Interception, TD reception and fumble recovery for TD in 37-0 victory
OCEAN CITY — In the first high school football game played in New Jersey this year, a lanky junior on the Mainland Mustangs had a banner day, nabbing an interception, running back a fumble 61 yards for a touchdown and catching a pass for another score.
Jamie Tyson, a 6’1”, 180-pound wide receiver and cornerback, led his team to a 37-0 victory over Egg Harbor Township in the first of a series of games in the Battle by the Beach competition that began Friday morning at Carey Stadium in Ocean City and continued the rest of the weekend.
In the inaugural game, Tyson had plenty of help from the rest of the Mustangs, including an offensive line anchored by sophomore tackle Dan DeFeo, but the game started slowly as penalties and miscues on offense by both teams kept the first quarter scoreless.
Junior Cohen Cook and freshman John Franchini split time at quarterback, the former one of the best athletes at Mainland Regional High School and the other taking the field before even stepping into a classroom at the high school, according to coach Chuck Smith.
The Mustangs did just miss getting on the board early when Cook, running wide open down the field, had a Franchini pass on his fingertips but couldn’t haul it in.
Chalk that up and the messy play early to first-game jitters.
“It was just nerves,” Cook said. “First game of the season, first game in the state. We had to get used to it and we got it rolling. Our coaches kept talking to us, we stuck together as a team and it came together.”
Cook said the win is a great way to set the tone for the rest of the season: “We’ll keep building on this and we’re excited for the season.”
Mainland’s defense was stout throughout and earned the first points of the game by forcing the Eagles to punt from right at their own goal line. The snap didn’t work and the kicker had to scramble into the end zone, where he knocked the ball out the back rather than let Mainland fall on it for the touchdown.
The safety put the Mustangs up 2-0 in the second quarter.
Senior running back Ja’Briel Mace, who had a nice day handling the football on the ground, scored the first touchdown from 21 yards out after breaking a few tackles.
Tyson accounted for the rest of the points in the quarter, first catching a touchdown pass from 16 yards out after finding himself wide open in the middle of the field. With the Eagles in possession and gaining some yardage, Tyson picked up a fumble and raced 61 yards down the sideline to make it 23-0 at the half.
“It was just exciting,” Tyson said. “First football game in the state. I had a lot of fun.”
He said he expected to make an impact this season and that he and his teammates have been working hard. As for the fumble recovery for a touchdown, he said, “I just saw it, picked it up and took it to the crib.”
Tyson almost wasn’t at Mainland this season.
“It’s rough. My parents are planning to move to Florida,” he said. “We had to find a way for me to stay. I’m happy that the Cooks took me in and I’m living good right now.”
He said it felt good to be with his teammate’s family and staying with his team this season.
“Look at it, we’re doing big things right now,” he said.
Freshman kicker Nate Kashey was perfect on the day, hitting the three extra points in the first half and two more in the second.
The Mustangs did a lot of grinding on the ground, moving the ball with a lot of short but steady gains up the middle as the offensive line dominated the Eagles.
That led to a 2-yard touchdown run by Cook in the third quarter and another 2-yard touchdown by sophomore Rocco DeBiaso in the fourth quarter.
Coach Smith said the offense was “sporadic at times” but put points on the board, and the defense was “awesome,” holding the Eagles scoreless. He told his players in the second half that they out-worked, out-conditioned, out-muscled and out-fought the Eagles.
He said the offense was “right-handed,” giving a game ball to DeFeo, the right tackle, for giving the running backs room.
DeFeo, he said, was All-Conference as a freshman last year.
“He is the heart and soul of our offensive line. He is really buying into coach (Clyde) Folsom’s rules and techniques and philosophies,” Smith said. “He was just dominating that right side.”
DeFeo said the Mustangs’ line is “pretty solid up front. We’ve got a lot of big guys, a lot of experience. And we dominate. That’s what we do.”
Getting named the defensive player of the game “felt pretty good, but I still have more to work on,” he added, giving credit to his teammates. “Without the backs, I wouldn’t have gotten noticed so it’s a team effort. The O-line blocked well. It wasn’t just me out there, it was the whole line blocking together.”
Smith attributed the early miscues mostly to nerves.
“Cohen Cook is the best athlete in our school. We wanted to get a package together with him,” he said. “We put a package in with Cook at quarterback and Cohen is a very soft-spoken guy and they had trouble hearing him and he was having some trouble with his snaps.”
Smith said they were rotating Cook and Franchini at quarterback “because we didn’t want to put a lot on the freshman’s plate, being the first year, the first game start. He hasn’t even sat in a high school chair yet. We wanted to keep it easy for him today. He made some great plays. He had a few mental mistakes with the passing game but he’s going to be the real deal down the road, I truly believe that.”
“It’s exhilarating for everyone being out here,” Franchini said about playing and seeing everyone in the stands. Asked what he is looking forward to this season, the Linwood resident said, “scoring, breaking records.”
Marlon Leslie was slated to be the quarterback for the Mustangs this year but the transfer from Pleasantville High School who played his junior season at Mainland decided late to play his senior season for the Greyhounds. He was still listed on the roster at quarterback. Cook is listed on the roster as a wide receiver and outside linebacker.
As the game went on, Smith said, the team’s conditioning showed, especially in the second half on a steamy-hot August day.
“We take a lot of pride in our conditioning. I don’t want to say we wore them out, but we were in better shape that second half than they were and that’s when things really started to get together for us.”
Talking about Tyson’s big game, Smith said the team is “expecting big things from him. He has really matured all around as a football player and I was so proud he had such a great game today on both sides of the ball … just a great performance by him.”
The coach said the opener augurs well for the season ahead.
“We’ll enjoy today and then it’s on to Ocean City,” he said.
The Mustangs will be back at Carey Stadium at 6 p.m. Thursday to take on the Red Raiders, who lost their opener Friday to Neshaminy (Pa.) High School, 21-0.
Ocean City and Mainland didn’t play until November last season — in a first-round playoff game — when the Red Raiders blew out the Mustangs 41-7.
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
