By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
On X @GDsullysays
Last year, Mainland Regional opened its football season with a 30-18 victory over Atlantic City at the Battle at the Beach in Ocean City. The Mustangs eventually went on to win 10 games and play in the state championship game for the second straight year.
The Vikings are hoping history doesn’t repeat itself, as this season they’ll face Mainland in a whole different state and a whole different kickoff classic.
Atlantic City is set to face Mainland at 4 p.m. today at the Salesianum School’s Abessinio Stadium in Wilmington, Del., as part of the relatively new Mid-Atlantic Pigskin Classic. It’s in its second year and features some strong regional teams like McDonogh School and DeMatha of Maryland, Downingtown West of Pennsylvania and St. John’s College High of Washington, D.C.
Vikings coach Keenan Wright said, sure, he and his team could have played Mainland locally, but he wanted to give his players the experience of “going away” for a game, so to speak.
“I’ve gotten about 30 phone calls about how dumb an idea it is. ‘Why are you going an hour-and-a-half away when the team is 10 minutes down the road?’ But for us, it’s more about the experience. My main objective is to build this program up and create an authentic football experience for these kids. So (we stayed overnight), meetings, film — the whole thing. The stadium is pretty cool. It’s newly renovated and it gives it a Colosseum feel. So you’re going away, but only an hour and 20 minutes or so,” he said. “It’s going to be cool. Mainland isn’t necessarily retooling, but they have some new faces. Every game is tough. (Former Atlantic City coach) Thomas Kelly used to always say, ‘celebrate the wins because every game is a difficult game.’ From the kids’ standpoint, you want to have an opener that you can really get up for, and Mainland is a team that our kids know. We don’t have to do much to motivate them and get them ready.”
Mainland returns quarterback John Franchini, now a senior and fourth-year starter, as well as running back Lucas DeBiaso, who will look to take the place of older brother Rocco, who graduated in June. Atlantic City, on the other hand, has to replace quarterback Khajuan “Peaky” Roseborough — one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in South Jersey last year — as well as receiver Sah’nye Degraffenreidt, who is now at Rutgers after finishing his high school career with 2,700 yards and 37 touchdowns. But the Vikings have some good players returning, including running back Tamir Rex and quarterback Kevin Entress, who played well in a relief role of Roseborough late in the season last year.
