By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
OCEAN CITY — The Ocean City Red Raiders were dominant on both sides of the ball in a 49-7 victory Friday night, Oct. 2, over the visiting Absegami Braves.
Four senior starters were involved in five of the team’s seven touchdowns. Quarterback Joe Repetti ran for a score and threw another to Brady Rauner, running back Jake Inserra scored two on the ground and cornerback Jake Schneider took one to the house from 45 yards out after an interception. Elijah Cochran added a 42-yard scamper and Noah Murray pounded it in from the 3 to complete the scoring.
The Red Raiders’ defense also had a big night, snagging two interceptions, two fumble recoveries, a blocked punt and holding the Braves to only a handful of first downs.
Absegami had trouble moving the ball all night but did have a couple of big plays. Quarterback Ray Weed hit receiver Jordan Marcucci for an 81-yard bomb in the fourth quarter, but not until the Red Raiders already had the victory well in hand and their second string in the game. On their final drive, the Braves took the kickoff down to Ocean City’s 8-yard line, but time ran out before they could score.
Red Raiders head coach Kevin Smith said the senior-heavy team (20) came out ready to play.
“They have a lot of experience from last year with getting to the championship game. They’ve played in big games and know how to conduct themselves, practice right. You can lean on them to take care of the details in a short season,” he said.
Smith contrasted that experience with the Braves’ situation. Head coach Chris Sacco is in his first season with Absegami and “has to put in an entire new system that will take time to learn and execute the way he wants it to be.”
“Our experience will definitely benefit us,” he said. “Familiarity is going to be really important.”
Inserra was pleased with the outcome.
“I think it went pretty great,” he said, noting that there are “always things to work on.”
He said the team’s performance “set the tone for the season and got the win out of the way.”
Inserra attributed the success to “hard work and effort,” saying “the team that gets off the ball quick and punches the other team in the face” (figuratively) usually wins.
“If you’re not working as a team it really doesn’t go well,” he said, adding that before the game the team expected to go 8-0 and that the performance only strengthened that conviction.
“We really played at the level we know we can be at,” he said.
Perhaps due to first-game jitters, there were plenty of miscues from both teams, with the ball hitting the ground six times on fumbles, resulting in three turnovers. There also were three interceptions thrown, one by Ocean City and two by Absegami. Finally, the Red Raiders had two harmful holding calls, one that negated a good punt return to midfield and another that backed them up from second and goal at the 5-yard line, with the drive ending in a missed field goal.
Ocean City fumbled on its first drive but Absegami returned the favor minutes later.
The Red Raiders were forced to punt on their second drive after gaining only 3 yards.
Absegami then fumbled again, giving the ball back to the Raiders.
Smith said he was not surprised with the early miscues, saying the limited practices over the summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic put the team “a little bit behind, especially on offense, which involves timing and repetition for it to come together.”
Repetti said the game went “pretty darn well.”
“We got out of the gate a little slow but then settled in and started putting the ball in the end zone,” he said. “The defense was playing well and we made a statement coming out and winning big.”
He blamed himself for the early fumble, saying he tried to pull the ball back on an option play but it was too late.
“I should have let the ball go but you have to let these things go and bounce back on the next drive,” he said.
Ocean City got something going on its third drive, starting with a 26-yard toss to Schneider, setting up a first and goal from the 10. An encroachment penalty moved the Raiders up to the 5, from where Inserra ran it in for the first score of the game. Kicker Brendan McGonigle made it 7-0.
Absegami got its first first down on a couple of short passes but a penalty backed the Braves up 10 yards and they were forced to punt after a long bomb was incomplete.
The teams then traded punts before Schneider sparked the Red Raiders’ offense with a good runback to the Braves’ 46-yard line. Junior running backs Jacob Wilson and Sean Mazzitelli got in on the action, moving the ball on the ground, and Repetti capped off the drive with a 17-yard scramble up the middle for a touchdown. The kick made it 14-0.
