LITTLE SILVER - The idea was very simple for Ocean head coach Chad King in the final minute of the first half Thursday night and his team trailing Red Bank Regional by six points after a half in which it had one first down and 22 yards of total offense to that point.
"Get Alex (sophomore running back Alex Staten) the ball,'' King said. "It was that simple. Get Alex the ball and see what he can do.''
Staten, who had had two carries for seven yards to that point, took a third-and-5 counter play to his left, found only one defender to that side and raced 82 yards down the sideline for a touchdown with 32 seconds left in the half.
The ensuing extra point by freshman Joey Bercovicz gave the Spartans the lead and they went on to a 10-6 win in a Shore Conference Class B North game. Bercovicz added a 30-yard field goal late in the third quarter to account for the final score.
"I didn't see the gap in the beginning, but once I saw it, I was gone,'' Staten said.
"Get him the ball and see if someone can do something,'' King said.
The play changed the momentum of the game. Red Bank had been the better team throughout the first half as Ocean struggled running the flexbone triple option offense in its first game that counted running that offense.
"That play kind of silenced their crowd and brought us up and we took over in the second half,'' Staten said.
The Bucs had built their lead on a 29-yard TD pass from senior quarterback Quinn Niesz to junior receiver Jah'Mir Lane-Bailey with 10:30 left in the first half. However, the ensuing extra point was blocked.
Prior to the possession where Staten broke his long run, Ocean had held on downs at its 13-yard line.
Surviving a frantic ending
Ocean still had to survive a wild finish as Niesz on a fourth-and-22 from the Red Bank 42 with 10 seconds remaining completed a "50-yard pass to junior Ari Fraser, but Fraser was tackled at the Ocean 8. Since Red Bank was out of timeouts, the clock ran out.
"It scared me a little bit,'' Ocean senior defensive end/linebacker Danny Farina, who had several tackles for losses, said. "I saw him going down and I looked at the clock and thought there was one second left. I'm like, 'Oh my God'. Luckily, it (the clock) went down (ran out).''
"All you wanted to see if you were wearing red (red is one of Ocean's colors) is the ball getting knocked down,'' King said. "But, at the end of the day, we made one more play than they did, so we got lucky.''
What it means
The result made King, a 2000 OTHS graduate and a star running back/defensive back during his scholastic career, a winner in his first game as the head coach at his scholastic alma mater.
King had been the head coach at Long Branch High School the last two seasons and assistant coach at Long Branch for 11 seasons before he became the Green Wave's head coach.
"It's kind of surreal with all the support from people I played with back in the day and now I'm coaching their children,'' King said.
Up next
Ocean will host Holmdel at its Carelli Field on Sept. 6 in its home opener and a nondivisional game.
Red Bank will play at Jackson Liberty (1-0) on Sept. 6 in a nondivisional game.
Ocean 10, Red Bank Regional 6
Ocean 0 7 3 0 - 10
Red Bank 0 6 0 0 - 6
Second Quarter
RBR: Jah'Mir Lane 29 pass from Quinn Niesz (kick blocked).
O: Alex Staten 82 run (Joey Bercovicz kick).
Third Quarter
O: Bercovicz 30 Field Goal.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: O: Alex Staten 5-93, Josh Callixte 4-42, Boomer Volek 12-30, James Sobieski 12-5, Mickey McGovern 3-8, Kwaku Prempeh 1-(-13). RB: Matt Huss 4-27, Kashta Ally 8-21, Dean Goldberg 0-14, Ari Fraser 2-4, Ahmare' Bonus 1-(-8), Quinn Niesz 6-(-11).
Passing: O: Sobieski 1-3-0-19. Jordan Gaudious 0-1-0. RB: Niesz 6-15-0-125.
Receiving: O: Staten 1-19. RB: Ari Fraser 2-67, Bennett Lopez 3-29, Jah'Mir Lane 1-29.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Getting Alex Staten the ball sparks Ocean football to season opening win over Red Bank
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