OCEAN CITY — It has been a rebuilding year for the Mainland Regional and Ocean City High School flag football teams. Both graduated a slew of seniors last year and lost a lot of experience.
The Red Raiders have yet to win a game in 10 outings, but did keep it close against the Mainland Mustangs earlier this month, losing 19-14.
The Red Raiders don’t have any seniors listed on their roster. They have three juniors and the rest are sophomores and freshmen.
The Mustangs have had similar growing pains. They were able to get past Ocean City and have two other wins, 7-6 over Hammonton and 7-6 over Cape May Tech. They also have seven losses.
Against Ocean City, the Mustangs scored first, a pass from quarterback Gia Geraci to Riley Townsend. On the Raiders’ next possession, Geraci intercepted a pass and ran it back for a touchdown.
Ocean City scored on a pass from freshman quarterback Julia Smith to sophomore Maddison Adams. Another pass to Rowen Mufferi earned the Red Raiders the extra points. Smith also connected on another touchdown pass to sophomore Callie Erney, but Mainland won the game.
“Last year we graduated about 18 seniors,” Mainland head coach Andrew Monroe said. “This year we have a lot of younger girls having to step into positions and get a lot more playing time, a lot more reps.”
He said he has about 27 girls on the team this season and only five seniors with “a lot of eager sophomores and juniors.”
Senior quarterback Geraci is “really the key piece to our team,” Monroe said. “She does it all for us.”
Last year she primarily played defense but she stepped up and took over the quarterback job this year, both rushing and passing. She also plays linebacker and cornerback on defense.
Juniors leading the team are Townsend and Reilly Nagle.
“The two Rileys are pretty much our playmakers. We also have some sophomores like Noa Lichtenwalner and Sienna Williams who are just eager to get out there every day. They’ve pretty much been involved with the program since they came in as freshmen and never missed a practice. We’re looking for them to finish the season strong and build for the future.”
Monroe said the players who have experience have made the transition easier than in the first two years when all the girls on the team were learning the sport.
“The girls ask questions and they’re always eager to learn more,” he said.
In May the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, which governs high school sports, is expected to vote to make flag football a sanctioned varsity sport. Currently girls are allowed to play another varsity sports in spring as well as flag football, but in the future would have to choose.
Monroe said he also helps coach girls track and some of his flag football players do both sports. Flag football practices at 6 a.m. to not conflict with other practices.
“That’s the culture we have built here. We’ve always been the team that practices as 6 a.m.,” he said. “I give credit to the girls who participate in track and flag football, that double dip, because it is a grind, but we’re here together and we always have fun and spend a lot of time together.”
Monroe said he wants the girls to play free and have fun because when they’re having fun, they perform much better.
“I told my girls, ‘you’re going to take your bumps and bruises, but these reps are valuable and are going to be helpful in the long run as we transition into a varsity sport next year,’” he said. “We’ll have some more practice time, some more flexibility.
“I think this is a good transition year into a varsity sport,” he added, “to see which girls will pick flag football as their full-time sport.”
The Mustangs wrap their regular season at Hammonton at 4 p.m. May 5.
Ocean City will be hosting Egg Harbor Township at 4 p.m. Thursday, April 30. It is the last game on their regular season schedule. The Red Raiders play on the field at the corner of Sixth Street and Bay Avenue. The Mustangs play in the Mustang Corral.
– STORY and PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
