Battle at the Beach kicks '24 season off as teams embrace new beginnings

OCEAN CITY – Brady Cobb said it was a great opportunity to play in the season’s first game.

But the West Deptford sophomore quarterback was quick to point out that isn't the goal.

“We want to play in the last game of the season,” Cobb said.

As a cool summer breeze off the Atlantic Ocean worked its way through Carey Stadium on Thursday, the Battle at the Beach kicked off a season with new expectations for each of the teams that took the field.

For West Deptford, the anticipation for the season is high, with new head coach John Emel taking over the program.

The Eagles rallied from a big deficit but couldn’t hold a one-point lead in the second half and suffered a 26-21 loss to Manchester Township in the Battle at the Beach opener at Ocean City High School.

More: South Jersey Football Roundup: August 29-30

The event will continue Friday and Saturday at Egg Harbor Township High School with five games on each day.

“It’s a shame, I thought we fought pretty hard but we wanted to give Coach Emel a better performance in his first game,” said Cobb.

Cobb completed 5-of-9 passes for 135 yards, including a 97-yarder to Cole Paskiewicz that started the comeback in the third quarter.

West Deptford took a 21-20 lead on Bryce Wynn’s 44-yard touchdown run in the third. However, the Eagles defense, which had made great strides in the second half, allowed the go-ahead touchdown with under nine minutes left in regulation.

“We have a lot of young kids in there and I thought they played better as the game went along on defense,” Emel said. “We had eight sophomores starting on defense. I was proud of the way we were able to fight back and get the lead.”

That WD defense had the biggest stand of the game when it stopped four shots inside its own 5 yard line midway through the third quarter. After the Hawks turned the ball over on downs, Cobb hit Paskiewicz on the big touchdown play.

Game balls

Paskiewicz was honored as West Deptford’s Most Valuable Player. His 97-yard TD catch is one of the longest, if not a record for the Eagles.

Manchester Township quarterback Aidan Lunn completed 9-of-14 passes for 149 yards and the decisive touchdown in the fourth quarter to Ny’Zyr Battle. Lunn also ran for 96 yards despite playing the entire second half with an injured right leg.

Mainland extends unbeaten streak

Chase Hoag says these Mustangs have worked just as hard and put in all the pain that the previous group did last year, but they are focused on the future and not the past.

“We have to forget all about it,” the junior running back/linebacker said. “It’s a new season.”

The new season started much like the old one as defending state Group 5 champion Mainland posted a 30-18 win over Atlantic City in the second game of the Battle at the Beach.

That’s 15 straight wins for the Mustangs, the second longest streak in program history and two shy of the record (2002-03). The series with AC started in 1968 and Mainland owns a 30-11-1 mark, according to football historian Chuck Langerman.

Mainland already experienced something it hadn’t all last season: a deficit. The Mustangs trailed twice against AC, but outscored the Vikings 23-6 over the final 17 minutes of regulation.

Game balls

Hoag won Most Valuable Player honors for Mainland. He rushed nine times for 100 yards, including a 58-yarder for a TD.

Jake Blum had one of the best catches of the game, hauling in a 37-yard touchdown pass from John Franchini in the third quarter that gave Mainland the lead for good at 14-12. He also had a rushing TD.

Atlantic City’s Khajuan Roseborough was very impressive in his first start at QB. The senior threw for 185 yards and two scores while rushing for 121 yards and a third TD. He earned MVP honors for AC for the game.

Rutgers commit Sah’nye “Ice Cup” Degraffenreidt continues to climb up the South Jersey rankings for career touchdown catches. His two TD grabs against Mainland gives him 27 for his career and ranks 11th on the area’s all-time list.

Up next

Mainland hosts Hammonton on Sept. 6. The Blue Devils were the only team to hold the Mustangs to fewer than 26 points last season.

Atlantic City will travel to Millville on Sept. 6 before heading home to host Cedar Creek the following Friday.

Tom McGurk is a regional sports reporter for the Courier-Post, The Daily Journal and Burlington County Times, covering South Jersey sports for over 30 years. If you have a sports story that needs to be told, contact him at (856) 486-2420 or email tmcgurk@gannett.com . Follow him on Twitter at @McGurkSports. Help support local journalism with a digital subscription.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Battle at the Beach kicks '24 season off as teams embrace new beginnings