Red Raider football wraps up successful but odd fall with a half-game
CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
OCEAN CITY — A fantastic football season for the Ocean City Red Raiders came to an abrupt and unexpected end Wednesday night when the visiting Williamstown Braves were ordered to withdraw immediately at halftime due to coronavirus concerns.
Head coach Kevin Smith said Williamstown’s athletic director called to inform the Braves’ coach that a player who had been practicing with the team all week — but who had not made the trip for the game — tested positive for COVID-19.
“As the first half was ending they got the result and the A.D. told them that’s it,” Smith said.
It was just another strange experience in a strange, pandemic-plagued year for the Red Raiders, who went 5-0 in the regular season with big wins over cross-bay rival Mainland Regional High School (63-0) and others, as well as earning a marquee victory (12-7) over St. Joseph Academy in the first round of the West Jersey Football League Pod B playoffs.
The team had not beaten the Wildcats since 1976, a 10-game streak that included a 46-7 drubbing the last time they met, Nov. 3, 2017. It was one of the highlights of the season, which also included victories over Absegami (49-7), Oakcrest (48-0), Cedar Creek (45-7) and Millville (36-16). Repetti also set the school record for touchdown passes in a career.
After topping the Wildcats, the Red Raiders were scheduled to take on Camden High School in the Pod B final at home but the Panthers had to withdraw due to COVID-19.
The players were aware all season that the next practice, let alone game, was never assured.
“We came out here every single day and gave it everything we had for Ocean City. We played like every game, every practice was going to be our last one and it’s finally here and this season is going to be unforgettable,” Repetti said.
That’s when the school arranged a game with northern New Jersey private-school powerhouse DePaul Catholic.
The Red Raiders hosted the Spartans in what was a meaningless game as far as playoffs were concerned and, unfortunately for Ocean City, four turnovers contributed to a lopsided victory for DePaul (49-22).
Ocean City had a dream start to the game, sacking the Spartans quarterback and stopping its running back on the first drive before scoring a safety with another sack in the end zone.
The Red Raiders then took the ensuing free kick downfield in a 10-play, 43-yard drive, converting three 3rd-down attempts and ending with a 1-yard touchdown run by senior Jake Inserra for an 8-0 lead. Junior placekicker Brendan McGonigle put the extra point through the uprights to make it 9-0.
After the Spartans scored on a long touchdown pass to cut the lead to 9-7, Ocean City again went up by 9 points when Repetti toted the ball across the line for a touchdown and a 16-7 lead.
But the Red Raiders were not able to hold off the Spartans’ high-powered offense and lost the lead, and the game, before halftime when DePaul scored to make it 21-16. It was all Spartans from there on.
It was a disappointing loss for the players and coaches, who felt they had a good chance to beat Camden in the title game.
“I think we were going to win the Group IV playoffs, I think we were going to win that pod championship,” Smith said.
A small consolation was that the Red Raiders had another chance to end the season on a high note during their traditional Thanksgiving game against Pleasantville, albeit not at home. However, Pleasantville was forced to cancel, also due to coronavirus issues.
“We thought we were done. We said goodbye to everybody on Monday. We had our final practice, had our goodbyes with the seniors and then the administration came back Monday night and said we could still get the game on,” Smith said.
The district arranged to play Williamstown, the reigning Group V champion that had beaten St. Augustine Prep for the Pod C championship the previous week.
Ocean City won the toss and deferred receiving the kickoff until the second half, a kickoff that would never come.
Williamstown began the drive at its own 38-yard line and, on a series of runs, moved the line of scrimmage down to Ocean City’s 37-yard line before the Braves quarterback Dougie Brown threw a touchdown pass to wide receiver Keon Sabb. The extra point made it 7-0. Ocean City did register a sack on the drive when Brown bobbled a snap and lineman Mike Rhodes tackled him as he fell on the ball.
The Red Raiders started their first drive from their own 31-yard line. Repetti picked up 15 on the ground in two plays before throwing an interception that was returned to Ocean City’s 22-yard line. Four plays later it was 13-0 Braves, with the extra point stretching the lead to 14-0.
