proved to be a team that could take care of business regardless of the opponent, with a fumble recovery on a Clearview miscue off an attempted trick play on the Pioneers’ first snap of the game.
With the ball deep in Clearview territory, the Mustangs scored four plays later on a Stephen Ordille 4-yard run with 10:14 remaining for a quick 6-0 Mainland lead.
Clearview drove to the Mainland 29 on their next possession, but Ordille, playing free safety on defense, came up with an interception on Clearview quarterback Noah Danza.
Ordille scored his second touchdown, this time on a 9-yard pass from freshman quarterback John Franchini. A 2-point conversion pushed Mainland’s lead to 14-0 by the end of the first quarter.
On the second play of the second quarter, Franchini connected with Cook for a 65-yard catch-and-run touchdown. Cook actually caught the ball with one hand down the middle of the field and then outran Clearview defenders to the goal line, improving Mainland’s lead to 21-0.
“I thought it was an overthrow,” Cook said. “I just reached out and it landed perfectly in my hand. I was surprised. It felt great once I pulled it in and then I was trying just to not get caught after that.”
Another fumble recovery on the Pioneers’ next possession gave the Mustangs the ball again deep inside Clearview territory on the 15. Ja’Briel Mace reeled off a 14-yard run and followed it two plays later with a 1-yard sweep around left end as the Mustangs grabbed a 28-0 lead at the 8:22 mark of the second quarter.
Mainland finished off the half with an eight-play, 49-yard drive, sparked by a 20-yard swing pass from Franchini to Mace out of the backfield. Mace would score two plays later on a 1-yard run with 1:54 left, lifting the Mustangs to 34-0 at the break.
On the last touchdown, it appeared that Mace was injured and was slow to get up. Mace did not play in the second half but Smith assured after the game his star running back and defensive back was fine.Mainland did surrender two second-half touchdowns to Clearview with reserves in but Smith said those will provide valuable learning experiences for the younger players.
“I thought we played a solid game overall,” Smith said. “The end was just putting our young guys in there and giving them a chance to play. It was a pretty solid performance throughout.”
“We took (Mace) him out for precautionary reasons,” Smith said. “At that point of the game, there was no need to put him back in.”
Like last week, Mainland’s first unit on defense surrendered little as far as yardage in blanking the Pioneers before giving way to their reserves for much of the second half.
“For me, it was just a matter of going out and doing my job,” said junior linebacker J.J. Sinclair. “I don’t really need to do more because our entire defense is so relentless. We run to the snap and we’re always just 5 yards from the ball regardless where it is.
“Now, we just have to lock in more and focus on our keys and eliminate the mistakes and what’s holding us back. If we can do that, we’re going to be a scary team.”
Against Capital Prep, Smith said it will provide another opportunity for Mainland to sharpen their skills before moving on to the post-season.
“We want to continue to improve,” Smith said. “There’s always areas we can improve on, from our ball-handling, getting better on defense. We need to keep getting better in all aspects of the game as we get ready for the playoffs.”
By CLYDE HUGHES/Special to the Sentinel