It is Thanksgiving Week and, starting Wednesday night, a half dozen rivalry football games will be played
November 20, 2018
Close matchup, new trophy highlight this year’s Anchor Bowl
November 21, 2018

Ocean City vs Pleasantville – by the numbers

By TOM WILLIAMS

Ocean City and Pleasantville will play Thursday morning for the 97th time – this one on the turf at Greyhound Stadium. The Raiders will enter the game with a 4-5 record and Pleasantville is 7-3 and ranked No. 11 in South Jersey (check out the Top 25 – http://www.primeevents.net/SuraceAward.html)

Here are some of the numbers that might interest fans –

  • If Chris Sacco’s Greyhounds win, it will be Pleasantville’s first eight-win season since 1999 and first back-to-back winning seasons since 2003
  • Ocean City has not had three consecutive .500 or better seasons since 2002
  • The Greyhounds have allowed the fewest passing TDs among CAL teams this season (3) and Raiders quarterback Ian Aungst (5-11, 181) has the most passing yards (1,842) and second most TD passes (17) of any CAL quarterback
  • Pleasantville senior Mohamed Toure (6-2, 217), a Rutgers football recruit, has 855 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns, junior Josh Kotokpo (5-8, 175) has 541 yards and 13 TDs, and senior quarterback Sahmir Jones (6-2, 173) has 355 yards and seven touchdowns
  • OCHS senior Brandon Lashley (6-0, 170) is No. 1 among CAL receivers with 661 yards and 13 TDs. Sophomore Jake Schneider (5-8, 148) is second in the CAL with 541 yards and senior Bill Kroeger (6-1, 201) is third with 417 yards. Lashley is committed to Stony Brook for baseball, Kroeger to NJIT for lacrosse
  • Jones has thrown for 805 yards and seven TDs and has been intercepted eight times. His top receivers are senior Brian Stalworth (5-9, 168) with 298 yards and two TDs and senior Elijah Glover (6-1, 192), a Villanova recruit, with 211 yards and four scores
  • Pleasantville is the highest scoring team in the CAL at 38.2 points per game and is second in fewest points allowed with 10.5
  • Ocean City scores 20.9 points a game and gives up 18.8
  • Pleasantville has returned three punts for touchdowns, two by senior Jabril Shakur, a Monmouth recruit. Ocean City has returned two interceptions for scores, both by Lashley, including the 105-yard return that is one of the longest in state history.
  • Lashley is fourth in scoring among CAL players with 90 points, Kotokpo is fifth with 84 and Toure is sixth with 70
  • The Raiders have won the last four meetings by a total of 53 points – though last year’s 34-32 win came down to the final play. Pleasantville’s last win over Ocean City was 15-14 in 2013
  • Toure has made 62 tackles, eight of them for losses. Glover has 52 and junior Ernest Howard (6-0, 195) has 39. The Greyhounds have 13 sacks this season and have intercepted 11 passes
  • Senior Brandon Lin (5-11, 202) leads Ocean City with 86 tackles, 10.5 for losses. Senior Travis Stoerrle (6-1, 202) has 69 and senior Austin Green (6-0, 223) has 66. Green has 13.5 career sacks, the third highest total in OCHS history, including 5.5 this year. Ocean City has a combined 18 sacks this season.
  • Aungst has set an all-time school record for passing yards in a season and holds another record with nine straight 100 yard passing games. If Lashley gets 100 receiving yards on Thursday he will be the first in OCHS history to do that in three straight games. Schneider has set a new school record for receiving yards by a sophomore, breaking the mark set by Ray Rogers in 1997
  • If Ocean City wins it will be Kevin Smith’s seventh win over the Greyhounds, the most by any OCHS coach in history. He is currently tied with Ed Woolley and Fenton Carey

Those are the numbers – hope you enjoy the game.

OCEAN CITY leads PLEASANTVILLE, 50-40 (6 ties) 97th meeting
At Stake: Mike Slaveski-Bob Thomas Memorial Trophy
Ocean City has won 4 straight
Kickoff: 10am at Greyhound Stadium
2017 Result: Ocean City, 34-32
Thanksgiving Meetings: 1921-90/1996-2015 (played once before 1918)