Red Raiders put up 34 unanswered points against Mustangs before Mainland scores late
LINWOOD – With the stands packed with cheering fans from Raider Nation and Corral Crazies, visiting Ocean City High School’s football team seized control in the second half and ran away with the game.
The Red Raiders ran their unbeaten streak to 4-0, knocking off their rival Mainland Mustangs 34-6. Mainland dropped to 2-2.
The Mustangs struggled with offensive consistency and gave the Red Raiders short fields.
To start the game, the Red Raiders quickly shut the Mustangs down in three plays and then punt returner Jack Hoag took the ensuing line-drive punt into the Mainland red zone.
From there, running back Sean Mazzitelli took Ocean City’s first snap from scrimmage to the house for a very early lead.
“It all starts up front,” Mazzitelli said. “We set the tone at the line of scrimmage and the O-line was creating holes. My hat is off to (lineman) C.J. Conti. He was in a lot of pain, but he gutted it out for the whole game. It shows a lot about his toughness and willingness for this team.”
After another quick stop of the Mustangs, the Red Raiders stalled out when they elected to go for a 4th-and-5 but could not convert.
“They were hitting us with blitzes and things like that, but those can be hit-or-miss plays,” Red Raider head coach Kevin Smith said. “Eventually you find something. When we were blocking clean we were hitting plays really well. They did a good job putting pressure on us and made it tough to block them clean, but when we did we hit on some big plays.”
Mainland was able to get rolling on their next series with a couple of first downs.
Quarterback Marlon Leslie converted one with a sideline completion and another on the ground.
The Mustangs made it as far as the Red Raider 29 on the drive before a pair of Mike Gray sacks derailed them.
“Our defense flies around the football,” Mazzitelli said. “Coach (Sean) Matthews does a good job and makes sure we practice hard every single day. He puts us in the best possible position to succeed, so he’s a great coach.”
“We knew they were big up front,” said Mainland head coach Chuck Smith. “We’re a little smaller comparatively, so we knew we had to move around guys on defense to have a chance. We had some good defensive stops and we moved the ball, we just made mistakes at the worst possible times we could.”
For much of the second quarter neither offense could get rolling as they traded penalties and miscues.
On a 3rd-and-20 the Raiders launched a deep ball that essentially amounted to a punt when Mainland’s Robert Sheeler came down with an excellent interception.
Hoag rushed for a touchdown, scoring the only points of the quarter, capping a drive on which he and Mazzitelli carried the Red Raiders on the ground.
“We complement each other really well,” Mazzitelli said. “Jack can create bug runs; I’m more of a bruiser back. I think it’s a good combo.”
Both backs have taken on an increased workload as Jacob Wilson works his way back from injury.
“It’s fun, but it’s tough not having Jacob,” Mazzitelli said. “He’s a great teammate and a great leader. But you have to have that ‘next man up’ mentality and guys have to step up.”
The teams went into the break at 13-0.
In the third quarter, the Red Raiders clamped down.
“I thought we played physically on both sides of the ball,” Ocean City coach Kevin Smith said. “We didn’t take advantage of some of the opportunities we had in the first half, and that’s something we talked about at halftime. Then we came out after halftime and played very physically, and I thought that was the difference.”
After a pair of passes got them rolling out of the gate, Mazzitelli took a hand-off 52 yards for a 20-0 lead with a Brendan McGonigle kick.
A few plays later a botched snap gave Ocean City possession again when C.J. Conti, who arrived at the Corral minutes before kickoff due to a medical issue, dove on the loose ball.
“We did hang with them,” Chuck Smith said, “and it’s easy to get the kids up for this game. We just imploded in the third quarter. We knew we had to get a stop and score; they got the ball, went downfield, and scored a touchdown while we made costly mistakes on offense.
“We didn’t help ourselves at all I think,” he added. “We gave them good field position a few times and they do a lot of the little things really well. They don’t make the big mistakes and they have a lot of kids with playing experience over there. My hat is off to them; they outplayed us a bit tonight.”
The Mustangs struggled snapping the ball throughout the night and Leslie repeatedly having to jump up to catch the snap to keep it from sailing over his head.
“It’s been a little bit of an issue with us,” said Chuck Smith. “We rotated a couple guys in there tonight. When you don’t have the snap it throws off the timing of the whole offense. They were in shotgun all night too and they didn’t have an issue with it. So it’s something we have to work and get better on.”
“They turned the ball over a couple times, and that obviously helped us,” the Ocean City coach said. “I thought we just wore them down a bit.”
The Red Raiders took over in the red zone where Mazzitelli pounded it in for his third touchdown of the game.
“The defense does their job, and it’s complementary football,” Mazzitelli said. “Offense just has to do their job, and it all comes together.”
“We competed, we stayed in the game even though the score was a little lopsided,” the Mainland coach said. “We just have to clean up those mistakes because I don’t think we’re that far off. I think if we tune it up a little bit and take care of those mistakes we’ll be OK.”
The Red Raiders, full of momentum, pushed Mainland backwards on the next series.
“The two backs they have can hit home runs on any play,” Kevin Smith said, “so you have to be gap-sound, fundamentally sound. Sean Matthews, our defensive coordinator, preaches that. You just dominate the fundamentals and execute your job. When we do those things I think we’re pretty good.”
Another Mainland turnover set up the Red Raiders’ last score on the day, a 19-yard run by quarterback Riley Gunnels.
Mazzitelli scooped up the fumbled snap for another short field.
“I know everybody marks this game on their calendar,” Mazzitelli said, “but at the end of the day it’s just another game. It’s a big game because it’s the next game, nothing more.”
In the final minute of the game, with a running clock, the Red Raiders surrendered their first points of the year.
The Red Raiders second unit offense mishandled its first snap deep in their own territory to give Mainland possession at the Ocean City 9.
Ocean City nearly held before the Mustang quarterback got into the end zone with 32 seconds to go.
Coach Chuck Smith waved it off as it came in the midst of a tough loss.
“I’m not happy about that,” his counterpart said. “It doesn’t matter in the grand scheme, but you never want to create unnecessary adversity for yourself. And we have to be able to execute at the end of a game. You want to be able to say, ‘The game is over, let’s just finish it cleanly.’ And we didn’t do that, so that’s something we have to learn from.”
Overall, it was a big win for the Red Raiders as they triumph in the rivalry game and their first contest away from home.
“We knew we’d be challenged here tonight,” Kevin Smith said. “This was their home opener, they’d have a lot of fans in the stands, they’d be fired up. So we talked about how we’d handle any adversity we’d face, and I was really happy with it. We didn’t play the best first half, but to be able to dominate in the second half like that was satisfying.”
“We can’t be satisfied,” Mazzitelli said. “We’ll enjoy the win tonight, but we’re on to Seneca and need to have another good week in practice.”
The Red Raiders will try to keep their unbeaten streak going when they host Seneca at Carey Stadium at 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 24. It is Ocean City’s homecoming game.
Leslie’s touchdown is the only score the Red Raiders have allowed so far.
Seneca is 1-1, losing to Eastern 21-12 in the team’s opener and then beating Pemberton 21-6.
The 2-2 Mustangs look to bounce back at 7 p.m. Friday on the road against Burlington Township.
Burlington Township is 1-1 on the season with a 43-6 season-opening win over Hamilton West and a 42-21 loss to Shawnee Friday night.
– KYLE McCRANE/Sentinel Sports