ANSONIA – The Ansonia Tigers defeated the visiting Arcanum Tigers 28-14 in WOAC football action to keep its undefeated conference season intact.
“Arcanum is a tough football team,” said Ansonia coach Adam Hall. “They are very physical, very big up front, their backs run hard, and we knew coming in would be a tough game. Our guys did a good job of stepping up to the challenge.”
“We had some good opportunities to win this game,” said Arcanum coach Matt Macy. “We just didn’t take advantage of it.”
Zane Henderson broke a big run for an Ansonia touchdown on their opening possession of the night and tacked on the two-point conversion run, giving the Tigers an early 8-0 advantage at 5:39 in the first.
Arcanum’s Luke Midlam returned the ensuing kickoff 65 yards for a Trojans touchdown. Ansonia’s defense stopped the two-point conversion attempt, keeping the Tigers on top with an 8-6 lead and 5:26 remaining in the first.
The Tigers added a three-yard Henderson touchdown run in the closing 0:05.9 seconds of the first quarter. With the two-point Henerson conversion, Ansonia took a 16-6 advantage to start quarter No. 2.
The teams’ defenses took over in the second period, and at the halftime break, Ansonia held a double-digit 16-6 lead.
“We played our best game effort-wise tonight,” Hall said. “We were running the ball; we were doing what we’re supposed to do.”
Ansonia put together a seven-minute, 23-second drive to open the third quarter, with Henderson scoring from two yards out, giving the 5’11” 190-pound senior his third rushing TD. The two-point pass conversion attempt failed, extending the Tigers’ lead to 22-6 with 4:37 on the third quarter clock.
“We held the ball a lot, especially in the second half, but if we score all the times we get down there, then we put this game away a little bit earlier, and we can breathe a little easier,” said Coach Hall. “We did what we’re supposed to do and held onto the ball and drove the field, and it worked out for us.”
Arcanum changed at quarterback to start second-half play, bringing in sophomore Lucas Miller to handle the snaps from center.
“We were trying to spark a little bit,” Coach Macy said. “Bishop, our starter does a great job, but Lucas is more of a running back, so we were trying to see if we couldn’t run him a little bit and hit a spark,” Macy said, “but we couldn’t find anywhere to run, anywhere to pass; we just couldn’t do it.”
MJ Macy raced 60 yards on Arcanum’s first play of the second half for a touchdown with 4:20 on the third quarter board. Layne Bowman made good on the two-point conversion run, making it a 22-14 game.
“We gave up two big plays,” Coach Hall noted. “We gave up one play on a kickoff and one play coming out of halftime, but other than that, we played really good defense.”
Ansonia spoiled any attempt of a Trojans win, covering an Arcanum bad snap into the endzone recovered by Henderson for a Tigers touchdown and a 28-14 lead at 11:54 in the fourth, a lead that would hold up for the final score of the night with Ansonia controlling the clock.
“We just can’t help ourselves,” Macy stated. “We get within a touchdown, and we snap the ball into the endzone, and that was the end of it because they controlled the ball the rest of the game. They are so good at what they do, and credit to them and their program.”
“We held the ball a lot, especially in the second half, but if we score all the times we get down there, then we put this game away a little bit earlier, and we can breathe a little easier,” said Coach Hall. “We did what we’re supposed to do, held onto the ball, and drove the field, and it worked out for us.”
Ansonia improves to 3-1 on the season and 3-0 in the WOAC. The Tigers will travel to Tri-Village for a September 19 game with Tri-Village.
Tri-County North travels to Arcanum for a September 19 Friday night WOAC game. Both teams have identical 2-2 overall records and 2-1 conference marks.
