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Bloomfield’s gambles pay off in state championship win over Ansonia

Bloomfield QB Rayshawn Phillips scrambles for a key first down in the fourth quarter of Saturday's Class S championship game in New Britain.

Bloomfield QB Rayshawn Phillips scrambles for a key first down in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s Class S championship game in New Britain.

NEW BRITAIN, Dec. 12 — Bloomfield High football coach Tylon Outlaw is very comfortable and confident in his Warhawk team. He knows what they can do. So, he and the Warhawks didn’t panic after Ansonia erased a 14-point deficit in the third quarter.

Bloomfield had tried to gain a first down on fourth down and two play on its own 35-yard line on its first possession of the third quarter. The Chargers denied Bloomfield and scored nine plays later on a three-yard run by Tyler Bailey with 10 second left. After Bailey ran for two yards, the game was tied at 14-14.

But Bloomfield scored 17 points on its final three drives of the game to beat Ansonia, 31-20 in the Class S championship game and claim its first state title since 2003. The Warhawks finished the season at 13-0 for its first undefeated season since 1999.

Outlaw and the Warhawks also gambled on a fourth down and 1 play on the Bloomfield 45-yard line with 3:19 remaining and the Hawks leading by just four points, 24-20. Under pressure, quarterback Rayshawn Phillips scrambled away from Ansonia defender Malcolm Martin and raced to his left and picked up the first down by just a few inches.

A few plays later, Phillips threw his fourth touchdown pass to the game to Dexter Lawson from the one-yard line with 1:26 remaining to clinch the championship.

“We came up about two inches short,” Ansonia coach Tom Brockett said in reference to Phillips’ first down scramble. If the Chargers (12-1) could have made the stop, they would have an opportunity to try and take the lead. Instead, Ansonia lost in the championship game for the second straight year after winning the three previous seasons.

“The goal was to keep (the ball) out of Ansonia’s hands,” Outlaw said, referring to his team’s fourth down gambles. “Ansonia is dangerous and we know they’re dangerous so we didn’t want them to have the ball. That’s the bottom line. So, we went for it a few times and took a few chances and it worked out in the end.”

Bloomfield's Duane Roberts (1) comes up with an onside kick in the fourth quarter of Saturday's Class S championship game.

Bloomfield’s Duane Roberts (1) comes up with an onside kick in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s Class S championship game.

Bloomfield could take chances because they had a big advantage and it was Phillips, the Warhawks’ 6-foot-3 quarterback. He completed 14-of-26 passes for 252 yards and four touchdowns.

Bloomfield led 14-0 at halftime thanks to a pair of 27-yard touchdown passes from Phillips to receiver Russell Thompson-Bishop. Ansonia marched 59 yards on 12 plays to score on its first possession of the second half to cut the lead to seven, 14-6 on a seven-yard run from Tyler Bailey.

Ansonia grabbed the momentum with its stop of Bloomfield on the Warhawk 35-yard line and scoring on a three-yard run by Bailey. The two-point conversion from Bailey tied the game at 14-14 with 10 seconds left in the third quarter.

“We stayed calm,” Outlaw said. “We weren’t rattled. We can put points pretty fast and we know that. We just to stretch them out defensively. We felt one-on-one that they couldn’t cover us.”

Bloomfield quickly marched down the field, taking a 17-14 lead on a 23-yard field goal from Raheme Dawkins with 10:39 left in the game. Phillips completed four-of-seven passes on the drive for 75 yards. He had a 36-yard completion to Thompson-Bishop and a 26-yard completion to Dexter Lawson.

Ansonia couldn’t move the ball and on its next possession, Bloomfield marched 46 yards on six plays in just 1:38 to extend the lead to 10 points, 24-14. Phillips’ 23-yard completion to Isaiah Colebrook put the ball on the eight-yard line. After Andrell Pinnock lost four yards, Phillips completed a 12-yard touchdown pass to Jose Crespo with 6:52 remaining.

“I’m not calling them the No. 1 team in the state but their speed and size is second to nobody,” Brockett said. “I don’t know much about track but if that team doesn’t win the track state championship, I’ll be shocked.”

Ansonia cut the lead to four, 24-20, marching 71 yards on 11 plays with Tyler Bailey scoring on a 22-yard run with 3:51 remaining. Bailey had a nice, hard one-yard run on fourth down with 4:21 left that kept the Charger march alive.

The Chargers came into the game averaging 267 yards a game on the ground. They ended up with 206 led by Tajik Bagley with 167 yards on 39 carries. The Warhawks did a good job in not giving up too many big plays defensively.

“The double wing, double tight … Rocky Hill runs it the best we felt and then East Catholic runs it,” said Outlaw. Bloomfield beat Rocky Hill this year and beat East Catholic twice, including a victory in the quarterfinals. “We’re used to going up against that type of offense.”

