Ocean in Driver’s Seat in B North After Downing Long Branch

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OCEAN TOWNSHIP — With a dominant defense and a dynamic backfield, Ocean knew it had a chance to accomplish something special this season. At the midway point of the season after Friday night’s showdown with Long Branch, the Spartans’ goals are starting to become reality.

Sophomore running back Tyler Thompson ran for 155 yards and a touchdown and senior Cole Mehr caught and ran for touchdowns to make another superb defensive effort stick as the Spartans, ranked No. 4 in the Shore Sports Network Top 10, topped No. 10 Long Branch 21-6 in a Shore Conference Class B North game.

The Spartans (6-0, 4-0) took a major step toward securing the division title by handing the Green Wave (5-2, 3-1) their first divisional loss while moving to 6-0 for the first time since Shore Conference great Eddie Conti was running the show in 1993.

“Obviously when you’re 6-0 - and it hasn’t been done in a long time here - it’s a big deal,” said Ocean head coach Don Klein. “Nobody is happier than I am, but our goals are more than that. We’re here to win a championship, and we haven’t done that yet. We knew it was a big football game and we’re happy we won it, but there’s more to do.”

Class B North is a division of defense, and no team has defended better than the Spartans. Senior linebackers Dan Loizos and Mike Halawani led the charge defensively in limiting Long Branch’s running game and holding the Green Wave under 200 total yards. It was the fifth straight game Ocean has held teams to seven points or less.

“We knew coming into the season we had a chance to be special defensively,” Klein said. These kids want to establish themselves as a premier defense, and every week they’ve come out with a dominant effort. The kids are going out and executing at a very high level, and having that gives a team a lot of confidence.”

“We focus on both sides of the ball, but a little more on our defense because we know we have some very good players and we can get it done,” said junior quarterback/defensive back Royal Moore.

As the Spartans churn toward the playoffs, their area of focus has been on improved efficiency on offense, specifically in the passing game. Ocean isn’t going to throw the ball a lot, but when it does it expects to hit some big plays. Moore gave the Spartans exactly that late in the first half when he avoided a sack and found Mehr wide open behind the defense for a 42-yard touchdown that enabled Ocean to take a 7-0 lead into the half.

“It was a hitch-and-flag for Cole, and on the play before, the corner dropped off when he saw me about to be sacked,” Moore said. “It happened again and I saw Cole break off and was able to hit him.”

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That was all the scoring Ocean would need. The Spartans held Long Branch to 38 total yards over the first two quarters, and although the Green Wave would push back in the second half, it wasn’t enough.

Ocean increased its lead on the third play of the third quarter when Thompson broke free on a 67-yard touchdown for a 14-0 lead. Thompson had 50 yards at the break and went over 100 by quickly hitting a big lane inside before outrunning the Green Wave defense for the touchdown. With a two-score lead, Ocean was in complete control.

“We know Long Branch’s defense is excellent, so we felt to get a second score was huge,” Klein said.

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Jordan Rodriguez replaced Shabazz Shuler at quarterback in the second half for Long Branch, and was finally able to lead the Green Wave into the end zone in the fourth quarter. The Wave started from their own 30-yard line with 9:53 left in the game and marched into Ocean territory with some grinding runs by Dahmiere Willis, Deon Williams and Rodriguez. Long Branch eventually faced a third-and-9 from the Ocean 44, and scored when Rodriguez hit senior Myson Pennington down the seam for a 44-yard touchdown with 6:02 left in the game. The snap and hold were not executed properly on the PAT, but Long Branch was on the board at 14-6.

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With only six minutes left, Long Branch was going to need a big play to get the ball back and try to score again with a two-point conversion against Ocean’s stingy defense. Instead, the Spartans marched 65 yards in nine plays to put the game away when Mehr took a sweep across the goal line from six yards out with 1:51 to play.

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Ocean’s victory over a 5-win Long Branch team gives it a significant power point haul that should help the Spartans earn a top-two seed in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III bracket. The Spartans can also lock up the B North title by beating Wall (3-3) and Freehold (0-5) in the next two weeks.

“We’re 6-0 but we haven’t won a championship, and we still have a lot to improve on,” Moore said. “But being where we are right now means a lot. I’ve been waiting for this team since I was a freshman.”

Box Score

No. 4 Ocean 21, No. 10 Long Branch 6

Long Branch (5-2, 3-1) 0 0 0 6 – 6

Ocean (6-0, 4-0) 0 7 7 7 – 21

Scoring Summary

O – Royal Moore 42-yard pass to Cole Mehr (Matt Fisher kick)

O – Tyler Thompson 67-yard run (Matt Fisher kick)

L – Jordan Rodriguez 44-yard pass to Myson Pennington (run failed)

O – Cole Mehr 6-yard run (Matt Fisher kick)

Individual Statistics

Rushing – L: Dahmiere Willis 11-33, Deon Williams 10-29, Jordan Rodriguez 6-22, Shabazz Shuler 5-22, TJ Covin 2-12; O: Tyler Thompson 21-155, Royal Moore 13-37, Cole Mehr 4-37, Dan Loizos 1-7.

Passing – L: Jordan Rodriguez 4-5-0 50, Shabazz Shuler 2-3-0 5; O: Royal Moore 2-5-0 50.

Receiving – L: Myson Pennington 1-44, Dahmiere Willis 3-15, Deon Williams 1-3, Joseph Sanchez 1-0; O: Cole Mehr 2-50.