By Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

ANSONIA — The Ansonia Tigers football team are 10-0 and are outright WOAC champions. Their 46-6 win over Mississinawa Valley on Oct. 20 gave them sole possession of the conference championship.

Head coach Adam Hall said the team has been great all season. Whether on the field, off the field, during offseason workouts, it’s been a joy to be around this team.

“We have good football players on our team, bu they’re great kids and fun to be around. I think that’s the thing that sometimes you might miss in all of this. It’s fun to be at practice, fun to be a part of these games, fun to be in the weight room,” Hall said. “We have great kids, we work really hard. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Ansonia didn’t leave anything to chance in this one. They scored on every possession in the first half. Senior Garrett Stammen had touchdown rushes of one, five and three yards all in the first half.

Senior Keegen Weiss had a one yard touchdown. Senior quarterback Nick Burns had a passing touchdown to senior Wyatt Spencer for 21 yards.

Ansonia was up 40-0 at halftime. Mississinawa Valley made some plays during the first half, but were nullified by turnovers. Ansonia recovered a fumble and got an interception in the first half.

In the second half, sophomore Cainan Robinson scored from two yards out to go up 46-0. Then just before the game was about to end in the fourth quarter, Mississinawa Valley junior Bryce Watson threw a pass to sophomore Kyle Wehrkamp. The ball was tipped by an Ansonia defender and landed in Wehrkamp’s hands for a 17-yard touchdown.

This is the second time in school history Ansonia went 10-0 in the regular season. The first time was in 2009, when Hall was a senior on that team. He said this record and the championship wouldn’t be possible without the team, the seniors and the coaching staff he has.

They also got the chance to get this kind of win in front of their home crowd. In 2009, they got their tenth win at Miami East and won a share of the WOAC title last year at Mississinawa Valley.

“It’s nice to be at home, all the fans are here to celebrate. The guys love that. Couldn’t ask for a better year,” Hall said.

Mississinawa Valley ends an injury plagued year with a 0-10 record. They will graduate eight seniors from this roster.

Ansonia will keep on playing and be a top two seed in the Division VII playoffs. They won’t know who they play until tomorrow and the official playoff bracket will be set on Oct. 22.

Hall said he feels confident his team can make a run. They will take it one week at a time and see where things fall.

“We know in the playoffs, everything steps up a level. We don’t know who we’re going to play yet, but you got to earn your way into the playoffs. They’re all going to be good games,” Hall said. “We feel like we have a team that can compete with anyone. We’re going to take it one week at a time and see how far we can go.”

The first round of the playoffs will start on Oct. 27 with Ansonia hosting their first two matchups.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]