By KEN WISNEFSKI
Ocean City’s originally scheduled Championship Game set for Friday night at Carey Field against Camden High School has been cancelled.
“The only definite that I know was that I was contacted by the school (Camden) yesterday morning and was told, ‘It was too far to travel.’ I had hoped for some other options such as a neutral site. But nothing came through,” stated Ocean City Athletic Director Geoff Haines.
“Plain and simple – they (Camden) chose not to play. They were not willing to meet us at least part of the way and so we had to move on,” said Ocean City Head Coach Kevin Smith.
And move on, they did. Ocean City is now set to play perennial North Jersey powerhouse DePaul Catholic, from Wayne, N.J., this Friday night at 6 p.m. at Carey Field.
“It will be a huge step up in competition but we felt the challenge was worth it to get our seniors one last home game and a final opportunity (one they earned!) to play in front of their families,” Smith stated. “A big thank you to our athletic director, Geoff Haines, for working hard yesterday to try to make the Camden game happen and for helping us with DePaul. I can assure you, Geoff did everything in his power to try to make it work with Camden.”
Ocean City enters the game undefeated on the season at 6-0, while DePaul Catholic comes to town with a 2-2 record.
Joe Schneider, father of standout Senior Jake Schneider, was asked about his feelings from parent’s perspective.
He said, “The Ocean City football program has had an unbelievable resurgence the last few years. This team earned a home playoff game. It is unfortunate that Camden cannot make the trip, but we are now getting the opportunity to play a higher quality opponent at home. Kudos to AD Haines, Coach Smith and the entire coaching staff for their leadership through this difficult season. I am proud to be a supporter of this historic 2020 team.”
Due to ongoing crowd restrictions, the game can be seen via YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvxvREf1YCw
Good luck to the Ocean City football team from the staff here at the OCNJDaily!
