Raider Football – Game 7 Notes

By TOM WILLIAMS

The Ocean City High School football team notched a sixth win for the third time in the last four years with Saturday’s win at Oakcrest. The last time that happened was 18 years ago.

1,001: Junior quarterback Joe Repetti entered Saturday’s game needing 211 passing yards to reach 1,000 for the season. He got 212. Repetti becomes the 12^th OCHS QB to throw for more than 1,000 yards and the fourth to do it as a junior. Matt LeFever did it as a junior in 1995, Andrew Donoghue did it in 2015 and Al Genz threw for 1,515 yards in 1998, the most by an OCHS junior. Repetti had a great game, completing 15 of 21 passes for two touchdowns and running for 24 yards and two more scores.

No. 3: Senior running back Issac Wilson not only wears No. 3 on his back, he is No. 3 among Cape-Atlantic League running backs this year. Wilson is tied for third in points scored with 60 and he is third in rushing touchdowns with nine, trailing only Jada Byers of St. Joseph (16), the all-time CAL scoring leader, and Mainland freshman Ja’Briel Mace (14). Wilson now has 611 career rushing yards, placing him 56^th in OCHS history.  

Brady’s Bunch: Junior Brady Rauner made a bunch of key defensive plays in Saturday’s win, including a pair of interceptions. After dropping an earlier opportunity, Rauner made a circus catch of a pass tipped by senior Jaden Tocci-Rogers in the first quarter that led to the Raiders second touchdown. And he made a diving interception at the OCHS four yard line in the fourth quarter that ended an Oakcrest threat and was followed by an Ocean City possession of more than seven minutes that sealed away the victory. Rauner also made three solo tackles and is second on the team with 16 solos this season. He was a key part of the OCHS lacrosse team that was undefeated CAL-American champions in the spring, finishing fifth in the CAL in ground balls.

Big Foot: Sophomore Brendan McGonigle is 29 for 31 kicking extra points this season. Those 29 kicks are the fourth highest total in school history behind Matt Daher (36 in 1995), Dan Kennard (34 in 1999) and Keith Larkin (31 in 2017). Daher and Larkin were seniors, Kennard a sophomore. McGonigle has 39 career extra points, fourth best at OCHS behind Kennard (81), Matt Chila (54) and Chris Curran (52). McGonigle’s only two misses this year were blocked.

Defense: Junior Jake Inserra continues to lead the Raiders with 18 solos and 45 total tackles this year. Junior Brad Jamison, sophomore Tom Schutta, junior Mike Rhodes and Rauner round out the top five. Notice anything? That’s right, no seniors among the top five. Rhodes (10.5) leads in tackles for losses. Jamison, Will Drain and Mike Williscroft (2.5) lead in sacks. And Brian Beckmann’s four interceptions are best.

Hands: Beckmann made a diving catch in the end zone of a 32 yard pass from Repetti for Ocean City’s second TD. It was another example of the great ball control that Beckmann has in his hands this season. He has made a major impact on both offense and defense. He has 10 catches for 184 yards and two scores to go along with four interceptions, one for a TD.

Jake: Junior Jake Schneider caught seven passes against Oakcrest for 112 yards, the best single-game yardage total of his career. Schneider now has 26 catches this year for 420 yards. He lifted his career yardage to 968, passing Mike Coccodrilli for fifth place all-time at OCHS. Ahead of him are Rick Lipford (1207), Ryan Taylor (1239), Ray Rogers (1378) and the all-time leader, Scott Lipford (1710).  

NJSIAA Group 4: Somewhat surprisingly, Ocean City dropped one spot to No. 10 in South-Central Group 4 despite the win in Mays Landing. It was earlier announced that the Raiders were No. 11 this week but that was corrected. If the playoffs started this week, OCHS would be at No. 7-rated Toms River East (7-1) in the Group 4 first round. In other area Group 4 match-ups (if the action started this week) No. 4 Mainland would host Long Branch, No. 3 Hammonton would host Brick Township and No. 9 Millville would be at Middletown South. Two-time defending champion Shawnee (6-2) remains No. 1 right now in South Group 4.

Ranked. Ocean City is No. 22 in the Online 25 that ranks all teams from the NJSIAA Southern Region. This is the first time OCHS has been in those rankings since 2001 and this is the Raiders highest position of the season. The Online 25 includes every team that could play in NJSIAA South Jersey playoffs, including some generally considered Central Jersey schools. See where every team stands here.

CAL Scoring Leaders: Wilson (60 points) is tied for third with JoJo Bermudez of Cedar Creek and Patrick Smith of Holy Spirit. Junior Jake Schneider (36) is tied for 15^th with six other players, including Jordan Marcucci and Ray Weed of Absegami, Jonas Lumbruno of Lower Cape May and Isaiah Raikes of St. Augustine. Repetti is second in TD passes with 15 and Schneider is tied for fourth in TD receptions. McGonigle is second in kicking points, field goals and extra points. Ocean City is averaging the most points scored per game (36.0) among CAL teams and allows the fewest points (6.9). See all the CAL scoring leaders here.

Kevin Smith says: “The Oakcrest game was not our cleanest or most fundamentally sound of the season but it was probably the most satisfying. It was good to see us respond well to some adversity and get a convincing win when we weren’t at our best. That showed some resilience on our part that makes me proud.”

Links: The complete Ocean City-Oakcrest stats are here. Complete seven-game OCHS stat totals are here. The video of the game is here. Standings in selected WJFL divisions are here. Links to online coverage of this weekend’s games are here.