Ansonia’s football team celebrated their WOAC championship three-peat with a team photo.
Ryan Berry | Daily Advocate
Coach Adam Hall is shown with his seniors who played their final regular season game. They will now get ready for the playoffs.
Ryan Berry | Daily Advocate
By Ryan Berry
DailyAdvocate.com
UNION CITY — After clinching a share of the Western Ohio Athletic Conference (WOAC) Championship last Saturday with a win over Preble Shawnee, Ansonia’s football team earned the title outright with a 70-6 victory of Mississinawa Valley on Friday night. This is the Tiger’s third consecutive WOAC title in football and the second year in a row they’ve won the championship without having to share the title.
“The guys played well tonight; they’ve played well all year. I’ve been happy with – you know, we’ve talked about it. This season could have gone either way at times. I’m happy with our seniors and our guys have put in the work and I’m glad they get to experience this this year,” said Coach Adam Hall.
The season did not start the way Coach Hall would have hoped. They went on the road to Riverside and began the season with a loss. The disappointment from that and the way they rebounded in the second have may have been the spark the Tigers needed to go on a nine-game winning streak. Hall said, “I think we learned as a team that when we are playing the way we should play we’re pretty dang good. When we don’t do it the way we’re supposed to we’re pretty dang bad. We saw both of it that night. But there was a lot to be encouraged (about). We almost pulled off the comeback. We just weren’t ready to go that night, but I think since then we have been and that’s a credit to our guys.”
They were very ready on Friday night and never let the Blackhawks get anything established. The Tigers scored often with excellent blocking by the offensive line and great runs from their skilled players. Ansonia got on the board first with a six-yard run from Jacob Schmitmeyer and the two-point conversion was good. The Tigers were up 8-0 with 8:25 left in the first.
Mississinawa Valley fumbled on their first drive to give Ansonia a short field. Zane Henderson took it into from the six-yard line and also scored on the two-point conversion to go up 16-0 with 4:09 left in the first quarter.
Henderson got into the endzone again with 9:51 left in the half and senior offensive and defensive lineman Peyton Kelch took in for the two-point conversion. Ansonia was up 24-0.
A 23-yard touchdown pass to Matthew Middleton and a two-point conversion from Asher Shives put the Tigers up 32-0.
After an MV turnover on downs near midfield, the Tigers got a 43-yard run from quarterback Layne Bowman to take a 38-0 lead. The conversion try was no good.
Mississinawa’s only score came with time running out in the first half. Ansonia turned the ball over on downs on the Mississinawa Valley 23-yard line with 18 seconds remaining in the half. They got a quick pass to the 36-yard line and called time out. On the next play Caleb Spradling connected with Bryce Watson for a 64-yard touchdown pass as the clock hit 0. The conversion was no good. Ansonia led 38-6 at the half.
The second half was a series of miscues and turnovers for the Blackhawks. After receiving the kickoff, the Blackhawks turned the ball with a fumble. A couple plays later, Schmitmeyer scored on a 21-yard touchdown run. Bryson Robinson scored on the two-point conversion to give the Tigers a 46-6 lead.
Ansonia rested its starters and played the backups for the remainder of the game.
Mississinawa’s next drive ended with a turnover when Karson Weiss got the pick for the Tiger defense. Ansonia’s drive ended with a 15-yard touchdown run from Schmitmeyer. The two-point conversion gave Ansonia a 54-6 lead.
The Blackhawks had trouble fielding the kickoff and when the MV receiver picked it up near the goal line he tried to circle around in the endzone, but threw the ball forward just as the Tiger defender was trying to make the tackle. He was flagged for an illegal forward pass in the endzone which gave the Tigers a safety and increased the lead to 56-6.
Entering the fourth quarter, the Tigers got a 24-yard touchdown run from Graham Coppess and the conversion was good to give Ansonia a 64-6 lead.
The final score of the game came on a 35-yard touchdown run from freshman Carson Thobe. The conversion was no good and the Tigers were up 70-6.
The Tigers will now get ready for the first round of the OHSAA football playoffs.
To contact Daily Advocate Editor Ryan Berry, email [email protected].
