Ocean tops Brick Memorial, 49-33 on back of Tyler Douglas' 474 yards, 7 TDs
OCEAN – It was billed as a showdown between two of the Shore Conference’s most dynamic quarterbacks.
And Ocean’s Tyler Douglas and Brick Memorial’s Connor Dietz did not disappoint, putting on a spectacular display both in the air and on the ground, combining for 869 yards of offense, with each throwing for over 300 yards.
But when the dust settled at Carelli Field, it was Douglas who accounted for seven touchdowns, throwing for four and running for three more, while amassing 474 yards of offense as Ocean remained unbeaten with a 49-33 victory.
Douglas, a senior committed to Temple, opened the game with a 53-yard screen pass to Shane Garrett, taking it in from seven yards out a play later, and put the game away with a 48-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.
In between, Douglas threw for 304 yards, throwing three TD passes to Mateo Andrews, and ran for another 170 yards.
“I think one of the things I like about Tyler is he has so much ability and he has such a high ceiling,” Ocean coach Don Klein said. “His athleticism and what he has done as a quarterback improving mechanics, accuracy, anticipation. Those things really lend themselves to playing the quarterback position at a really high level.”
Dietz, a junior who threw and ran for over 1,000 yards last season, did everything he could to keep the Mustangs in the game, running for a pair of fourth quarter TDs, the first pulling his team to within 35-26 with five minutes to play.
He scored the game’s final TD on a six-yard run in the final minute.
What it means
The victory puts Ocean in a great position in the Shore Conference Freedom division, improving to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the division. It was the Spartans' third straight impressive win, with an average margin of victory of nearly 20 points.
It also puts the Spartans in a good position in terms of the NJSIAA South Group 3 playoff picture, as they look to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2019, when they went into the postseason 8-0 only to fall in an opening-round game.
Key plays
It appeared Brick Memorial’s Kevin Andrews was going to score on a long kickoff return with Ocean leading 35-20 in the third quarter, moments after Douglas found Andrews on a 33-yard TD hookup. But Ocean’s C.J. Flannigan chased Andrews down and made the tackle at the 4-yard-line.
Two plays later, lineman Ben Girard stripped the ball away from Dietz as he battled for yardage to end the threat.
By the numbers
585 – The total yards of offense Ocean amassed.
2 – Ocean’s margin of victory in the turnover battle, coming up with a pair of fumble recoveries and an interception by Douglas, while fumbling the ball away just once.
They said it
Tyler Douglas: “Last year I didn’t like the way we played against them. We didn’t have a good showing. And ultimately in the division they’re a tough team, we’re a tough team. Everyone is looking at it as we are the leaders so far and we wanted to make a statement and kind of show who we were in the division.”
Don Klein: “I knew they would make a run. They have too many talented players to not make a run and make some plays. I did think early on in the first half we were able to stop them defensively. We had a broken coverage in the first half and a kick return and that was all they really had.”
What’s next
Brick Memorial (1-1, 1-0)) hosts Neptune next Friday at 7 p.m. in a Shore Conference Freedom division game.
Ocean (2-0, 1-0) will travel to face Toms River South next Friday in a Freedom division game
Box Score
Brick Memorial 0 14 6 13 - 33
Ocean 7 21 7 14 - 49
Scoring
First quarter
O – Douglas 7 run (Sorrentino kick).
Second quarter
O – Garrett 35 pass from Douglas (Sorrentino kick).
BM – Andrews 98 kickoff return (Dietz kick).
O – Andrews 33 pass from Douglas (Sorrentino kick).
O – Douglas 8 run (Sorrentino kick).
Third quarter
BM – Benjamin 74 pass from Dietz (kick fails).
O – Andrews 33 pass from Douglas (Sorrentino kick).
Fourth quarter
BM – Dietz 3 run (Dietz kick).
O – Andrews 65 pass from Douglas (Sorrentino kick).
O – Douglas 48 run (Sorrentino kick).
BM – Dietz 6 run (kick fails).
Statistics
Rushing – BM: Dietz 14-81, Kevin Andrews 4-14, Benjamin 1-2, Maribo 1-4; O: Douglas 19-170, Flannigan 7-53, Thompson 6-46, Iacouzzi 3-12.
Passing – BM: Dietz 19-34 314; O: Douglas 12-16 304.
Receiving – BM: Benjamin 4-182, Whitaker 7-59, Nolan 2-15, Crispin 1-9, Maribo 3-27, Andrews 2-18; O: Andrews 5-157, Garrett 4-115, Flannigan 1-1, Thompson 1-3.
Penalties - BM: 5-25; O: 4-30.
Fumbles – BM: 3-2; O: 1-1.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: NJ high school football: Ocean beats Brick Memorial, 49-33