Absegami then took over at its own 23, running for 4 yards and throwing incomplete before Schneider stepped in front of the receiver, intercepted the pass and took it 45 yards for the Red Raiders’ third touchdown. McGonigle made it 21-0.
“Schneider’s interception was huge,” Smith said. “He impacted the game in all stages.”
Smith said Schneider had some nice receptions on offense, some good punt returns on special teams and an interception for a touchdown on defense.
“For a guy who is 5-foot-7 and 150 pounds, he really impacts the game,” Smith said.
The Braves were forced to punt again on their next drive after netting just 3 yards, and Ocean City was back on offense.
Wilson ran for 12 yards before Repetti threw long into double coverage, turning the ball over to the Braves.
Perhaps out of frustration, an Absegami player committed a personal foul and was ejected from the game for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Following the interception, Absegami took over at its own 10-yard line. The Braves ran for 12 yards but then were tackled in the backfield twice and threw incomplete before being forced to punt again from deep in their own end.
Ocean City took over at the Braves’ 48 and quickly went to work. Repetti hit Schneider for 7 yards, 3 yards and 18 yards, Mazzitelli ran for 4 and Repetti ran for 5 before Inserra ran untouched into the end zone for his second touchdown of the night. The kick made it 28-0 with 1:52 left in the half.
“It felt pretty good, I didn’t even get touched,” Inserra said, crediting the offensive line that “busted up the whole front.”
The Braves took over from their own 36 but were unable to move the ball and were forced to punt again.
A good return by the Red Raiders was negated by a holding call and Ocean City started the drive from the 15-yard line as the seconds ticked off in the first half.
Absegami showed signs of life to start the second half, gaining two first downs and moving the ball out to midfield before junior safety Tommy Schutta intercepted Weed to end the drive.
The Red Raiders got back to work with a short field from Absegami’s 21-yard line, with Repetti hitting Rauner in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. The extra point made it 35-0.
The Braves then moved the ball a total of 5 yards before having to punt again.
Ocean City started putting its youngsters into the game on the ensuing drive, which started from its own 20-yard line. Sophomore Jack Hoag quickly picked up 33 yards on a run to the right. The Red Raiders picked up another 22 yards running but put the ball on the ground again on the next play. They were able to recover and sophomore quarterback Riley Gunnels entered the game with a second and 10 from the 25.
He fired a bullet to tight end Sam Williams for 6 yards and the Red Raiders picked up another 5 on the ground to make it first and goal from the 9. Hoag ran for 4 yards to the 5 but a holding call backed Ocean City up to the 18 with second and goal to go. A short run and incomplete pass set up a field goal attempt that was no good.
Absegami finally scored its only touchdown on the next drive, with Weed hitting Marcucci on an 81-yard catch and run to make it 35-6. Kicker AJ Silipena made it 35-7.
Smith said Ocean City had its second-team defensive players in and that the Braves “took advantage of a good matchup and made a nice play.”
Ocean City started the next drive from its own 36, picking up all 64 yards on the ground, capped by a 35-yard touchdown by senior Cochran. McGonigle made it 42-7.
The defense once again stepped up to snuff out any spark of hope for Absegami, blocking a punt after the Braves lost 3 yards on the drive.
Senior Steven Leypoldt recovered the ball to set Ocean City up first and goal from Absegami’s 9-yard line. The Raiders lost a yard before senior Noah Murray took a toss left for 7 yards, then capped off the scoring with a 3-yard touchdown.
Smith said his defense put in a dominant performance.
“[Absegami] had three first downs against our first-team defense,” he said, noting that his front seven are all back from last season. “We wore them down with physicality. The strong kids started to take over the line of scrimmage and turned the momentum. Any time you dominate the line of scrimmage it’s usually advantageous.”
The Red Raiders are at Oakcrest at 5 p.m. Friday.
