The Atlantic City Vikings were unsure of their playoff chances going into Friday night.

Only a few hours later, we know that Coach Thomas Kelly's team will be heading to the postseason after all.

Less than 12 hours after Atlantic City's 43-31 win over Absegami, 97.3 ESPN-FM's Tyler Donohue spoke with Southern Regional's Athletic Director about his team's chances of sneaking in. Chuck Donohue Jr. has confirmed that despite the outcome of the Saturday's Southern Regional-Toms River East game, the Rams are ultimately "out" of posteason picture, which means the Vikings have unofficially claimed the final spot in the Group 5 Playoffs.

Although an Egg Harbor Township win over Ocean City also helped Atlantic City, the Vikings still needed to take care of their business at home against Absegami.

Quarterback Jamir Prevard made the hardest push for the Vikings to extend their season, throwing three touchdown passes and also running for two scores. The Braves, down 22 points at halftime, staged a late comeback attempt behind quarterback Mike Dolan; but it was Atlantic City's Osh-Shakkur Derrick who iced the game with a 69-yard run to the endzone, one of his two on the evening.

Here are some of the best calls from Friday night's game, as heard live on 97.3 ESPN-FM:

Jamir Prevard's 69-yard touchdown run

O. Derrick's 10-yard touchdown reception from Prevard

O. Derrick's 68-yard touchdown run

Tyler Welch's 7-yard touchdown recpetion from Mike Dolan

 

With their 43-31 victory, the Vikings finish the regular season at 4-4, and will be hitting the road to play Tom Flacco and top-seeded Eastern in the first round of the Group V playoffs.

The complete list of playoff seedings and first round matchups in each group will be announced on Monday, and 97.3 ESPN-FM will have full coverage.

 

Here’s a preview of some of the other interviews from this week’s edition of the South Jersey Sports Report:

  • Millville has solidified their postseason positioning after a convincing win Friday night over Hammonton. Their best defensive player tells us why the Thunderbolts are ready for their likely playoff rematch with Williamstown, and what will be awaiting the Braves when they travel to Cumberland County next week
  • South Jersey Hall of Fame sports reporter Tom Williams has a pretty good idea of who's playing where next weekend, and shares his early thoughts on the tentative matchups for Atlantic City, Millville, Holy Spirit and more.
  • Press of Atlantic City sports writer Mike McGarry looks ahead at some potential playoff matchups in the Cape-Atlantic League, and explains why the mad scramble over "power-points" makes for one of the most exciting events of the year
  • The Shore Sports Network's Kevin Williams breaks down what's going on in the Shore Conference, and offers an early playoff picture for a number of teams just up the Parkway
  • Press of Atlantic City sports reporter John O'Kane breaks down the latest in the Cape-Atlantic League's soccer playoffs, including how Ocean City's Tennessee Avenue Sports Complex has turned into "Death Valley" for visiting teams

Listen to this week's show:

Kevin Williams, Shore Sports Network high school football analyst

Mike McGarry, Press of Atlantic City sports reporter

Antoine White, Millville Thunderbolts senior linebacker

John O'Kane, Press of Atlantic City sports writer

Tom Williams, South Jersey Hall of Fame sports reporter

 

 

We’d also like to congratulate the South Jersey Athlete of the Week:

Kailey Stangle

Field Hockey, Mainland

She scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Central Regional. Her efforts help pushed the Mustangs to the Group III championship game.
It’s all right here, on The South Jersey Sports Report. Listen every Saturday, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. on 97.3 ESPN-FM or 973espn.com. Don’t forget to miss Tyler on Thursday Night Live where each week we take the South Jersey Sports Report on the road at a different local establishment in our area, with the spotlight on high school football.

And 97.3 ESPN-FM has you covered every Friday night from 6-7 p.m. for “Countdown to Kickoff”, followed by our live coverage of one of the area’s best games. It all wraps up with our post game show at 10 p.m.

Follow Tyler Donohue on Twitter @TDsTake

 

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