No. 1 Somerville shows no signs of slowing, firing on all cylinders as they host Ocean City for a trip to Central Group 3 title game

After so many down years, Jeff Vanderbeek and Company resurrected the once proud Somerville football program. That hit a lull after the 2020 COVID-shortened season, after Dallas Whitaker left.

Offensive line coach Matt Bloom was the last holdover, and the program saw a drop-off under Ian Pace, who didn’t last a whole season before Bloom was elevated to head coach with two games left in the regular season. They won both, salvaging a playoff berth, and now Bloom has the program back where they believe they should be every year: in contention for a state title, something that didn’t exist during the program’s most recent renaissance.

Friday night at 7, the top-seeded Pioneers will put their unbeaten record (10-0) on the line when they host fourth-seed Ocean City (6-4) in the Central Jersey Group 3 semifinals. A win would have them playing against either 7-seed Delsea or 3-seed Cedar Creek – the team that knocked them out in the first round at their place last season – in the sectional title game, which would also be at Brooks Field.

The Pioneers get a lot of attention for their offense, which has been burying teams in just the first 24 minutes of games. They have had a running clock before halftime in four of their last five contests. Senior quarterback Brenden Pacheco has thrown for 1,325 yards and 20 touchdowns with just two picks. Fellow senior Terrell Mitchell has run for 1,102 yards and scored 15 rushing touchdowns, while adding four scores on the receiving end.

But none of that running clock stuff happens without a defense that has pitched three shutouts in its last six games, and allowed a grand total of 21 points in that span, no more than seven to any opponent. As they did in the glory days under Vanderbeek/Whitaker, they have been getting behind the line of scrimmage, with 15 sacks and 44 tackles for loss on the season, an average of 4.4 per game. And they have 13 picks on the year, including a team best three each from seniors Brady Scheier and Josh Rodriguez.

For Ocean City, meanwhile, three of their four losses have come to public schools still alive in the playoffs, and all good enough to be playing at home: Cedar Creek, Atlantic City and Mainland. Relying heavily on the ground game, they are led offensively by senior Walker Bailey (447 yards, 6 touchdowns) and junior Clya Compton (343 yards and 3 TDs).

Click below to hear Somerville head coach Matt Bloom talk about the Pioneers and this Friday’s playoff game against visiting Ocean City: