The Northwest Catholic Indians (10 – 1) pounded the fourth-seeded Ansonia Chargers (8 – 3) in a 24 – 0 victory in front of a crowd of about 2,000 people Tuesday night in West Hartford.
The Chargers, the no. 4 seed, came into the game with a four-game winning streak and wanted to set the tone early. However, they never got the chance.
“I thought we could have performed better tonight. We’ve been playing better football and we took a step back,” said Ansonia head coach Tom Brockett.
The CIAC Class S semi-final began with a bang for no. 1 seeded Northwest Catholic.
Northwest junior kick returner Ras Morgan fielded the opening kickoff and raced down the heart of the Ansonia kick-return coverage for a 90-yard touchdown just fifteen seconds into the contest. The Chargers trailed 6 – 0 at the 11:45 mark in the first quarter.
“That was huge,” said Northwest head coach Mike Tyler.
“Ras has been coming on all year long. He kept telling us he could run, and he can. The blocking was great, he found the seam, and he can run.”
Morgan finished with close to 100-yards on the ground while taking two scores to the house. His final touchdown, a 23-yard run up the middle, came with 1:50 remaining in the game and padded Northwest’s lead to 24 – 0.
Ansonia had trouble getting into any rhythm as the Northwest defense held their ground against the Ansonia offensive line all night long.
The conditions were cold and sloppy, which didn’t help Ansonia in the trenches.
Montrell Dobbs and Bobby Kinnebrew had trouble making cuts throughout the contest. Both running backs were held to under 100-yards rushing, a rarity this season.
The Chargers also had some costly penalties called against them killing any chance at momentum.
Ansonia had driven into Northwest territory midway through the first quarter and had chances to score.
Chargers’ QB Nick O’Connor found TE Christian Sobin on a third and goal play from the 9‑yard line but Sobin bobbled and eventually dropped the ball in the end zone.
Ansonia proceeded to line-up for the field goal attempt from 26-yards out only to see the ball sail wide right.
At the 5:15 mark in the first quarter on Ansonia’s next possession, Dobbs took the handoff from O’Connor and fumbled on his own 25 yard line.
Northwest recovered — and made it count.
After a 3‑yard loss, Northwest senior QB Jack Murphy ran a QB draw up the middle from 28 yards out for a touchdown to give NWC a 12 – 0. The two-point conversion failed.
On Ansonia’s ensuing possession, O’Connor had yet another chance to put the Chargers on the board but just missed Tim Troy on a post pattern which was sure to be a touchdown.
Credit the Northwest defensive line who applied the pressure all night long.
Northwest had a shot to put this game away with the ball in the Ansonia red zone, but fumbled on a fourth and 2 with a minute remaining in the first half. The score remained 12 – 0.
Ansonia was to receive the ball at the start of the second half and the Chargers fans were hoping they’d come out firing on all cylinders.
On a second and 15, QB Nick O’Connor hit senior WR Tim Troy through the air for 50 yards, bringing the ball to the Northwest 30-yard line — just what the Ansonia fans wanted to see.
But the drive came to a halt at the Northwest 25-yard line on a fourth and 5 as O’Connor was sacked. Led by seniors LB Nick Calitri, DB Kevin O’Toole, and DL Tim Waltman, Northwest’s defense was stifling.
The Chargers were still in this game, only down two scores with one quarter remaining in the contest, until NWC DB Jack Hayes intercepted an O’Connor pass and returned it to the Ansonia 30-yard line.
This turnover proved to be the most costly for Ansonia, as Murphy soon found Hayes in the end zone from 20 yards out to give Northwest a commanding 18 – 0 lead over the battered Chargers midway through the third.
Coach Brockett was disappointed with the score but was proud of the way his kids played. “I’m proud to have coached these seniors. They played hard and they left it on the field.”
Ansonia went on to punt two more times and later lost a fumble on its own 22-yard line. Two plays following an unsportsmanlike penalty on Northwest for a late hit on Dobbs out-of-bounds, Ras Morgan sealed the deal with his final TD of the evening.
Dobbs and company then drove down to into the Northwest red zone without any timeouts. The clock expired and the Chargers’ last drive stalled on the NWC two-yard line, leaving that big “0” up in the scoring column for the Northwest defense.
“We had a couple of chances there real early and we didn’t take advantage of them and I thought in the second half, they just dominated us”, added Brockett.
That had been the theme of the night for the Chargers.
“Obviously, it’s not the outcome we wanted. But you play games and you’re going to win some and unfortunately sometimes you’re going to lose some.”
Northwest Catholic (10 – 1) will face Hyde Leadership (10 – 1) Saturday, December 5th for the CIAC Class S State Championship.
The writer is the publisher of NVL Football.
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