ANSONIA – The No. 7 seed Ansonia Tigers dropped a 36-8 OHSAA Division VI opening-round playoff game to the No. 10 seed New Bremen Cardinals Friday night at Eugene Hoening Field in Tiger Stadium.
New Bremen junior running back Jacob Kelly fueled the Cardinals’ advance with 200 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns, setting up a regional quarterfinal rematch with No. 2 seed St. Henry, which defeated New Bremen 20-0 two weeks earlier in MAC play.
The Cardinals struck first at 6:46 in the opening period when Kelly dashed 11 yards for a touchdown. The extra-point kick was good for a 7-0 lead.
Ansonia responded with a promising drive that stalled on fourth-and-two, losing a yard and handing possession back to the visitors.
On the very next snap, Kelly raced 57 yards for his second touchdown, extending New Bremen’s lead to 13-0 at 11:44 of the second quarter. The PAT went wide, keeping it a 13-point margin.
A few minutes later, Aiden Eastham split the uprights on a 33-yard field goal to push the Cardinals’ advantage to 16-0 with 4:45 remaining in the half.
“We were down 16,” said Ansonia head coach Adam Hall. “We were able to move the ball some in the first half.”
The Tigers then found their rhythm. Layne Bowman faked a handoff and sprinted 34 yards, then connected with Jacob Schmitmeyer on a 25-yard touchdown pass. Bowman and Schmitmeyer teamed up again for the two-point conversion, trimming the deficit to 16-8 at halftime.
“When we do things right, we can move the ball with anybody,” Hall noted. “We saw that at the end when we were firing on all cylinders. That says a lot about our team, the fight they have, and how they responded at the end of the first half. It gave us a chance to stay in the game.”
New Bremen’s halftime adjustments at the line of scrimmage proved decisive. The Cardinals contained Ansonia’s rushing attack while adding three more touchdowns to put the game out of reach.
Kelly powered in from four yards out early in the third, followed by a 3-yard run from quarterback Gavin Dicke later in the period. The Cardinals capped their scoring on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Dicke to Gavin Quellhorst in the fourth quarter, closing out the 36-8 victory.
Neither team committed a turnover in the contest.
“Every year is different, and some people probably believe there is more carryover year to year than maybe there is,” Hall said in reflecting on the 2025 season. “Every team is different—the makeup of guys is different, the way they interact with each other is different—but the theme our guys should be proud of this season is the way that we improved from week one and really from week five.”
“The middle of the season, we were playing great football, but down the stretch I thought we were playing our best when we needed to, and that is something that our guys should be proud of.”
Seven seniors suited up for the final time in the Orange and Black: Layne Bowman, Cainan Robinson, Matthew Middleton, Luke Ressler, Kaeden Waymire, Ben Barnt, and Cameron Grilliot.
“Our seniors are a special group,” Hall said. “I appreciate all the work they have done. They have been here since I became the head coach at Ansonia. They have bought in—they’re in the weight room, at summer workouts, and at two-a-days.”
“I appreciate all the things our seniors did,” Hall concluded. “All of them are good football players, all of them are great kids, and I really appreciate having them on the team. I’m not looking forward to not having them—I’m going to miss having them out here.”
