Junior Raiders see mixed results in opening weekend

    The Ocean City Junior Raiders opened the 2013 youth football season Saturday, September 7, 2013 at Carey Field at the Ocean City High School against the Egg Harbor Township Eagles.

    The Taxi squad (kindergarten through 2nd grade) opened up the action.  This was the first live football game for much of the team.  While no official score is kept at this level, the team played hard and the game was competitive.  Head coach Frank Rubba commented that he was proud of his players and all tried their hardest.  Coach Rubba in particular noted Junior Merle’s hustle running down the opponent 60 yards downfield with a touchdown saving tackle at the two yard line.

    Next up was the Peewee team (3rd and 4th grade).  In a dominating defensive performance, the Peewee squad won 27-7, giving up only a late touchdown.  The team was led by touchdowns by Sean Mazzatelli, Jacob Wilson and Zach Mazzatelli.  Nasir Kelly played an outstanding game from his offensive line position and also returned a kickoff 60 yards for a touchdown.  Jacob Wilson also had a team high number of tackles in the game.

    A very young JV team (5th and 6th grade) lost a hard fought contest 19-13.  The team struggled in the first half, finding itself down 19-0 at halftime.  After some halftime adjustments by the coaching staff, the team fought back in the second half only to find its rally fall short.  Touchdowns were scored by Jake Schneider on a long touchdown run and Kareem Lovest on a pass by Tyreek Crawford.

    The Varsity team struggled in its game while introducing many new players to their first live football action against an experienced, talented EHT team.  Although down 33-0 at the half, the team held its own in the second half losing by a final of 40-7.  The Ocean City touchdown was scored by Kyion Flanders on a long pass by Christian Tyson.

    Attendance at the games was great and the organization thanks all those who volunteered at concessions, setup, breakdown and in the press box during the games.

    One feature you will see is weekly offensive and defensive “game balls” being “given out” by the coaches for each team to highlight exceptional effort in the game action.  Without further ado, game balls go to ....

Taxi:

Offense:  Kori Segich
Defense:  Junior Merle

Peewee:

Offense:  Nasir Kelly
Defense:  Jacob Wilson

JV:

Offense:  Kareem Lovest
Defense:  Tyreek Crawford

Varsity:

Offense:  Paulie Stryker
Defense:  Kyion Flanders

The Junior Raiders next play at Egg Harbor City on Saturday, September 14, 2013.

If you have any pictures from the games, please forward them to info@ocjuniorraiders.com.