Ansonia grounds Thunderbirds to win 2nd straight state title

Ansonia head coach Tom Brockett celebrates with his Chargers after Ansonia beat North Branford for the Class S championship Saturday.

EAST HARTFORD, Dec. 8 – The North Branford High football team had its opportunities. They just couldn’t convert. Defending champion Ansonia stopped the Thunderbirds three times inside the 21-yard line as the Chargers pulled away for a 59-26 victory and their second straight state championship at Rentschler Field in the Class S final.

Ansonia (14-0) scored the most points ever in a Class S championship and the second-highest number of points in a CIAC football title game. Only Weaver in 1999 scored more – 69. The Chargers, who won a Class M championship a year ago, became just the second team in state history to win 14 games in a single season. They did that a year ago, too.

Arkeel Newsome ran for a game-high 234 yards and three TDs while teammate Andrew Matos ran for 2 TDs and 53 yards and caught a 74-yard touchdown reception. In all, the Chargers scored eight touchdowns on the Thunderbirds (12-1).

“We had a few drops (passes) that could have kept drives alive,” North Branford coach Mark Basil said. “But Ansonia has a motor that just keeps going. I thought we came in with a good plan to neutralize it but (Ansonia) was able to overcome it.”

Ansonia QB Jaiquan McKnight turns upfield against North Branford.

Ansonia had five scoring plays over 56 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown pass from Jaiquan McKnight to Raeshaun Finney and a 74-yard TD pass from McKnight to Andrew Matos that turned a 6-6 game into a 22-6 lead for the Chargers.

The Chargers were leading 14-6 in the first quarter when North Branford’s Josh Melaccio recovered an Ansonia fumble on the Charger 29-yard line. Two plays later, a 15-yard facemask penalty on Ansonia put the ball on the Ansonia 12. North Branford quarterback Brandan Basil completed a six-yard pass to Joe DeLucia to the Charger five.

But Melaccio was thrown for a two-yard loss, tackled by Ansonia’s Antone Mack and Jaiquan McKnight. Good defense resulted in a pair of incompletions and the drive died. Five plays later, Ansonia took a 22-6 lead on its 74-yard touchdown pass to Matos.

In the third quarter, North Branford tried to make a game of it. They cut the lead to 14 points on DeLucia’s 63-yard touchdown pass from Basil on its first drive of the second half. On its next drive, the Thunderbirds drove to the Ansonia 10 before the drive stalled and died.

Ansonia, which has won 28 straight games, put the game away with its next drive, marching 86 yards on 11 plays to extend its lead to 36-14.

“Hats off to our defense and how hard they play every week. They play so aggressive,” Ansonia coach Tom Brockett said. “Our kids don’t quit. They just keep playing and playing.”

North Branford QB Brandon Basil completed 22-of-43 passes for 398 yards and 4 TDs. Joe DeLucia caught nine passes for 204 yards and 3 TDs.

More championship game photos

Ansonia 59, North Branford 26
At East Hartford
North Branford (12-1)                6    0  8  12 — 26
Ansonia (14-0)                        14  14  0  31 – 59
First quarter
NB: Joe DeLucia 74 pass from Brandon Basil (kick blocked), 10:58
A: Arkeel Newsome 3 run (kick fails), 5:09
A: Raeshaun Finney 75 pass from Jaiquan McKnight (Newsome run), 1:20
Second quarter
A: Andrew Matos 75 pass from McKnight (McKnight run), 8:21
A: Matos 9 run (run fails), 0:45
Third quarter
NB: Joe DeLucia 63 pass from Basil (Gary Galanda pass from Basil), 9:21
Fourth quarter
A: Newsome 1 run (Newsome run), 11:49
A: Newsome 64 run (Finney pass from McKnight), 10:25
NB: Alex McGuigan 10 pass from Basil (pass fails), 9:49
A: McKnight 56 run (Matos run), 9:34
NB: DeLucia 12 pass from Basil (pass fails), 6:53
A: Matos 5 run (Arthur Kwaskiewicz kick), 2:01
Individual statistics
RUSHING: North Branford – Dale Hausman 8-45, Gary Falanga 8-37, Joe DeLucia 3-2, Josh Melaccio 1-minus 2; Ansonia – Arkeel Newsome 28-234, Jaiquan McKnight 7-100, Andrew Matos 7-53, Sailheed Sanders 4-14
PASSING: North Branford – Brandon Basil 22-43-0, 398; Ansonia – Jaiquan McKnight 3-8-0, 181
RECEIVING: North Branford – Joe DeLucia 9-204, Chris Caron 5-82, Dale Hausman 3-32, Alex McGuigan 3-29; Ansonia – Raeshaun Finney 2-107, Andrew Matos 1-74