By Ryan Berry

DailyAdvocate.com

DE GRAFF — Ansonia went on the road to start its season, but things didn’t go as Coach Adam Hall was hoping in the Tigers’ 41-32 loss to Riverside on Friday night.

The Tigers had a promising start with only half a field to work with, but a fumble on the eight-yard line gave the ball to the Pirates and the Tigers hope for a quick score faded in the blink of an eye. They were able to hold Riverside to a three-and-out. A sack at the three-yard line made punting difficult for the Pirates and the Tigers once again had the ball with great field position.

With 40 seconds remaining in the first quarter, Lander Shives took it in from the two to give Ansonia an early 6-0 lead. The two-point conversion failed.

Ansonia’s defense and offense stopped working for most of the first half after that score. The Pirates found their passing game was effective and began piling up yards against the Tigers’ defense. A 17-yard touchdown pass, and the extra point gave Riverside a 7-6 lead.

An interception on Ansonia’s next drive set the Pirates up for their second score of the game and Riverside was up 14-6 with 8:50 remaining in the half.

First half turnovers plagued Ansonia and a fumble on the ensuing drive at their own 28 led to more points. On a quarterback keeper from the one-yard line, the Pirates extended the lead to 21-6 with 5:45 remaining in the half.

The Pirates put more points on the board after a three-and-out from Ansonia. On a bubble screen with 2:51 remaining in the half, Riverside found the endzone on a 58-yard pass play. The extra point was no good, but the Pirates were up 27-6.

Ansonia started to show some life on the next drive with a 47-yard touchdown run from Zane Henderson to narrow the gap. The extra point was no good and Ansonia trailed 27-12 with 1:44 until halftime.

The Tigers were hoping to keep the score close going into the break, but with five seconds remaining in the half, the Tigers gave up another big pass play. This time it was a 41-yard touchdown pass. The Pirates went into the break with a 34-12 lead.

As bad as Ansonia was in the first half, they were that good in the second half. They limited the Pirates to one first down through most of the third and fourth quarters. Coach Hall’s team started to battle their way back into contention. At the 10:25 mark in the third, Shives took the ball in from the four to make it 34-18. The extra point try was no good.

Henderson got the second score of the quarter with a one-yard run with 3:20 remaining and Shives’ two-point conversion made it a 34-26 game.

Junior Cainan Robison’s two-yard run with 9:40 left in the game gave Ansonia a chance to even the score, but the extra-point came up short and it was a 34-32 game.

After a sack fumble of the Riverside quarterback, Ansonia was set up with good field position, but they were unable to move the ball and turned it over on downs with time ticking away.

The Pirates were faced with a third and five on their own side of the field with just over three minutes remaining, but a simple shovel pass led to a 65-yard touchdown run for the Pirates that sealed the victory at 41-32.

Coach Hall knew the game would be difficult. He said, “You’ve got to give Riverside credit. Riverside is a good football team. They’ve been good for the last, since we’ve been playing them, really. It’s a good matchup for us. They played better than we did,”

Hall said his team struggled in the first half and weren’t ready to go. However, Hall was happy with the way his team responded in the second half. “I’m proud of the way we fought,” he said. Hall told his team, “If we don’t do what we’re supposed to do, it can get ugly out here. When we do it the way we’re supposed to do it, it can be pretty good, too. We saw both sides of the coin here tonight and I think we know which side of the coin we want to lean to.”

To contact Daily Advocate Editor Ryan Berry, email [email protected].