Final Thanksgiving Day game starts well, but ends with loss to Greyhounds
PLEASANTVILLE – The Red Raiders football team wrapped up its season with a 40-21 loss to Pleasantville on Thanksgiving Day.
In the 100th and final Thanksgiving match-up between the two teams, a pair of back-to-back bizarre plays in the second half proved the Red Raiders’ undoing.
“I don’t even know what to say, honestly,” Ocean City head coach Kevin Smith said. “We had so many different injuries and so many kids playing at different spots, it’s like we’re putting it together with masking tape at this point.
“It’s disappointing to have it end like that, but we weren’t good enough – coaches, players, all of us,” he said. “But it was a great group to coach, a great group of kids, they were a lot of fun. They faced a lot of adversity this year and they handled it really well. I’m going to miss them.”
Pleasantville jumped on the board first with a punt return touchdown by Xander Roberts-Bogin.
Ocean City tied it up with a touchdown run by Duke Guenther, who seemed to get better by the week as the season wore on.
The Raiders took the lead when freshman Triston Schmidt perfectly read a receiver screen by the Pleasantville quarterback, jumped the route, got the interception and ran it back for a touchdown.
“That was a heck of a play by a freshman,” Smith said. “He’s got a bright future and he’s not alone. There were a lot of youngsters out there. I’m proud of them and I’m looking forward to where they go.”
“We had a lot of kids step up this year,” Jon Moyer, 17, of Upper Township, said. “A lot of kids got hurt, a lot of kids were sick for this game, so at practice a lot of young kids were forced to learn all their responsibilities within a couple days. Then we just had to come out here and battle it out.”
Pleasantville tied it up at 14-14 early in the second half with a short run.
Early in the fourth quarter, Pleasantville nudged ahead on a highly controversial play.
Quarterback Marlon Leslie unleashed a deep ball to the goal line for Khalil Witherspoon.
The receiver, ball and defender all got there at the same time and as Witherspoon tried to gather the ball he tumbled into the end zone while the ball popped loose.
The officials ruled that he completed the catch and crossed the goal line before losing possession.
The Greyhounds took the 21-14 lead.
On the ensuing kickoff Pleasantville lobbed the ball into no-man’s land and jumped on it before the Raiders could react, retaking possession.
The Greyhounds quickly took advantage for the two-score lead that essentially ended the game.
“This game it all came down to who wanted it more and they obviously showed they wanted it more,” Moyer said.
Moyer cut into the lead by hauling in a long touchdown pass from quarterback Riley Gunnels, but the Greyhounds answered again.
“It was really fun playing with Riley,” Moyer said of his senior QB. “His game is really strong, he knew what he was doing, he always found me if I was open down the field, and he made plays with what he had.”
Gunnels leads an outgoing senior class that certainly left its mark on the program.
“They were part of a lot of success,” Smith said. “They made the playoffs every year they were in the program and won a lot of football games. Their senior year didn’t go the way they wanted, but they did everything we wanted them to do.
“They were easy to coach, they were all in on what we were trying to do,” he added. “You get kids like that and you can have a lot of success.”
As has been well-documented, the Red Raiders were ravaged by injury this year.
“When I go out there my mindset is that I’m doing it for them,” Moyer said. “All the seniors that are hurt, they don’t have another try.”
“I sprained my ankle twice this year,” junior Nick Layton, 16, of Upper Township, said. “In the third game I sprained my ankle, and the game I came back I turned it into a high ankle sprain.”
While the 3 in the ‘W’ column tells one story, it doesn’t show how tough the Raiders battled against some of the best teams in South Jersey all season.
The team opened with a loss in August against Neshaminy, Pa., but rebounded with a come-from-behind 21-20 win over rival Mainland Regional on Sept. 1. (That was Mainland’s only regular-season loss. The Mustangs had an outstanding season. They finished 10-2, won the Central Jersey Group IV sectional crown and didn’t lose until a last-seconds loss to Millville in the state semifinal game.)
Ocean City followed that up with a 21-7 win over Cedar Creek to improve to 2-1, but injuries began taking their toll.
The Raiders took a 35-6 pounding from Delsea, then narrowly lost two games, 6-0 to Winslow and 7-3 against St. Joseph of Hammonton. Millville, which went on to win the South Jersey Group IV sectional title, beat the Raiders 41-7.
In their final regular season game, Ocean City lost to Hammonton, 28-14, in a hard-fought contest.
In the first round of the playoffs, Ocean City lost to Shawnee, 42-7. The Raiders won a consolation game against Vineland 30-13 before the Thanksgiving Day loss to Pleasantville.
“It was definitely hard,” Moyer said. “This season was a lot tougher than last year. It’s not the record we wished for but we got better as a team.”
“Being a part of this was awesome,” Layton said. “Going against those big teams, fighting our butts off, that was awesome. I’ll never forget these guys.”
It’s a testament to the standard Ocean City has set in recent years.
“It’s our coaches and our team,” Layton said. “We all bonded. The reason we were successful for these years is because we’re all together.”
“They put a lot of faith in us no matter what our record is,” Moyer said. “It’s tough when they put all their time in and we just can’t execute it.”
Moyer and Layton will be back and try to be a part of righting the ship.
“This program has meant everything to me,” Layton said. “This team is all family to me, they’re my friends, every one of these guys is my brother. It means everything to me.”
They’ll look to get back to making deep playoff runs right away.
“Next year we’re just going to grind,” Layton said. “All offseason we’re going to grind and I guarantee we’re going to be a very good team next year.”
“We have to get together as a team next year, especially the seniors, and step up early,” Moyer said. “This year we didn’t start together as a team. It got better as the season went on but we have to start stronger.”
“They’re going to learn a lot from adversity,” Smith said. “We told them at the end you learn a lot more when things are hard than when things are easy. Hopefully they’ll lick their wounds for a little bit and then we’ll get back after it and start putting things together for next year.”
The players and coaches alike will all be working to get better.
“Every year as a coaching staff you sit down and evaluate the way you handled things,” Smith said. “We were kind of in a unique situation this year with so many young bodies on the field that really weren’t ready to play against high-level competition. So we have to figure out as a staff if we took the right approach, and if not how we can do it better, a lot of self-reflection.”
By KYLE McCRANE/Sentinel Sports