Ocean City Hosts Camden in NJSIAA Consolation Game

The football team wants to get to three wins.

The Red Raiders have won just once this season in eight games, but believe they are capable of winning their final two games of the season.

Ocean City welcomes Camden, which is also 1-7, to Carey Stadium at 7 p.m. tonight in an NJSIAA consolation game. The NJSIAA pairs up non-playoff teams according to power points to play a game before teams prepare for their Thanksgiving Day games.

"That's real important to me to go out in my senior year on a positive and get two more wins," Ocean City senior Bob DeLuce said. "For the underclassmen, it's to start something positive for next season by getting two wins."

"It would make a huge difference," Ocean City coach Kevin Smith said. "I think we feel at times that we have been better than our record. If we win the last two games it, will be momentum for underclassmen next year and for the seniors it would be a great way to go out."

Both teams enter tonight's contest on four-game losing streaks. Ocean City, which is coming off a bye week, may have an advantage in the experience department for the first time this season.

"They are young," Smith said. "When I looked at the roster the other day, I think they only had five seniors on the entire roster. They have a lot of freshmen and sophomores playing. They are young and make some mistakes because of that, but they are athletic and have some big players. It's a game that if we don't play fundamentally sound, we will give them a chance to make some plays."

Ocean City wants to jump on Camden early, and may have the edge offensively.  With players like running backs Ben Bethea and Eric Zauck, quarterback Chris Gabor and wide receiver Chris Turner, the Red Raiders believe they can take advantage of Camden's youth.

"We just have to come out strong from the start," DeLuce said. "In a lot of games, we have waited for other teams to do something big and then we come back. We have to come out from the start and get the momentum in this game."

'I think one of the biggest keys is to get out fast," Smith said. "They have a lot of young guys, and they have lost a lot of games and the fact they will have to ride a bus down here for an hour all that leads to the fact that if we get out quickly and get up a couple of scores, make them play from behind, it will make it difficult for them. Against a more experienced team it wouldn't be as big of a deal."

The Ocean City defense has to keep an eye on Camden quarterback Khalil Williams, who is a dual-threat. He rushed for 57 yards in a loss last week to Glassboro, and has a 200-yard passing game under his belt this season.

However, other than its 24-13 win over Gloucester Catholic on Oct. 8, Camden has scored 12 points or fewer in every other game.