Some call the Mainland-Ocean City football series the top non-Thanksgiving rivalry in the Cape-Atlantic League. The 1990s added more evidence to that claim when the teams almost took turns winning South Jersey Group 3 championships.

Mainland has since moved up to Group 4, eliminating the excitement of post-season games from the series.

But here are a few memorable games over the last dozen or so years between the Raiders and the Mustangs.

1995: A pair of TDs by Kevin Sinclair gave OC the early lead, 14-0. But Jeff Boyd hit John Stone with a screen pass that turned into a 52-yard score. Stone scored again on a 75-yard run with three minutes left in the half and it was tied, 14-14, at intermission. Boyd hit Dave Klemic for a 20-yard score to start the second half. And Stone romped 60 yards for a touchdown on the next possession, opening a 28-14 lead. A swing pass from Steffon Davis to Sinclair covered 24 yards for an Ocean City TD but Stone scored again from the eight to give the Mustangs a 35-21 lead. A 35-yard field goal by Jason Feinberg was the only scoring after that and Mainland had won a big 38-21 victory.
Sinclair finished the game with 250 rushing yards and 274 yards total offense. Stone had 176 yards rushing and 228 yards of offense. And Boyd threw for 150 yards. It was the beginning of great games to come.
Both teams continued to win until they met again in 1995, a little over two months later, in the semi-finals of the South Jersey Group 3 playoffs. Stone picked up where he’d left off, going 51 yards for a TD in the first quarter. Sinclair went 26 for a score in the third quarter that gave OC a 10-7 lead. But Boyd’s 49-yard pass to Klemic and a 22-yard run by Stone made it 21-10. The Raiders rallied in the fourth quarter, scoring on a 50-yard double pass when Scott Lipford hit Davis. OC got the ball back in the closing minutes but fumbled on the first play and Mainland had won again.

1996: Both teams were South Jersey champions – Ocean City in Group 4 and Mainland in Group 3. Their only meeting was in Linwood in early November under the threat of a hurricane. Feinberg kicked a 23-yard field goal to give Mainland the early lead. The Raiders responded with a 64-yard drive, highlighted by Sinclair’s 46-yard run. Matt LeFever scored the touchdown from three yards out. Mainland never crossed the 50 again until the final 90 seconds of the game when Ray Rogers intercepted a pass on the OC 16 yard line. The Raiders ran out the clock, giving a safety on the final play of the game, and won a strange-sounding 6-5 decision.

1997: The two teams met twice again, this time within two weeks. In the first game, in Ocean City, the Raiders intercepted two passes that Brian Comeforo and Jay Toscano returned for touchdowns in a 21-6 victory.
But, two weeks later, in a Group 3 playoff semi-final in Linwood, Ken Dudnick ended a scoreless tie halfway through the third quarter with a 25-yard field goal. Rogers then responded by returning the ensuing kickoff a school record 96 yards for a touchdown. Ocean City held that 6-3 lead until Jamil Perry banged over from the three for the score. Incredibly, the Raiders final four possessions all ended with interceptions – two each by Howard Horner and Larry Fernan – to preserve a 9-6 victory. Mainland went on to beat Toms River South for its second straight South Jersey title.

1998: It was early October when the two teams met in Linwood. The lead changed hands five times. Ocean City took the lead for good on a run by Al Genz that made it 25-20 at the half. Austin Martin scored to make it 32-20 with 2:24 left in the game only to have Mainland drive 80 yards to score on a 20-yard run by Mike Granieri. An onsides kick attempt failed and the Raiders ran out the clock for a 32-27 win.
Both teams later reached the South Jersey Group 3 playoff semifinals. OC defeated Delsea but Mainland lost to Toms River South, eliminating the chance of a second meeting. The Raiders then defeated Toms River South for the South Jersey Group 3 title.

1999: The first meeting was in Ocean City when the Raiders took a 14-6 lead on a TD run by Adam Martin and a TD pass from Genz to Chris Devaney. Granieri hit R.J. Lindquist for the Mainland score. But, in the second half, Granieri scampered 15 yards for a tying touchdown. And Mike DeSalle kicked a 40-yard field goal to win it, 17-14.
This time the two teams met again in the ultimate game – for the South Jersey championship – at Rutgers. The game went back and forth – Genz threw for 188 yards, Granieri for 183 – until the Mustangs took a 16-15 lead with 6:35 left on a 24-yard pass from Granieri to Ashton Funk. But Ocean City recovered Mainland’s onside kick attempt and got good field position. They gained 33 yards on a Genz-to-Ryan Taylor pass and scored on a 22 yard run by Brian Coggins.
A Mainland drive was stopped by a Joe Foster interception that led to a safety, cutting Ocean City’s lead to 21-18. Then, with 11 seconds left, DeSalle’s 33-yard field goal attempt was wide and Ocean City had its third South Jersey title in four years.

2000: Mainland used a pair of TD passes from Jordan Thomas to Tom Kohr and two defensive recoveries by Jake Dickerson to defeat the Raiders, 20-12, in the regular season game.
But the two teams met again in Linwood during the Group 3 playoffs and Ocean City dominated, winning 20-0 and limiting the Mustangs 65 total yards and one first down. Rick Henshaw threw one TD and scored another with Kenny Hannah racing 89 yards for the final OCHS score. The Raiders went on to lose the South Jersey final to Delsea.

2001: Mike Poteat intercepted two passes, returning one for a TD, and the Raiders took advantage of five Mainland turnovers for a 17-3 win.

2002: Dan Cappelluti scored one touchdown and threw two to Mike Bradway as Mainland won a 21-6 victory. The Mustangs went on to defeat Delsea for the South Jersey championship.

2003: Cappelluti led the way again, throwing for 250 yards and one touchdown, a 72-yarder to Eric Smallwood. Justin Cottrell, John Impagliazzo and Justin Gillespie also scored Mainland TDs.

2004: Ocean City won a shootout, 35-28, by holding off a furious Mainland rally. The Mustangs scored twice within two minutes of the fourth quarter on TD passes from Dan Flynn to Hugh McLaughlin but fell short. A.J. Harris ran for 147 yards and two OCHS touchdowns. Jim Crowley also scored a pair of TDs. Flynn finished with 260 yards passing.

2005: This time Mainland opened a 38-7 lead but Ocean City scored a pair of fourth period TDs from Jordan Torroni to A.J. Harris to reduce the final score to 38-21. Flynn scored one TD and threw for 227 yards and two others.

2006: Mainland drove 67 yards in 23 plays through the mud in the fourth quarter, converting four fourth downs along the way, and tied the game, 6-6, on a TD run by Brent Caprio. Chris Malick then kicked the extra point with 3:55 left in the game for a 7-6 win. A TD pass in the first quarter from Adam Lauer to Chris Harris gave OC the early lead.

2007: For the first time since 1970, Mainland shut out Ocean City, winning 30-0. Caprio passed for 188 yards and two TDs while running for another.

On Friday night, some new memories will be added to this remarkable series.