Junior Raiders in Action Against Galloway Mustangs

The Ocean City Junior Raiders squared off against the Galloway Mustangs on Saturday, October 26, 2013 at Carey Stadium in Ocean City, NJ.

The Taxi squad (kindergarten through 2nd grade) opened up the action. While no official score is kept at this level, Coach Frank Rubba commented that all the kids left it on the field on Saturday and played their best game of the season.   With 6 touchdowns the offense had a blast.   Kori Segich, Evan Taylor, Joey Berardis, Ryan Callahan, Junior Merle, and Julian Rivera each scored a touchdown.  The defense played the best game of the season with Coach Rubba noting that Brady Oves and Xavier Rowell were unstoppable.  The first year players had big stops for the team in the second half.   Coach Rubba thanked the taxi team for a great season.

The Peewee team (grades 3-4) won 21-6 in a dominating team effort on both sides of the ball.  After going up 21-0 in the first half, the team ground out the clock in the second half only giving up a late score.  Overall, it was a great team win in which the coaches noted that all kids on the team worked hard in practice leading up to the game.  Special recognition goes out to the offensive line for creating the running lanes that resulted in the Raiders Touchdowns.  Colin Dice, Will McGinn, Antonio Nigro, John Gaskill, David Legette, and Brett Oves all performed very well blocking.  In addition, Steve Cosomanis had a big run on his first carry of the day.  Defensively, the Raiders stopped numerous drives that resulted in the Raiders fifth win on the year.  

In their best game of the year, the JV team lost a hard fought contest, 7-0.  The squad took the opening kickoff all the way down the field, eventually setting up a first and goal situation at the 10 yard line at which time the offense stalled and turned the ball over on downs.  A defensive struggle ensued in the first half leading to a 0-0 halftime score.  In the second half, Galloway scored on a short run late in the third quarter.  The Ocean City defense stepped up time after time in the game, forcing several turnovers.  Unfortunately, the team never could get its offense on track, seeing several drives in the fourth quarter stall with the team turning the ball over on downs.  One last gasp fell short when an apparent fumble recovery with a minute left in the game was nullified after the officials called the runner down by contact.  The game saw great receptions by Brady Rauner and JP Patella.  Coach Carl Wanek commented that he was proud of the way the team fought in the game and the effort that was given.

The Varsity team dropped their game 33-6.  As the temperature in the evening dropped, the Varsity team never could get its offense on track.  The Junior Raiders touchdown was scored on a long pass play by Christian Tyson to Donovan Graham.  The coaches also commented that Ryley Burns had a great game, making three solos tackles on defense.

The regular season for the Junior Raiders is now over.  Our Peewee team made the playoffs and next play on Saturday, November 2, 1013 at 4 p.m. against Linwood at a neutral field in Buena.  Come out and cheer the peewee team on in the playoffs!

If you have any pictures from the games, please forward them to info@ocjuniorraiders.com. You can also follow the Junior Raiders on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Vine and at its website, ocjuniorraiders.com