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OCHS moves up slightly in Group 3 after Walsh, Donoghue spark win over LCMR By TOM WILLIAMS (10/30/16) Ocean City won its third straight football game for the first time in three years last Friday with a 34-0 win over Lower Cape May. Seniors Dan Walsh and Andrew Donoghue, possibly playing their final game at Carey Stadium, led the way. Walsh ran for a career high 104 yards, scored two touchdowns and made five solo tackles. Donoghue was 10-for-17 throwing the ball for 115 yards and a TD, passing 1,000 yards for the season along the way.
With the victory, Ocean City advanced slightly in the NJSIAA Group 3 power points, moving up from 11th to 10th. The Raiders will need to win on Saturday at St. Joseph to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2008. If Ocean City does not win in Hammonton on Saturday it will likely either play a consolation game at Camden or at home with Seneca, though there are lots of other possible combinations. In Friday night's win, the Raiders took the ball away from Lower Cape May five times. Garret Benvenuti intercepted two passes, one in the third quarter stopped a Lower drive and started a 90-yard march by the Raiders that ended with a six-yard TD run by Walsh. In the fourth period, Ed Mejia recovered a fumble leading to a five-yard scoring run by Liam Bergman. Ocean City's first score was a 24-yard pass from Donoghue to Matt Lashley (3 catches, 54 yards) that led to a 7-0 lead at halftime. On the third play of the third quarter, Walsh released his internal sprinter and flew 51 yards for a TD, pulling away from the pursuing defenders. Ocean City's other score was a 33-yard run by Bergman in the fourth quarter. Though he did not score, Issac Robertson rushed for 90 yards. "Issac and Liam are getting better every week," said OCHS coach Kevin Smith. "Liam is finally healthy. That helps a lot." In addition to Benevenuti's two picks (he has three this season) and Mejia's recovery, Lower Cape May fumbles were also recovered by Anthony Kenny and Billy Kroeger. It was the second fumble recovery of the season for both Kenny and Mejia. Donoghue finished the game with 1,084 passing yards this season. The school record is 1,567 by Chris Curran in 2009. Donoghue's career total entering Saturday's game is 2,838 yards, second best in OCHS history. He passed Matt LeFever on Friday night and is 173 yards away from Al Genz's school record. The win was No. 20 for Smith, moving him up into a tie for sixth in Ocean City history with John Cervino and Mark Impagliazzo. EXTRA POINTS: Ocean City has turned the ball over 10 times this season but has taken it away from opponents 19 times...Matt Lashley is among the CAL leaders in pass receiving with 290 yards in 19 catches...Will Johnson and Chad DiDonna led the Raiders with nine tackles, symbolic of how the Raiders controlled the line of scrimmage. Alex Morales made three solos, second to the five by Walsh...Aaron Cottrell led the Tigers with 14 tackles, including five solos, two for losses and an interception...Ocean City outgained Lower, 367-87, in total yards...St. Joseph comes into Saturday's game with two straight losses, including a 42-0 defeat by St. Augustine last Friday. The last time St. Joe lost on three straight weeks was in 1973 when Wildcats coach Paul Sacco was a junior in high school. He is South Jersey's all-time leader with 303 wins...you can watch the OCHS-LCMR 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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