ATLANTIC CITY — Things could have gone wrong for the Atlantic City High School football team Thursday night.

The fact that they didn’t could bode well for the future.

Senior quarterback Khajuan “Peaky” Roseborough threw for 393 yards and four TDs as Atlantic City survived an Eastern Regional rally to win the West Jersey Football League interdivision game 35-27. Atlantic City (5-2), which is headed for the South Jersey Group V playoffs, has won five straight and is ranked No. 9 in The Press Elite 11.

The Vikings led 21-0 in the second quarter. If Thursday was a playoff game, Atlantic City would have said it “survived and advanced.”

“The mood is always good with us,” Roseborough said. "We always know to stick together, so nothing goes apart. But it could have gone bad. We stuck together, and we pulled out the win. I think this will help us in the playoffs because it teaches us to stick together if something is going wrong. It will definitely help us if we have any hard-fought games in the playoffs.”

Eastern (3-4) had its chances. Eastern twice drove inside the Atlantic City 20-yard line with a chance to score the tying TD in the fourth quarter.

On the first occasion, Eastern reached the Atlantic City 6 but were stopped on downs.

On the second, defensive back Tamir Rex picked off a pass in the Atlantic City end zone with less than 10 seconds left to preserve the win.

Atlantic City features one of the state’s top players in senior wide receiver Sah’nye Degraffenreidt, who caught five passes for 76 yards.

But Atlantic City showed it has plenty of other players capable of making big plays.

Freshman wide receiver Don’Taye Thompson scored his first varsity TD when he caught a 90-yard TD pass from Roseborough to put the Vikings up 7-0.

Roseborough found Rex wide open for a 30-yard TD in the second quarter to give the Vikings a 21-0 lead. On the play, it seemed like the entire Eastern secondary gravitated toward Degraffenreidt, who was running a route down the sideline.

“We went into the week knowing we wanted to throw the ball,” Roseborough said. “I knew I had to come out and make some plays. Everybody thinks we only have (Degraffenreidt) and we tell the other guys in practice you’re going to have a lot of opportunities because of (Degraffenreidt) being who he is. You always have to be ready to step up.”

Eastern struggled offensively in the first half, rushing for just five yards in the first two quarters.

But Eastern grabbed some momentum when quarterback Logan Dawson threw a 35-yard TD pass to Brian Thiel right before the end of the first half.

“That gave them a lot of life,” Atlantic City coach Keenan Wright said. “We didn’t make the proper adjustments to get pressure (on Dawson) in the second half. He had way too much time back there. He’s too good a thrower.”

Atlantic City made just enough plays in the second half. Atlantic City’s ability to score from anywhere on the field was the difference.

Rex caught another 30 yard TD pass in the third quarter.

With 7 minutes, 3 seconds left in the game, Atlantic City took over on their own 10. Roseborough found junior wide receiver Jaylen Day open over the middle. He ran between two defenders, broke a tackle and sprinted 90 yards for TD to put the Vikings up 35-20.

Still, the Vikings couldn’t relax until Rex’s interception.

Roseborough completed 18 of 28 passes. Rex caught three passes for 63 yards. Defensive back Omar Kelly, linebacker Jeremiah Williams, and defensive lineman Zephaniah Bradey-Brown each made tackles for losses for the Atlantic City defense.

The Vikings will host Hammonton (0-7) Oct. 18 in its final game before the playoff fields are announced. Atlantic City is off Oct. 25/26. The playoffs start Nov. 1.

“There’s a lot of things we can clean up,” Wright said. “We’re trying to get healthy going into the bye week and then go from there.”

Eastern 0 7 13 7 - 27

Atlantic City 14 7 7 7 - 35

FIRST QUARTER

AC - Thompson 90 pass from Roseborough (Entress kick)

AC - Bradley-Brown 2 run (Entress kick)

SECOND QUARTER

AC - Rex 34 pass from Roseborough (Entress kick)

EA - Thiel 38 pass from Dawson (Davis kick)

THIRD QUARTER

EA - Cutler 9 run (Entress kick)

AC - Rex 30 pass from Roseborough (Entress kick)

EA - Cutler 3 run (kick missed)

FOURTH QUARTER

AC - Day 90 pass from Roseborough (Entress kick)

EA - Rodriguez-Rosa 4 pass from Dawson (Davis kick)