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Despite win over Mainland, Raiders drop in Group 3 rankings By TOM WILLIAMS (10/23/16) Ocean City ended its frustrations against Mainland last Friday night with a 30-7 win at the Mustang Corral before a laege and enthusiastic crowd. Andrew Donoghue threw for 135 yards and a touchdown, his fifth straight 100-yard game and the 11th of his career Both Dan Walsh and Issac Robertson scored twice and the Raiders had a pair of takeaways, an interception by Brandon Lashley and a recovered fumble by Tom Meehan.
Yet, despite all that, Ocean City dropped from a tie for ninth to 11th in the NJSIAA Group 3 power points. Two of the Raiders closest competitors in Group 3 - Camden and Deptford - both lost but still ended up ahead of OCHS. The top four teams in Group 3 - Wall Township, Burlington Township, Pemberton and Lacey are all pretty much out of reach for Ocean City. Currently, Delsea is fifth, Oakcrest sixth, Hamilton seventh and Lakewood eighth. The top eight qualify for the playoffs. Camden is ninth, Deptford 10th and the Raiders are 11th. Ocean City will be favored in Friday night's game at Carey Stadium with Lower Cape May. But the Tigers are a Group 2 team with only one win so there are not many power points available. The remaining OCHS game before the NJSIAA deadline is with St. Joseph and the Raiders might need to win that game to qualify for the first time since 2008. In the win over Mainland, which has lost its first six games on the field for the first time in school history, the Mustangs drove 90 yards for a first period touchdown, a two-yard run by senior Tahir Campbell (20 carries, 72 yards), to take their first lead of the season. After that it was all Ocean City. Robertson completed a 74-yard drive with a two-yard TD run on the final play of the first quarter. Ocean City moved 95 yards in 11 plays in the second quarter and scored when Donoghue (12 for 24) hit a wide-open Walsh from two yards out. OCHS got two points on a safety in the third quarter when the ball was snapped past MRHS quarterback Sahmir Jones into the end zone. And the Raiders scored after the ensuing kickoff when Walsh (seven carries, 69 yards) ran 24 yards for a touchdown. In the fourth period, Robertson (15 carries, 55 yards) scored from five yards out following the fumble recovery by Meehan after the fumble was forced by Chad DiDonna. This marked the first time that OCHS coach Kevin Smith had defeated his alma mater in four tries. Mainland coach Chuck Smith also played for the Mustangs and had beaten the Raiders in his only two previous meetings, when he coached at Oakcrest. The two coaches were teammates on the 1983 Mainland team which lost to the Raiders, 28-0. EXTRA POINTS: Andrew Donoghue increased his career passing yardage to 2,723, the third highest in OCHS history. He enters Friday night's game with Lower Cape May 95 yards behind No. 2 Matt LeFever...Donoghue has not only passed the ball more and completed more passes than any QB in OCHS history, he laso has punted the ball 119 times, a school record...Brandon Lin led the Raiders with nine tackles, including five solos. Tom Meehan made six tackles and Dan Walsh five...Dalton Raring led the Mustangs with 13 tackles, including six solos. Rich DiNofrio also had six solos...Ocean City is now plus-6 in takeaways this season...in his senior year at Mainland, Kevin Smith scored two TDs, ran for 149 yards and had 199 yards as a receiver...you can watch the OCHS-MRHS game online at OceanCitySports.com, along with previous games. Complete season stats and prior boxscores are also available at OceanCitySports.com... |
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