Ocean City responded with a 15-play, 69-yard drive ending in Repetti’s record-setting touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Jake Schneider. It was his 31st career touchdown pass (20 in 2019, 11 in 2020, as well as 7 and 6 rushing).
The drive included five first downs, two third-down conversions and a fourth-down conversion. Inserra picked up 24 yards rushing, Repetti carried for 21 yards and threw for 15 to Schneider and junior Sean Mazzitelli ran for 9.
Senior Timmy Waller returned the kickoff to the Raiders’ 31-yard line.
On first down, Inserra and the offensive line pushed the pile forward for 6 yards. Inserra then bulled his way for 7 more. Repetti ran to the 50-yard line, from where Mazzitelli picked up 9 on two plays.
Repetti then hit Schneider for an 11-yard gain before picking up 8 more on the ground. On 4th-and-2, Inserra picked up a hard-fought 3, giving the Red Raiders a first down at the Braves’ 19.
Repetti and Inserra took turns picking up middling yardage until, on 3rd-and-goal from the 4, Repetti found Schneider in the end zone for the score. The extra point failed but the Red Raiders had cut the lead to 14-6.
Trying to keep the momentum going, Ocean City went for the onside kick but failed to recover, setting Williamstown up at its own 46-yard line. The Braves quickly picked up 15 yards on the ground, but the Red Raiders put the cap on running back Lorenzo Hines, forcing a 4th-and-3 from Ocean City’s 34-yard line.
An unfortunate encroachment penalty gave the Braves a first down, but the Red Raiders defense, a unit that has been a huge part of the team’s success this season, followed that play with a 7-yard sack and forced Williamstown into a 4th-and-11 from the 31. The Braves called a timeout, then returned to the field and Brown threw a 15-yard pass for a first down at the 16. Four plays later it was 21-6 Williamstown.
After starting from its 20, Ocean City picked up a first down on an 11-yard run by Inserra but then were forced to punt.
The Braves started their next drive from their own 32-yard line and finished it in the end zone. Hines ran for 61 yards and the Red Raiders could not catch up.
Ocean City began its next drive from the 20 after a touchback, and Repetti quickly went to work, connecting with senior wide receiver Brady Rauner for 11 yards and Schneider for 10. Inserra then picked up 7 with a nifty hop over a defender but the drive stalled at midfield, forcing another punt.
Williamstown began its next drive from its own 8-yard line with 1:33 left in the half and a couple of runs ran the clock out.
During the break, the referees gathered in the middle of the field and announced that Williamstown would not be finishing the game and was told to return to the school at once.
Smith was stunned by yet another twist in an extraordinary season.
“We obviously played a pretty poor first half but this ending was surreal. The whole year has been surreal, obviously, but these guys are devastated right now. The last two weeks — I don’t even know how to describe it,” Smith said. “It started with Camden pulling out, trying to find a game, playing that powerhouse from North Jersey just to get these guys a game. Then Pleasantville pulling out, scrambling — this game was on, then it was off, then it was on again — it’s been an emotional roller-coaster for these guys.”
The players were understandably upset at not being able to finish their final game, especially the seniors.
“It hurts to see it go out like this but we know that we gave it everything that we had and we are going out with nothing left on the table,” Repetti said.
He said he would never forget his teammates and he was not disappointed with how it ended.
“We just all bonded as brothers over 12 years that we’ve all known each other, and we were all looking forward to this year knowing we were going to be something special,” Repetti said. “Just because we went down to DePaul and the first-half score of this game, that doesn’t mean anything about this program. They came out tougher than us. We weren’t ready to play. DePaul is a big power private school every single year. We beat St. Joe’s, we beat Mainland 63-0.
“This is definitely a special group of guys and I am going to miss doing this every year every week in the fall.”
The coach said his players should not let the situation sully their success.
“We went and played DePaul Catholic and the defending Group V champs in back-to-back weeks. We went out and got those games because we wanted to challenge ourselves and we wanted to give the seniors the opportunity,” Smith said. “It’s not a letdown; I’m happy they had the opportunity to play against this great competition. They will always remember this stuff. I just hope that how it ended won’t affect the way that they reflect on the season, it was an amazing season for these guys. I am so proud of them.”
