Teams trade four touchdowns in the last two and a half minutes
CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE – Ocean City High School clinched a playoff spot after a wild fourth-quarter comeback against Middle Township High School that saw the teams trade four touchdowns in the final two minutes and 19 seconds.
In their highest-scoring game of the season, the Ocean City Red Raiders stunned the Middle Township Panthers 38-34 on Oct. 11.
The two teams combined for five touchdowns in the fourth quarter as Raider captain J.P. Forster landed the knockout punch.
Down 34-31 with 27 seconds left on the clock, the Raiders got the ball back with two timeouts. Forster started the drive with a 48-yard catch from quarterback Walker Bailey to put the Raiders into field goal range, but Bailey and the offense were uninterested in overtime. They had 11 seconds to finish it with a touchdown.
On second down from the 9-yard line, Bailey threw it high in the corner of the end zone where only Forster could catch it. Forster leaped over his defender and came down with Ocean City’s biggest touchdown of the season with only six seconds remaining.
“I knew I had to step up to get this done,” Forster said. “I’m a senior captain and I have this patch for a reason, and I knew I needed to make a play. Credit to Walker Bailey. He put the ball right where it needed to be and put the faith in me to make a play.”
Forster finished the game with five catches for 199 yards and two touchdowns. He also made all five of Ocean City’s extra points and a field goal as the team’s place kicker.
“J.P. is a hell of a player and he needs to get the recognition he deserves,” Bailey said. “He’s kicking, playing defense, playing offense, just making plays all over the place.”
Ocean City jumped out to a 14-0 lead six minutes into the game but fell into a rut until the explosive fourth quarter. Middle Township took the lead in the third quarter after a Raider punt was blocked and recovered in the end zone by Jaeden McGaha for a touchdown.
The Raiders gained only eight yards in the entire third quarter and needed a spark on offense to get back into the game.
They trailed 20-17 heading into the fourth.
Ocean City adjusted and came out in a high-tempo offense after the blocked punt. Running back Triston Schmidt gained 40 bruising yards on the ground in one minute as the Raiders kept hustling back on offense as soon as each play was done. That knocked the Panthers out of their rhythm.
Bailey later reached the end zone on the ground for his first touchdown of the fourth quarter to regain the lead, 24-20.
After the game, Ocean City head coach Kevin Smith credited that drive as a key in their comeback victory.
“Offensively we went to some tempo which I think helped us get back into the end zone,” Smith said. “I believe that gave us our confidence back on offense. Defensively we will have to hit the film room, but honestly it just felt like whoever had the ball last was going to win the game.”
Ocean City retook the lead and kicked off to Middle Township with 10:56 remaining in the game. Bailey and the Raider offense would not see the ball again until there was only 2:19 on the clock.
Middle Township converted two fourth downs on a 15-play drive that took nearly nine minutes out of the fourth quarter. Panthers’ running back Remi Rodriguez scored from a yard out to give his team a 27-24 lead.
Outside of field goal range, the Raiders were faced with a crucial fourth down. The dynamic duo of Bailey and Forster struck gold when Ocean City needed them the most.
Forster hauled in a perfect pass from Bailey over the middle of the field and broke free. He picked up blocks downfield from fellow wide receivers, crossed the field and ran 55 yards for the go-ahead touchdown.
Up 31-27 with 1:02 left in the game, Forster seemed to make the game-winning play for the Raiders and silenced the home crowd.
It was far from the end of the game.
In only three plays, the Panthers managed to sprint 55 yards down the field. Chase Moore caught a 25-yard touchdown pass for the game’s fourth lead change in the fourth quarter. Middle Township created its own miracle to win the game, leading 34-31, but they left a bit too much time on the clock.
Coach Smith said after the game he believed the team that had the ball last would win, and luckily for the Raiders, they got one last chance with 27 seconds remaining.
Bailey connected with Forster once again on a long pass with the game in doubt as Panther tacklers took down Forster at the 9-yard line. Two plays later the duo scored their second game-winning touchdown.
To make sure there weren’t any last-second heroics from the Panthers, Raider defensive ends T.J. Santarpio and Jake Chapman combined with defensive lineman Clifford Dirkes to pressure Middle’s quarterback and got him on the run on the final play of the game before Santarpio sacked him.
Bailey finished the game with 268 total yards and three touchdowns.
“I was confident in our ability on that final drive to score again,” Bailey said. “When we scored, and they came right back, it was tough because you think you win in that second. But you cannot give up on your guys and we made the plays to pull it out.”
Ocean City never trailed by more than three points but looked unstoppable at the very beginning.
Schmidt and freshman Jackson Becker scored the first 14 points for the Raiders. Outside of an important Forster field goal in the second quarter the Raiders nev er got anything else going until the fourth.
Smith emphasized afterward how they cannot get away with that kind of play as the schedule gets tougher closer to the postseason.
“In a way it is a good learning game because we definitely played our worst game of the year,” Smith said. “There is an awful lot we are going to have to build on, but we managed to get a win, which is a silver lining. We have arguably the best team on our schedule next week in Holy Spirit, so you go from pulling this one out at the last second to hoping we can learn the lessons we need to learn and carry the momentum into next week.”
The Raiders improved to 5-2 and will be in the playoffs again this season. Before that begins the team will head home and face a strong Holy Spirit team on Oct. 18. Ocean City’s homecoming game against Holy Spirit High School will kick off at 6 p.m. in Carey Stadium.
– STORY by WILLIAM TRUITT/For the Sentinel
– PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
