By TIM KELLY
A football schedule is a football schedule. Unless you’re a football geek, as many folks are this time of year.
In that case, a football schedule is a much-anticipated menu of future Saturday matchups and Friday night highlights. That makes the release of the “sked” a big deal.
Schedule release day came for Ocean City High School on Saturday.
“It’s a challenging one,” Head Coach Kevin Smith said of the slate, which opens with five straight games against 2019 playoff teams.
“Iron sharpens iron,” Smith added, quoting Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin.
It is a schedule worthy of a team coming off a 9-3 season, the best in 20 years, and the Red Raiders’ third straight playoff berth, placing them among the South Jersey high school football elite. They won two playoff games and reached the sectional final for the first time since 2000.
Along the way there were plenty of storylines to accompany the great football taking place between the lines at Carey Stadium (where they played just four games in 2019) and on the road, where the Raiders were one of the toughest guests in the region, going 5-3.
There was the scorching hot start, with Ocean City blanking its first three opponents by a combined score of 126-0. Absegami became the first team to score on O.C., albeit on the short end of a fourth consecutive blowout, 44-6.
Perennial power St. Augustine shattered O.C.’s invincibility with a convincing 35-3 triumph in Richland on Oct. 10. The Raiders returned to form the next two weeks with a 45-0 blowout at home over Triton and a 34-7 romp at Oakcrest.
Lest anyone think it would be a cakewalk from there, what followed was a heartbreaker of a loss at Mainland, costing Ocean City the West Jersey Football League Independence championship, and the “Battle of the Bridge.” The archrivals’ annual collision, AKA “the War at the Shore,” was contested for the first time for a trophy and the right to light up the Ninth Street Causeway Bridge with the victorious school’s colors.
As fate would have it, the Raiders were assigned to return to the Mustang Corral in Linwood just eight days later for their opening round NJSIAA Group IV playoff game.
“They can have the Battle of the Bridge,” Smith told his charges after the Raiders avenged the loss, 21-14, on a game that came down to the last play. “We’re moving on in the playoffs.”
That emotional win was followed by an improbable matchup – O.C.’s first ever at Long Branch, a school located in the northern reaches of Monmouth County. It was odd assigning by the state’s governing body in the South Jersey section of the tournament. NJSIAA officials explained it as a move to improve the postseason seedings.
Seedings fairness or not, the matchup didn’t make it easy for the Raiders and their parents and fans to trek to the game.
Following a two-hour bus ride, all the Raiders did was send the Green Wave packing, 21-20. They ousted the defending Central Jersey champs on their own field. In doing so they earned a berth in the South Jersey title game at Shawnee, where the playoff journey reached its end – but not before O.C. put in a representative effort.
There was still one more game to play, Thanksgiving Day at home against traditional foe Pleasantville, one of the oldest holiday rivalries in the state.
The Raiders’ 26-0 win capped off their season on a victorious note and helped the Greyhounds’ program to heal following a tragedy in their Nov. 15 home playoff game against Camden. Gunshots rang out at the game, cutting it short in the third quarter and claiming the life of 10-year-old fan Micah Tennant, an innocent child caught in the crossfire.
Suspects from Atlantic City with no connection to Pleasantville or Camden were quickly apprehended by Pleasantville police and charged. The playoff game was concluded at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, as the NFL Eagles reached out and offered their facility in a gesture of healing.
Ocean City took the baton from there. A moment of silence took place for Micah before the Thanksgiving game, commemorative helmet decals worn by the players and a collection was taken up, raising more than $1,000 to help Micah’s family.
With such a memorable year in the books and with so much success, O.C. coaches, players and fans were still left wanting more. Though the WJFL Independence and South Jersey Group 4 titles eluded the Red Raiders, a 2020 roster loaded with returning starters, including many of the main cogs of an explosive offense and stingy defense will be back. This is justifiable cause for such anticipation.
Following is the 2020 schedule. All starting times are yet to be announced.
Thursday, Sept. 3, Holy Spirit, Carey Stadium: The Spartans took the non-public group I South Jersey championship last year and return their starting quarterback and top running back. This game promises to be among the best opening week matchups in South Jersey.
Friday, Sept. 11 at Hammonton: The Raiders’ first road game is a difficult one to say the least against the defending Central Jersey champs of Group 4. The Raiders must find a way to contain star running back Jaiden Abrams, a threat to take it to the house any time he touches the ball.
Friday, Sept. 18, at Absegami: The Braves only went 5-5 last year and Ocean City crushed them 44-6. Despite this, Ocean City can’t afford to take ‘Gami lightly, as it’s never easy for visitors at the Braves’ Galloway home. Talented QB Ray Weed returns, as does his best receiver, Jordan Marcucci.
Friday, Sept. 25, Mainland at Carey Stadium: The last time their archrivals invaded Carey Stadium, Mainland won on a long walk-off field goal. The Stangs will be looking to avenge their loss in the playoffs in this renewal of the “Battle of the Bridge.”
Friday, Oct. 2, at Seneca: This is a glamour matchup pitting tradition-laden Ocean City vs. the Golden Eagles, the newest high school in the football-rich Lenape school district, which also includes Shawnee. Seneca, based in Tabernacle, had an identical record to O.C. last year (9-3) and made it to the Central Jersey Group 3 semis. It is the schools’ first-ever meeting in football.
Friday, Oct. 9, Egg Harbor Township at Carey Stadium: If the schedule has a soft spot, this could be it. Or it could be the dreaded “trap game?” Ocean City has beaten the Eagles three straight times, including last year’s 49-0 rout. It is the Raiders’ final outing before their bye week.
Friday, Oct. 23, Pemberton at Carey Stadium: The Pems’ heritage is traced to the large school division of the old Burlington County League, where they were a perennial power. The Raiders haven’t seen much of the Hornets over the years and they can be difficult to scout. Many of the players are kids from military families who move frequently and are stationed at the nearby Army and Air Force base.
Friday, Oct. 30, Oakcrest at Carey Stadium: Last year, the Raiders had a three-game stretch on the road. This time around they enjoy their third straight home contest against Oakcrest. Ocean City routed the Falcons 34-7 in Mays Landing last year and hope for a similar outcome in the friendly confines of Carey.
Thursday, Nov. 26, at Pleasantville: The Greyhounds are a giant question mark following Chris Sacco’s recent announcement that he would be stepping down as head coach. The Hounds always have a talented roster and always show up to play hard in this game, which will be its 99th meeting. Sacco brought Pleasantville back from a lengthy drought, and the core of the program he built is a nice inheritance for his successor.
