OCEAN CITY – The Ocean City Red Raiders earned their fifth win of the season. A dominant first half helped them handle a final push by Oakcrest High School.
An 18-point fourth quarter by Oakcrest was not enough to topple the Raiders as Ocean City took home the 26-18 win in the Saturday morning game Oct. 3. The victory improved Ocean City’s record to 5-1 and can be pivotal in postseason seeding rankings because Oakcrest was higher in power points heading into the game.
“We want to make sure we’re on the right side of the scoreboard and happy with that result,” Ocean City head coach Sean Matthews said. “It doesn’t matter as long as you have one more point than the other team.”
It looked to be smooth sailing for the Raiders at the start with the team cruising out to a 26-0 lead with a balanced offensive attack led by quarterback Jackson Becker. Becker led the Raiders on three touchdown drives in their first three possessions. The junior had two touchdowns in the game and threw the ball to Michael Marczyk, who had 120 yards on five catches.
Becker and Marczyk have had a strong connection this season on deep passes and showed it off on their first attempt of the game. Marczyk caught a 49-yard pass from Becker to score a diving touchdown. Becker added a rushing touchdown on the next drive from 2 yards out that was supplemented by great blocking up front.
Marczyk leads the Raiders in receiving yards and touchdowns in his first season playing offense. He primarily played defense before this year, and Becker said it’s been “great” having Marczyk on his side of the ball.
The pivotal point in the first half came when Ocean City was looking to add to its 13-0 lead but were faced with a fourth down and 24. The Raiders were too far to kick a field goal, and a punt would not have made up a large difference, so Matthews sent out Becker to make something happen.
Ocean City needed 24 yards to keep the drive alive, and Marczyk delivered with a 25-yard toe-dragging catch on the sideline. The play put the Raiders within a couple of feet of the end zone. Running back Cole Garreffi capitalized from there with a touchdown.
Asked about the long fourth-down play, Marczyk said, “We were going to run that play before but there was a penalty and Coach Cal asked me if you could get them. I had faith in Jackson to put the ball right where it needs to be and I always think there’s a possibility to catch it whenever the ball is in the air.”
“We were able to establish the perimeter in the first half which opened up the rest of the offense,” Matthews said. “Jackson has been making great decisions, and we’ve had Michael make clutch plays week in and week out. Most importantly the offensive line gives those guys time to get the football.”
The offensive line was the subject of praise postgame for Becker, Marczyk and Matthews for their hand in the win.
Garreffi was also a beneficiary of great blocking with his best game statistically of the season. He finished the day with 139 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. His signature moment came right out of halftime when he carried the ball on all five plays of the drive and went 72 yards right down the field. Right before scoring his second touchdown, he won a footrace to the outside perimeter and rattled off a 51-yard run.
After the big drive by Garreffi put the Raiders up 26-0, Oakcrest found a successful rhythm on offense and kept the ball out of Ocean City’s hands.
The comeback attempt started with Zane Forest’s 65-yard touchdown pass to Uthman Mitchell.
Every drive after the big play, Ocean City did not allow anymore chunk plays, but Forest slowly moved his team down the field with multiple drives of nine or more plays. Oakcrest continued to chip away at the Raider defense until the scoreboard read 26-12. One last touchdown by Forest put Oakcrest down 26-18 with 40 seconds left in the game. Luckily for Ocean City, the onside kick rolled out of bounds and the late-game scare ended.
The Raiders have one more home game scheduled in the regular season. It is against Middle Township at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9 for homecoming weekend. After that, Ocean City wraps up the regular season with two straight road games – Holy Spirit Oct. 16 and Glassboro Oct. 22.
Becker had three touchdowns last season in a 48-0 win over Middle Township but the 3-3 Panthers have played much better this season, although on Saturday they lost 40-6 to Lower Cape May Regional High School.
– STORY by WILLIAM TRUITT/For the Sentinel
– PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
