Lander Shives takes the ball for the Tigers.
Ryan Berry | Daily Advocate
By Ryan Berry
DailyAdvocate.com
ANSONIA — The Ansonia Tigers made it look easy in their first-round win over Twin Valley South in the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) football playoffs. After winning the Western Ohio Athletic Association Conference (WOAC) conference title a week ago and going 9-1 in the regular season, the Tigers made it 10 wins in a row with their 46-8 victory.
Coach Adam Hall said, “I felt like our guys played really well tonight. Offensively and defensively I thought our guys looked really good.” He added, “I think it’s always strange when you play another team that you’ve already played once. Coming in they hadn’t lost a game since they played us, I don’t think. They’ve gotten much better. We knew that we had to be ready to go tonight. I thought the guys did a good job of coming out and doing what we needed to do to get another week of football.”
The Tigers were able to take the first drive of the game 61 yards that culminated with a four-yard touchdown run by Zane Henderson and a two-point conversion by Jacob Schmitmeyer to go up 8-0.
On the next drive, Lander Shives took it 43 yards for the touchdown. The conversion try was no good, but the Tigers were up 14-0.
A 16-yard run from Jacob Schmitmeyer and his two-point conversion gave Ansonia a 22-0 lead with 5:32 left in the half.
The Tigers got their final score of the half with 2:34 remaining on the clock to go up 30-0. The Tigers got a three-yard run from Layne Bowman and the two-point conversion by Shives.
At the start of the second half, the Tigers got an interception from Jacob Schmitmeyer to set up a scoring drive. Zane Henderson took it in from 15-yards out. Isaiah Hartzell, the senior offensive and defensive lineman, scored the two-point conversion to go up 38-0.
Ansonia’s reserves played the rest of the game and were able to put points on the board with a 58-yard run from Cade Shellhaas and a two-point conversion by Luke Ressler.
The Panthers got on the scoreboard with 1:50 left in the game on a five-yard touchdown run by Carson Hurst. A pass completion to Griff Roell added two points to their total.
The Tigers will host Lehman Catholic next week. Lehman comes in with a 9-2 record after knocking off Riverside 46-13.
Coach Hall said, “We scrimmaged them; it was our second scrimmage. We know they’re good. We know their quarterback is good, they’re athletic. It will be a tough game for us, but our guys will work hard this week and be ready to go next week.
To contact Daily Advocate Editor Ryan Berry, email [email protected].