Bloomfield's Andrell Pinnock (4) rushed for a team-high 79 yards in Saturday's 31-20 win over Ansonia in the Class S championship game.

Bloomfield’s Andrell Pinnock (4) rushed for a team-high 79 yards in Saturday’s 31-20 win over Ansonia in the Class S championship game. Teammate Dexter Lawson (15) helps clear the path.

NOTES: Ansonia is now 19-10 in state championship games. Bloomfield is now 8-5. … It was the sixth meeting between the two schools in the state finals. The Chargers beat Bloomfield in 2006, 34-12 and in 1995 (7-0) and 1994 (54-14). Bloomfield previously beat Ansonia for the state title in 1999 (56-0) and 1998 (40-7).

Bloomfield 31, Ansonia 20
At New Britain
Bloomfield (13-0)                     7  7    0  17 — 31
Ansonia (12-1)                         0  0  14   6  — 20
First quarter
B: Russell Thompson-Bishop 27 pass from Rayshawn Phillips (Raheme Dawkins kick), 5:35
Second quarter
B: Thompson-Bishop 27 pass from Phillips (Dawkins kick), 1:45
Third quarter
A: Tyler Bailey 7 run (kick failed), 6:25
A: Bailey 3 run (Bailey run ), 0:10
Fourth quarter
B: Dawkins 23 FG, 10:39
B: Jose Crespo 12 pass from Phillips (Dawkins kick), 6:52
A: Bailey 22 pass from Bryson Cafaro (rush fails), 3:51
B: Dexter Lawson 1 pass from Phillips (Dawkins kick), 1:26
Individual statistics
RUSHING: Bloomfield – Andrell Pinnock 10-79, Isiah Colebrook 3-9, Duane Roberts 1-6, Rayshawn Phillips 6-3; Ansonia – Tajik Bailey 39-167, Tyler Bailey 14-31, Bryson Cafaro 5-18
PASSING: Bloomfield – Rayshawn Phillips 14-26-1, 252; Ansonia – Bryson Cafaro 5-10-1, 83; Angel Falero 0-1, Bagley 1-1, 4
RECEIVING: Bloomfield – Dexter Lawson 5-50, Russell Thompson-Bishop 3-90, Jose Crespo 3-42, Isaiah Colebrook 1-23, Andrell Pinnock 2-47; Ansonia – Bailey 5-68, Bagley 1-19

Class M championship
Brookfield 21, New Fairfield 14
WEST HAVEN, Dec. 12 – After stopping New Fairfield on big fourth down and one play on the Brookfield 45-yard line, the Bobcats scored four plays later on a 32-yard touchdown run by Robert Drysdale to help Brookfield win its second straight state title with a 21-14 win in the Class M championship game. Brookfield (11-2) won the Class M Large Division crown a year ago.

The game was tied at 7-7 when the Rebels tried to keep their drive alive but they couldn’t. Drysdale gave Brookfield a 14-7 lead with 5:33 remaining in the third quarter. Brookfield extended its lead to 21-7 with 4:30 remaining in the game on a nine-yard run from Harrison Manesis. The big play in the drive was a 26-yard completion on third down on a pass from receiver Mike Martinkovic to teammate Dane Borges. Read more about the game at GameTimeCT.

Brookfield 21, New Fairfield 14
At West Haven
Brookfield (11-2)              0  7  7  7 — 21
New Fairfield (11-2)         7  0  0  7 – 14
First quarter
NF: Rudy Sarro 35 pass from Michael Zanca (Mike Handlmaier kick)
Second quarter
B: Nick Seis 26 pass from John Rosigno (Dane Borges kick)
Third quarter
B: Bobby Drysdale 33 run (Borges kick), 5:33
Fourth quarter
B: Harrison Manesis 9 run (Borges kick), 4:30
NF: Rudy Sarro 13 pass from Zanca (Handlmaier kick), 1:56
Individual statistics
RUSHING: Brookfield – Robert Drysdale 17-92, N. Manesis 11-44, Austin Reich 5-14; New Fairfield – Zach Tripodi 33-86, James Lewis 3-11, Michael Zanca 4-10, Andrew D’Amico 1-6, Rudy Sarro 1-5, Matt Palandy 1-0
PASSING: Brookfield – John Roscigno 3-4, 33; M. Martinkovic 1-1, 25; New Fairfield  — Michael Zanca 9-16 136
RECEIVING: Brookfield – Nick Seis 2-29, David Borgas 1-25, Samuel Loranger 1-4; New Fairfield – Greg Radovic 4-62, Sarro 3-60, Liam Rattigan 1-12, Tripodi 1-2

 

Gerry deSimas, Jr., is the editor and founder of The Collinsville Press. He is an award-winning writer and has been covering sports in Connecticut and New England for more than 30 years.

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