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Google Maps says Long Branch High School is 85.9 miles from Ocean City. The geographical divide is the most obvious thing separating the Ocean City High football team from its opponent in Friday night’s playoff game, but certainly not the only thing. “I’ll be honest, I don’t know much at all about Long Branch,” Red Raider Head Coach Kevin Smith said following his team’s thrilling 21-14 win in their opening round playoff game at Mainland last Saturday. With the win, O.C. earned the right to travel up the Garden State Parkway for a 7 p.m. Friday date at Long Branch (4-5), the sixth-seeded team in the tournament.

Plunging temperatures, a “code blue” announcement by Cape May County officials and the first appearance of white particles in the sky failed to dampen the spirits of Ocean City folks on Tuesday. On the contrary, everyone we spoke to would rather discuss the colors in the sky at sunset, the rolling waves and the invigorating nature of the air. “There is no such thing as a bad day on the Ocean City Boardwalk,” said attorney Bryan George, an Ocean City resident whose law office at 1011 West Ave. is a short stroll away from the boards.

Five yards and 51 seconds separated Ocean City from its first football playoff victory in 18 years – or possibly its second loss to archrival Mainland in eight days. Mainland, which had trailed the Red Raiders 21-7 with under seven minutes to play, had come roaring back with a nine-play, 80-yard scoring drive, a defensive stop and a hook-and-lateral gadget play to advance the ball 53 yards inside the Ocean City 10. But the Red Raiders held on to capture a dramatic 21-14 win and advance to the second round of the state playoffs.

Revenge is a dish best served piping hot. At least that’s what the Ocean City High School football team and its fans could be thinking since the state football playoff pairings were announced earlier in the week. The pairings gurus at the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association decided it would be a good idea to renew one of the area’s most intense rivalries for a first round playoff game. It will come just eight days removed from the undefeated Mustangs’ 21-6 conquest at Mainland in front of a huge crowd. Originally set for Friday night, the postseason game was re-scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Stangs’ Linwood campus, due to “unspecified security precautions,” according to published reports.

Unbeaten Mainland Regional used big plays and a stingy defense Friday night to hand Ocean City’s football team a 21-6 defeat in the biggest rivalry game of the year for both schools. The Mustangs, who raised their overall record to 8-0, took over first place and clinched at least a tie for the West Jersey Football League Independence Division. With the loss, Ocean City fell to 6-2 overall, 4-1 in the Independence. The Raiders are still in the state playoff picture and have a shot to tie Mainland for the Independence title.

Prepare to be amazed. According to stage veteran Michael Hartman, that is the only advice needed for audience members of the Greater Ocean City Theatre Company’s production of “Little Shop of Horrors.” “The talent level is pretty epic,” said Hartman, Ocean City’s special events coordinator who volunteered with the OCTC in preparation for the show. The show takes place 7:30 p.m. on two nights, this Friday and Saturday, at the Ocean City Music Pier, on the Boardwalk at Moorlyn Terrace.

The former Wiesenthal's Auto Service Center and adjoining Grace Oil gasoline station at the high-profile Ocean City corner of Ninth Street and West Avenue are no more. The family-owned and operated repair shop and gas station had been in business at the location for 51 years and for 73 years overall in Ocean City, but that tradition ended last November when the business lost its lease, Republic Bank purchased the site and plans were announced for development of a new Republic Bank location and parking lot at the site. Wiesenthal's ceased operations earlier in this year and its former gas station, owned and operated by Grace Oil in recent years, also closed and then re-opened for the summer tourism season while demolition plans were being finalized. The next phase of the development plan was completed on Tuesday when a demolition crew bulldozed the site of the former iconic businesses in less than a full day’s work.

It’s tempting to think that the Ocean City High School football team’s biggest rival in Saturday’s game at Oakcrest is overconfidence. The Red Raiders, who improved their overall record to 5-1 last week with a dominating 45-0 win over Triton, appear to some to be in another mismatch against the Falcons (2-5 overall, 1-2 in the West Jersey Football League’s Independence Division). That outlook would be a mistake, according to Ocean City Head Coach Kevin Smith. “Oakcrest is a hard place to play, and it seems like any time we play them we are in for a tough time,” Smith said following the Triton game. The game kicks off at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Oakcrest’s Mays Landing campus.

Red and White Weekend, Ocean City's extended menu of Homecoming activities and events, climaxed on Sunday with the annual Ocean City Sports Hall of Fame Awards luncheon. A large crowd was on hand at the high school's Bill and Nancy Hughes Performing Arts Center to see some of the most legendary athletes (and a coach and a team) receive accolades for their heroics on the field, court or track. The inductees included longtime football Coach Gary Degenhardt, who won 101 games, the school record; and the 2010 baseball team, the first Ocean City baseball team to win a South Jersey title on the field, coached by Craig Mensinger.

Sophomore running back Jacob Wilson scored his first two varsity touchdowns and older brother Isaac, a senior, rushed for two more to help Ocean City to a 45-0 win over Triton Friday night in front of a large Homecoming crowd at Carey Stadium. It was a physical and sometimes chippy game, but Ocean City left no doubt it had bounced back from its lone defeat of the year, a 35-3 loss at St. Augustine on Oct. 5.