By Tim Kelly
This was Ocean City-Mainland to the max. The high-energy game featured two evenly matched teams going at it for 48 minutes. Unfortunately for the Raiders, “The War at the Shore” did not have a happy ending.
Sean Corey booted a wind-aided 41-yard field goal with three seconds left on the clock to lead Mainland to a wild 24-21 win at gusty Carey Stadium.
“It’s hard to complain when you lose on a 40-yard field goal,” Ocean City coach Kevin Smith said. “We had that great drive to tie it and (Mainland) did what they had to do in the limited amount of time they had available.”
Ocean City had tied the game by driving 80 yards on 12 plays in the last four minutes, against the wind, highlighted by Ian Aungst’s two passes for 20 and 18 yards, respectively, to Billy Kroeger and the 14-yard drive-capper, also to Kroeger.
The drive was made even more impressive by the gusting wind coming off the ocean and blowing directly into the faces of the Red Raiders. The National Weather Service said the gusts were topping 50 mph in Ocean City.
The drive set up the crucial two-point conversion, with Aungst finding Brandon Lashley in the corner of the end zone, knotting the score at 21.
Mainland (6-2 overall, 4-0 league) clinched an NJSIAA playoff berth with the win, as well as the West Jersey Football League Independence Division title.
Ocean City dropped to 3-4 overall, 3-1 in the league. After starting out 3-0, the Raiders have now dropped four straight games.
“We’re still mathematically alive (for the playoffs) but I can’t think about that now,” Smith said afterwards.
Ocean City scored first when Jake Schneider ran back a punt to the Mustangs’ 40 and Aungst hit on a 19-yarder to Schneider, and got 14 more to Lashley. Then Aungst found Lashley in the right corner of the end zone for the TD. Brandon McGonigle’s PAT made it 7-0 late in the first quarter.
Mainland came back after OC failed to convert a fourth-and-one at the Mainland 48, and quarterback Dean Hall engineered a seven-play scoring drive capped by a 12-yard Joe Salome run and Corey booted the PAT to tie it.
On Mainland’s next possession, Ocean City defenders Austin Green, Travis Stoerrie and Will Drain forced a Mustang fumble, which Brandon Lin pounced on at the Mainland 43.
Then Smith dipped into his bag of trick plays and Lashley took the ball on a reverse and launched a perfect 31-yard pass to Jaden Toci-Rogers, and Aungst capped the drive with a four-yard run to the right side of the Mainland defense. The kick failed, making it 13-7 OC.
Mainland grabbed its first lead late in the third when Joe Massari ran for 31 yards on a reverse and Corey’s extra point made it 14-13 Mainland.
Things looked particularly bleak for the Raiders after Mainland upped the lead to 21-13 on a 69-yard 10-play drive and another Corey point after.
Then, after Ocean City’s valiant game-tying drive, Corey lined up for his game-winning boot.
“It felt amazing coming off my foot, I knew I had a chance to make it, especially with the wind,” Corey said. “I wasn’t nervous at all.”
Both teams shook hands and had left the field when the officials discovered three seconds remained on the clock.
The squads returned to the field for the kickoff, which sailed out of bounds, giving OC one last shot from their 40. But the pass failed as time expired.
