ANSONIA – The WOAC Campion Ansonia Tigers easily defeated the visiting 5-5 Twin Valley South Panthers in OHSAA opening round football playoffs with a 46-8 win.
“I felt like our guys played well tonight,” said Ansonia coach Adam Hall. “Offensively, defensively, I thought we looked good.”
The Tigers defeated South 32-0 in week six of the season on a Friday night with strong winds and pouring rain at Ansonia’s Eugene Hoening Football Stadium.
“It’s always strange when you play another team that you have already played once,” Hall stated. “Coming in, they hadn’t lost a game since they played us (35-0 win over Dixie, 43-6 over Bradford, 40-22 over National Trail, 34-25 win over Tri-County North). They have gotten much better, so we knew we would have to be ready to go tonight. It was the rain game, the tsunami that we had here, so I thought the guys did a good job of coming out and doing what we needed to do, playing good football tonight and getting another week of football.”
Ansonia grabbed an 8-0 first-quarter lead with a Zane Henderson four-yard touchdown run, capping a 61 first-quarter drive with 5:43 on the first-period clock, and never looked back in earning the playoff win. Jacob Schmitmeyer made good on a two-yard, two-point conversion run.
Sophomore Lander Shives broke a 43-yard touchdown run with 14 seconds remaining on the first quarter board, giving the Tigers a 14-0 advantage after one period of play.
Ansonia sophomore Jacob Schmitmeyer scampered 14 yards for a second-quarter touchdown and made good on a two-point conversion run for a 22-0 score at 5:52 in the second.
The Tigers put a second-half running clock in play in the closing minutes of the first half, with junior quarterback Layne Bowman calling his own number, making good on a four-yard touchdown run. Shives carried the two-point conversion, sending the teams to the break with Ansonia leading 30-0.
A Schmitmeyer interception early in third quarter play had Ansonia taking over at their own 38-yard line, setting up a Henderson 15-yard touchdown run and senior lineman Isaiah Harzell scoring on the two-point conversion and a 38-0 Tigers lead.
With the game in hand, Coach Hall went to his JV players in fourth quarter play. Sophomore Cade Shellhaas raced 58 yards for an Ansonia touchdown, and Luke Ressler scored the two-point conversion, giving the Tigers a 46-0 advantage with 8:26 on the running fourth quarter clock.
The visitors got their lone score of the night with under two minutes to play in the contest, with Carson Hurst scoring from five yards out and Griff Roell making good on the two-point conversion run for a final 46-8 Ansonia victory and advancing to play 9-2 Sidney Lehman Catholic, 46-13 winners over Riverside. Ansonia’s only blemish on its season is a season-opening 41-32 loss to Riverside.
“That was our second scrimmage the week before Riverside we played them (Lehman),” Coach Hall noted. “We know they’re good, we know their quarterback is good, we know they’re athletic, and we know that it will be a tough win for us, but I know the guys will work hard for us this week and be ready to go next week.”
The No. 4 seed Ansonia Tigers host the No. 5 seed Lehman Catholic Cavaliers in a round two OHSAA DVII playoff game on Friday, November 8, with a 7 p.m. start time.
