Newsome leads Ansonia to yet another state championship

Ansonia High football coach is carried on the shoulders of his players after the Chargers won the Class S title Friday night.

NEW BRITAIN, Dec. 13 – On a cold evening and playing a frozen field, Ansonia’s running back Arkeel Newsome helped his Charger teammates make history Friday night in the Class S football championship game. 

Ansonia scored two touchdowns in the first 3:05 of the game and Newsome ran for 259 yards and four touchdowns as the Chargers rolled to a 51-12 victory over Naugatuck Valley League rival Woodland Regional in front of 1,400 fans at Central Connecticut State’s Arute Field. 

Ansonia won its record 19th state championship and becomes the first high school team to win 15 games in a single season. The Chargers won a school record 43rd consecutive game and won their third straight state championship. Ansonia won the Class S title a year ago and won the Class M title in 2011. 

“They’re all special,” Ansonia coach Tom Brockett said. “To win three in a row is an unbelievable accomplishment. It was a total team effort. Our secondary shut down a great quarterback (Tanner Kingsley, 45 TD passes and over 3,400 yards passing this fall). We had sophomores out there making big plays. We have the best offensive line in the state of Connecticut and we have one of the best football players in America (Newsome). 

“There is a lot of talent out there and the kids play the game the right way,” Brockett said. 

Ansonia’s Arkeel Newsome (2) fights off a tackle in Friday night’s Class S championship game.

The Chargers staked their claim early. On Woodland’s first offensive snap, Ansonia junior Witol Gul intercepted Kingsley’s pass that floated down the right sideline. Seven plays later, Newsome scored from the 7-yard line for a 7-0 lead. Newsome ran six times on the drive with the biggest run being a 27-yard scamper to the Woodland 19-yard line. 

On Woodland’s next offensive snap, Kingsley completed a five-yard pass to teammate Jack Pinho but when he was tackled, the ball popped loose and Gul grabbed the ball out of air and ran 27 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 Charger lead. 

Kingsley did score on a 14-yard run early in the second quarter to give the Hawks some hope, cutting the lead to 14-6. The extra point failed. But Ansonia scored on its next two possessions to take a 28-6 lead into the locker room at halftime. Newsome scored from the two-yard line and from the eight-yard line on drives of 60 and 80 yards, respectively. 

“We changed up some blocking schemes and we really began to take off,” Brockett said. 

Newsome also threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Thomas Majchrzak in the fourth quarter. Kingsley scored the only two TDs for Woodland (12-3), who lost to Ansonia for the second time in three weeks. The Hawks lost to Ansonia, 48-7 in the NVL championship game on November 20. 

Newsome finished the season with over 3,800 yards and 68 touchdowns. For his career, he ran or over 10,600 yards and scored 187 touchdowns. 

He had five TDs and 269 yards in the 42-27 semifinal victory over Rocky Hill. In the quarterfinals, Newsome scored 7 TDs and ran for 492 yards on 26 carries to lead the undefeated Chargers (13-0) at Jarvis Stadium. He scored on runs of 83, 72, 68, 64, 55, 15 and 3 yards. 

“What is the best adjective to describe him? I’ll use that word. I’m all out of them,” Brockett said. “He’s been unbelievable. He is a special, special kid and I can’t wait to watch him at UConn (next fall).” 

NOTES: The temperature at kickoff was a frosty 28 degrees. … Ansonia had 407 total yards while Woodland had just 256. … Newsome got hit hard by Woodland defenders but shook it off. “I expected it,” he said. “I enjoyed it. I’m a running back. You have to love getting hit.”

Ansonia 51, Woodland Regional 12
At New Britain
Woodland (12-3)           0    6  6  0  — 12
Ansonia (15-0)            14  14  8  15 – 51
First quarter
A: Arkeel Newsome 6 run (Witold Gul kick), 9:15
A: Gul 27 fumble recovery (Gul kick), 8:55
Second quarter
W: Tanner Kingsley 14 run (kick fails), 10:26
A: Newsome 2 run (kick fails), 7:37
A: Newsome 8 run (Newsome run), 3:02
Third quarter
A: Tajik Bagley 4 run (Thomas Majchrzak pass from McKnight), 9:22
W: Kingsley 5 run (pass fails), 5:04
Fourth quarter
A: Majchrzak 11 pass from Newsome (Tajik Bagley rush), 11:56
A: Newsome 3 run (Gul kick), 6:49
Individual statistics
RUSHING – Ansonia: Arkeel Newsome 34-259, Jaiquan McKnight 7-54, Tajik Bailey 5-48, Hugh Jackson 2-5, Saiheed Saunders 2-3, Jack Williams 1-minus 2; Woodland – Sean McAllen 17-66, Tanner Kingsley 9-50, Joe Poeta 2-2, Taylor Tucciarone 2-minus 2
PASSING – Ansonia: Newsome 1-2-1, 11; McKnight 1-1, 29; Woodland: Kingsley 11-21-2, 140
RECEIVING – Ansonia: Bagley 1-29, Majchrzak 1-11; Woodland: Joe Poeta 3-75, Jack Pinho 3-37, Mike Kenney 2-19, Taylor Tucciarone 2-4, Sean McAllen 1-5
KICKOFFF RETURNS – Kenney (W) 4-77, Dylan Abarzua (W) 1-1, Zack DeBrizzi (W) 2-minus 16, Mike Lang (W) 1-0; Newsome (A) 1-18; PUNT RETURNS – Newsome (A) 2-2
TACKLES — Tyler O’Connell (A) 7, Witold Gul (A) 7, Saiheed Sanders (A) 7, Tyler Bailey (A) 6; Levi Fancher (W) 10, Will Lormann (W) 9, Chris McDonald (W) 8, Taylor Tucciarone (W) 7, Chris Slavin (W) 7
INTERCEPTIONS: Taylor Tucciarone (W) 1-0; Tyler Bailey (A) 2-2; FUMBLE RECOVERY: Gul (A) 1-27
Attendance: 1,400