ALL THE RIGHT MOVES: OCEAN’S TREBOR PENA STARTING TO GET THE RECOGNITION HE DESERVES
By Mike Ready
OCEAN TOWNSHIP – The Spartans are off to their best start since 2015. They’ve reeled off three straight wins to open the season and have averaged 35.6 points per game while allowing just 12 points in those three games. Their 3-0 start has led to a No. 8 ranking in this week’s Shore Conference Top 10 – something they haven’t seen in four years.
“It feels great, I know how it feels to have a bad season and lose,” said senior Trebor Pena, whose team went 2-8 his sophomore season and 4-6 a year ago. “A lot of us seniors do, and we really don’t want to get to that point again. We put in so much work in the off-season and we continue to work really hard every day trying to be the best that we can be.”
Although the Spartans have a ton of talent sprinkled up and down the lineup this season, their ultimate success falls squarely on the shoulders of Pena, a 5-foot-10, 180-pound running back/wide receiver/defensive back.
Pena is rated a three-star recruit by most national recruiting services with 247 Sports rating him as the 27th best player in New Jersey and 110th-rated athlete in the country.
But even with these lofty rankings, Pena, who is a three-year starter and has already committed to Temple University, where he’s projected as a slot receiver at the next level, he’s probably one of the best kept secrets in the New Jersey high school football – a direct result of the Spartans’ 6-14 record over the past two seasons.
“I’ve been saying that,” said Ocean head coach Don Klein of Pena’s lack of recognition. “As far as media coverage, he’s certainly fallen under the radar. But he’s starting to get what he deserves in regard to that type of appreciation. We’re winning football games and he’s obviously having a tremendous start to his senior year. He’s paid his dues as a player both during the season and in the off-season. He’s a great kid and some of the accolades and attention he’s starting to get is well deserved.”
As a sophomore starter, he had over 500 yards of total offense and was an important cog on the defensive side of the ball as well. He was a third-team All-Shore selection a year ago when he rushed for 488 yards and six touchdowns on 77 carries for a 6.3 yard per carry average and caught 29 passes for 428 yards and three touchdowns.
The versatile Pena also returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown last year and was a force in the secondary where he recorded an interception as a lock-down free safety.
“Last year was when he kind of jumped on the scene,” said Klein. “Trebor as a junior started to really impact the game on offense, defense and special teams.”
Pena is an elusive runner with tremendous vision and breakaway speed. He has a crafty way of maneuvering through the creases in the line before accelerating and running away from people. He leaves would-be tacklers dead in their tracks with an assortment of jukes and jives once he breaks free.
“I try to go hard on every play,” said Pena. “If I see someone, I’m either going to go around him or go through him; I do whatever it takes to get as much yardage as I can on every play. I’m probably more of a finesse runner, but if I need to I’ll lower my pads.”
He’s also a well decorated spring track athlete and is the reigning Shore Conference long jump champion and has had a lot of success in the 100 meter dash as well. Over the winter he added 23 pounds of muscle to his already athletic frame allowing him to run through people now when the situation calls for it.
So far this season in three games, Pena has rushed for 380 yards and five touchdowns while averaging close to 11 yards per carry. Because of Ocean’s depth at the running back position that includes Nasir Thompson and Ishyne Woodard – two very talented running backs – and the Spartans’ blow-out wins over their last two opponents, Pena has yet to carry the rock more than 13 times in a game.
In Ocean’s 41-6 rout of Monmouth Regional in its second game of the season, Pena carried the ball just nine times but rushed for 163 yards, including scoring jaunts of 23, 4 and 52 yards – all in the first half. He sat out most of the second half as the Spartans built a 34-0 halftime lead and Klein turned the game over to their reserves early in the second frame.
“We’ve been fortunate to have some success here early on,” said Klein. “And we have been spreading the ball out to a lot of our playmakers. Obviously, things start with Trebor, but we have a nice complement to him in the run game with Thompson and Woodard, and our quarterback, Robbie Nungesser, is a very talented kid. Then we have some talented receivers on the outside – Tye Brookins, Mike Gavakis, Tyrell Wigfall and Chris Carasia – so we have some other weapons.
“Trebor, however, is averaging almost 11 yards per carry and even though we’ve been able to get him out of some games earlier he’s still been able to be very productive,” he continued.
The Spartans opened the season with a 19-6 win over an improved Neptune team that has scored 96 points in their last two games. Pena rushed for 115 yards, including a 67-yard touchdown and added an interception on defense.
Against Barnegat last week in a key Patriot Division contest, Ocean dominated on both sides of the ball in a 47-0 rout of the Bengals to move to 3-0. Pena rushed for 99 yards including a 9-yard touchdown run on 13 attempts and returned an interception 55 yards for a touchdown, his second interception of the season.
Klein feels the team feeds off of Pena, not just on field but off the field.
“Trebor’s a kid that’s going to come out every day and give great effort and I think his teammates feed off his big-play ability,” said Klein. “He’s a tremendous kid and a lot of fun to be around – a smart kid and mature kid that does very well in the classroom with a 1230 SAT score. He’s a hard worker, focused and intelligent but at the same time very humble, so he’s really just a pleasure to be around.”
Pena is the quiet kind who leads by example, but Klein would like to see him be a little bit more vocal this season.
“It’s something we’re trying to work with him on as far as being more vocal,” said Klein. “He’s a guy that likes to lead by example. Like I said, he’s one of the hardest workers in the room. He’s always practicing at a high level and encourages his teammates to do the same. He is a leader within our group, but before he goes on to college football one of the things we want to continue to try and cultivate in him is being more verbal and being a little more vocal with his teammates.
“That’s just him by nature,” added Klein. “He’s a quiet kid and reserved and, like I mentioned before, a humble kid. But when the lights go on, he’s ready to compete at the highest level.”
Pena would like nothing more than to go out on top this season and the urgency is not lost on this senior-heavy team.
“We talk about that to not only Trebor but our entire team,” said Klein. “Our senior class is a strong class and they’re a bunch of kids that have taken their lumps. We’re doing a really good job of having quality practices day-in-and-day-out and doing a good job of taking one game at a time and one week at a time. But ultimately, Trebor knows and the team knows the expectation for this team is to play this game at a high level throughout the course of the rest of the season.”
“To bring one (championship) back would be crazy, one of the best things ever,” Pena added. “That’s been a longtime goal but we know it won’t come easy. We know we have to work for it and that’s all we’ve been doing – working really, really hard.”
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