By TIM KELLY
Ocean City High School’s football team spent approximately two and a half hours on the bus — traveling 60 miles each way for a conference game at Pemberton, Burlington County, on Saturday.
In the end, it was the host team that wound up having the long day.
The undefeated Red Raiders improved their record to 7-0 on the season by laying a 37-0 smack down on the Hornets.
Junior quarterback Riley Gunnels hit Mike Gray with three TD passes, and connected on a 71-yard bomb to Jack Hoag for a fourth. Defensively, Ocean City racked up its fifth shutout of the season.
It was a great performance for OC, currently ranked 23rd statewide and third in South Jersey Group 4, according to the Max Preps website. A major local newspaper poll ranks them second overall in South Jersey.
Rankings are fun for fan discussions, but games must be won on the field, and Saturday’s contest left room for improvement, said Frank LaSasso, one of the Ocean City assistant coaches.
“Sometimes coming off a bye, you get out of rhythm with execution, and that certainly was the case today,” LaSasso remarked in a postgame text. “If we want to be successful in November and December, we have to clean things up in all three phases of the game.”
Specifically, LaSasso cited a need to reduce penalties, improve tackling and “have better overall execution.”
“With that being said, today we pressured the quarterback, and (forced) turnovers defensively,” he said.
The Raiders racked up six sacks, a safety and three interceptions by Nick Layton, Nassir Kelly and Jon Moyer, preventing the Hornet offense from ever seriously threatening.
On offense, LaSasso said the Raiders “ran the ball well and continued to stretch the field in the passing game.”
Ocean City is now 7-0 overall, 4-0 in the Independence Division of the West Jersey Football League. They have outscored the opposition by a combined 213-13. Pemberton slipped to 0-5 overall, 0-3 in the Independence.
Although playoff seedings have yet to be determined, it’s hard to imagine Ocean City not gaining one of the top spots. But even considering the speedbumps in the game, there is no such thing as an ugly win, LaSasso said.
“We’re always happy to come out of any game with a win,” he said.
The Raiders, who are 3-0 away from Carey Stadium, hope to keep the road show rolling next Friday at Oakcrest.
