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September 15, 2004

Friday Night Lights

By TOM WILLIAMS
Sports Columnist


It was a different Carey Stadium last Friday night.

The lights through the windows of the new high school offered a soft glow at the west end of the field and Gillian's giant ferris wheel loomed along the boardwalk.

Ocean City High School’s football team always draws a pretty good crowd but there was a little more excitement and anticipation before this game. The lights were turned on late in the first quarter but they weren’t really noticeable until nearly halftime. The crowd seemed anxious for it to get dark so they could see the full effects.

But there was so much that was new on this night that the lights were just part of it.

The rest rooms are located on the east end of the high school building, behind the press box off Sixth Street. They are quality rest rooms. Even the soap dispenser has the Raider logo on it.

Refreshments are served by the cordial McNallys in the high school cafeteria, which is reached through double doors on the back of the building closer to Fifth Street. The announcements sending fans to these locations by Tom Park were long and detailed. It would probably be helpful, once all outside construction and landscaping is completed, to add some signage directing people to these places.

This will be a school year filled with salutes, tributes and dedications. The first school play in the fabulous new auditorium. The first basketball doubleheader – on Dec. 17 against Egg Harbor Township – in the new gym. The huge wrestling room and its impact on that program. The weight room and the second gym.

Paul LeFever and his associates have some terrific plans for these celebrations and Friday night was a good example of the quality we can expect. It took a lot of patience on their part because there was a concert at The Tabernacle and a car show that took up most of the boardwalk parking lot off Carey Stadium.

Next year this game will be in Bridgeton but, if Ocean City is scheduled to play the early week in 2006 and a car show is also coming, couldn’t the car show be moved to Ninth Street, or Moorlyn Terrace, or on the boardwalk, where it could really be spectacular.

Elsewhere, the first Friday was also interesting. Mainland was in the process of replacing its crumbling press box. A new one was in place, but only the scoreboard operator and public address announcer were allowed inside. It should be fully operational by the next game.

On the field, Mainland edged a Montclair team that was ranked among the Top 20 in the state in pre-season. Hammonton shut down Egg Harbor Township, the team many figured was the team to beat in the American Conference. Absegami took a favored St. Joseph into overtime. And Millville won a close game over Buena.

On Saturday, Middle Township took Delaware by storm with a win that was truly on the road. And Oakcrest edged St. Augustine Prep to end its nine-game losing streak.

At Carey Stadium, the action was exciting with the outcome in doubt until the final minute. There did seem to be a darker streak in the center of the field and, when it gets completely dark, you can only see the numbers on the scoreboard, not what they represent. Both are probably easy to correct.

The next home game, on Sept. 24, will be on Friday afternoon with Atlantic City. But, on Oct. 15, Egg Harbor Township will come to town.

With a long-awaited new school in the background and an exciting young team on the field, Friday night lights at Carey Stadium should be a great experience.




Read more of Tom Williams' columns