Early in the fourth quarter on Friday night, Mainland Regional was holding a 14-7 lead on a tough Absegami squad. Both teams were fighting for their playoff lives. Each team came into Friday night’s game with a 2-4 record, and on the outside looking in when it came to power points in South Jersey Group 4. Each team knew that a loss likely would all but eliminate them from the playoff picture. Following a Zach Sterr punt, the Mustangs took over at midfield with 9:56 remaining. They then went on 17-play drive that ate up 4:16 off the clock. The drive was capped off when senior placekicker Mike Juliano nailed a 33-yard field goal that put Mainland (3-5) up 17-7 and left Absegami (2-6) in scramble mode for the final five minutes. “The way the offense played really boosted the confidence of the defense,” said senior lineman Mike Kennedy. “As a defensive player, when the offense is doing well you want to keep it rolling, keep going down the field and score. You kind of felt the tension in the air with (Absegami) after that drive.” 
Senior Mike Juliano nails a 33-yard field goal with just less than six minutes remaining on Friday night to give Mainland Regional a 17-7 lead over Absegami. (Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan) On second down to start the drive, running back Tahir Campbell ripped off a 20-yard run that brought the ball to the Absegami 26-yard line. Campbell then ran for eight yards, but there was a flag on the Mustangs. A flag on the Braves on the next play set up a first-and-9 at the 24. Two straight runs by Campbell gave Mainland a first down, at the Braves’ 12. An incomplete pass and a negative run had Mainland facing a third-and12 at the 14, and that’s when senior quarterback Sam Jackson came up with one of the biggest plays of the night. He scrambled to his left and took off down the sideline, coming up just short of a first down. Facing fourth-and-inches at the 2-yard line, Mainland coach Bob Coffey elected to go for it instead of trying a chip-shot field goal. The move paid off, initially, as Campbell surged forward inside the 1-yard line to pick up the first down. But a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Mainland after the play pushed the Mustangs all the way back to the 16. After a couple of dropped passes, Coffey was then forced to try the field goal, and Juliano was straight and true, giving Mainland a 17-7 lead. Absegami’s Andrew Marcucci led the Braves on a frantic drive with less than four minutes remaining that ended with a missed field goal with a little more than three minutes remaining, and Jackson picked up a crucial first down on Mainland’s next possession to help the Mustangs run out the clock — and keep their playoff hopes alive.
— Dave O’Sullivan, Publisher
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