Ocean City High School Football Team To Have First Scrimmage On Turf Field Friday

Ocean City, NJ -- The new artificial turf field at Ocean City High School will be ready to go for Friday morning’s scrimmage between the Red Raiders football team and Eastern Regional High School.

The varsity scrimmage is scheduled for 3 p.m., preceded by the freshman scrimmage at 2 p.m.

The following day, the Rowan University football team will hold its Brown and Gold scrimmage on the field, 10 a.m.

During last week’s council meeting, Mayor Jay Gillian said the field was expected to be finished over the weekend, and that athletes should be able to get on there by Aug. 19.

This week, Ocean City Public Information Officer Doug Bergen confirmed that the field will be ready by Friday.

Gillian said the city would look into what the city can do as far as a ribbon-cutting ceremony after that.
Earlier this year, City Council awarded a $449,900 contract to the LandTek Group of Amityville, N.Y., for installation and a $494,721 to FieldTurf USA Inc of Calhoun, Ga., for the purchase of materials. The total cost of the project was $1.2 million.

That approval came about a year after Ocean City canceled its plans to install an artificial turf field at Carey Stadium over safety concerns.

Instead, the field was made using all-natural cork as opposed to crumb rubber that may have been linked to the diagnosis of cancer in 38 college soccer players, specifically goalies.

During the process, there was a change order to install a cork-like fabric, which can be used to absorb additional impact, such as from a shotput, according to the Ocean City Sentinel.

The high school football team's first regular season home game is Sept. 23 against Cedar Creek, 7 p.m.

The attached image is a Patch file photo