By Tim Kelly
Two football teams in search of an identity clash Friday night at Carey Stadium, when Ocean City High School hosts St. Augustine Prep. Kickoff in this intriguing non-league game is set for 7 p.m.
The Raiders are 3-0 and have looked very impressive at times. However, their opponents have a combined record of 2-9 thus far. A win over the perennially tough Hermits would give them a resume-building win.
St. Augustine is a very misleading 2-2. The Hermits lost to State College, Pa., on Aug. 31, and to St. Joseph, generally regarded as one of the very best squads in South Jersey, two weeks ago.
Their wins came at the expense of Lenape and Shawnee, both in convincing fashion. They are 2-1 in-state, and sit in a first place tie with Williamstown atop the West Jersey Football League’s American Division standings at 2-0.
On the other hand, all four of their games were in the friendly confines of their Richland campus. The trip to Ocean City is the Hermits’ first road game of the season.
Ocean City is coming off its best defensive performance of the season, a 9-0 victory last Friday night at Absegami. It was the Red Raiders’ first shutout since a 41-0 shellacking of West Windsor Plainsboro South last year. Austin Green, who earned a game ball, had three sacks and was in the Braves’ backfield most of the night, as was Brandon Lin, who notched a pair of sacks and forced a fumble.
It was “a great effort,” Raiders Defensive Coordinator Sean Matthews said on the team’s website. “Our effort put us in the position to be successful. We have smart kids who play hard for one another.”
Of course, the most important defensive stat is points allowed, and the Raiders have yielded just 26 all season (8.6) per game, with some of those scores coming off turnovers and on special teams breakdowns.
On Friday night, Ocean City will have to stop a Hermits run game that averages 123.5 yards per game, with Nassir Hill accounting for roughly half of that. Quarterback Chris Allen has passed for just under 100 yards per game.
Ocean City’s offense has sputtered at times. The running game wasn’t there in the first half of a 41-20 home win over Bridgeton, but Quarterback Ian Aungst and receiver Brandon Lashley made up for that, combining for three passing TDs and a 35-yard hookup that set up a score.
Aungst was 10 for 22 for 127 yards and the three TDs. He also had a 2-yard rushing touchdown.
The offensive line will have its work cut out this week protecting Aungst against linebacker Joe Bonczek, who averages 10.3 tackles a game, and pass rusher Joe Kolonich, who averages 1.1 sacks.
Last week’s win at Absegami probably should not have been as close as it was. A first quarter strip sack of the ’Gami QB set the Raiders up at the Braves’ 30, and they advanced the ball to the 8-yard line.
But the drive fizzled there on downs. It took a Henry Suoto 24-yard field goal in the third quarter to break a scoreless tie. Ocean City had other lost opportunities that could have led to points as well.
But all things considered, the Raiders aren’t complaining. They are currently alone at the top of the WJFL Independence Division at 3-0, followed by Mainland and Oakcrest, both 2-0 in the division. That record will stand regardless of Friday’s outcome, and next week’s game, a 6 p.m. non-league matchup at Triton.
