Millville Runs Past Ocean City on Gridiron

The coach and players saw improvement on the football field Friday night, but it didn’t translate to the scoreboard.

The Red Raiders couldn't slow Alquann Jones down as the running back led visiting Millville past Ocean City, 33-13, at Carey Stadium.

It was the second straight week Ocean City was forced to play a Friday night game after playing Monday because of a lightning delay.

The Red Raiders dropped to 1-4 on the season with a trip to undefeated Hammonton coming up on Oct. 14. Millville stayed perfect at 4-0 and hosts Absegami next weekend.

“We fought hard,” Ocean City sophomore quarterback Chris Gabor said. “It was tough in the beginning. We got down early and I made some mistakes throwing the ball and running. But we came out in the second half with a lot of hope. We fought hard and did better than what the score says.”

“They are an incredible football team,” said Ocean City running back Nick Zauck, who had 72 yards. “33-12 doesn’t depict what happened on the football field today. I couldn’t be more proud of the way we played. We had a few drives, but turnovers and penalties killed us. If we eliminate those we can stick with any team in the league.”

The Red Raiders were able to move the ball against a strong Millville defense, but turnovers cost them early in the game. They were down 27-0 before the found the end zone.

Ocean City scored its first points of the game on an impressive 16-play, 80-yard drive. Gabor connected with Matt Schuler for a 6-yard touchdown pass, five second into the fourth quarter.

Gabor ended the game 12-for-16 for 103 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

“He continues to grow,” Ocean City coach Kevin Smith said. “He made one bad decision, we talked about it and he came back and made the correct read. He is a leader and as a 10th-grader it’s nice we are able to rely on him.”

Ocean City running back Ben Bethea, who rushed for 56 yards, scored from 7 yards out with 5:58 remaining in the game to make it a 27-13 score.

However, Jones capped the scoring and his outstanding performance with a 33-yard touchdown run.

Ocean City's goal was to keep Millville players, specifically Jones, from getting to the outside.

Jones had other ideas, making the turf just inside the sidelines his own personal track. Jones rushed for 243 yards and four touchdowns against the Red Raiders. Jones had five runs of at least 20 yards in the game.

“He is heck of an athlete,” Smith said. “We don’t have that kind of speed. When he gets to the edge, that’s it.”

It took three carries for Jones to show what he can really do on the football field, scoring untouched from 58 yards away to give Millville the 6-0 lead with 2 minutes, 12 seconds left in the first quarter. It was a lead the Thunderbolts never relinquished.

The Millville senior also added touchdown runs of 1 and 25 yards in the second quarter to give the Thunderbolts the 20-0 lead. Jones finished the half with 137 yards.

The Thunderbolts also added a touchdown on special teams as DeQuan Bowman scored on an 81-yard return in the third quarter.