Naugy falls to Ansonia

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Naugatuck's Jalen Datil (11) picks up some yards after a catch Thanksgiving morning in Ansonia versus the Chargers. Ansonia won, 47-12. REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
Naugatuck’s Jalen Datil (11) picks up some yards after a catch Thanksgiving morning in Ansonia versus the Chargers. Ansonia won, 47-12. REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

ANSONIA — There seemed to be no place to run and nowhere to hide for the NVL’s highest scoring offense on a snow-covered field in Ansonia on Thanksgiving morning. The Chargers sacked Naugatuck to win the annual Thanksgiving Day game, 47-12, and their four consecutive NVL title.

It was still anyone’s game with the ‘Hounds (9-2) trailing 18-6 just before the end of the first half. Senior quarterback Jason Bradley (10-of-24, 177 yards) was looking to lead Naugatuck down the field to close the gap when he was blindsided on back-to-back plays by Ansonia linebacker Tyler Doy. The drive stalled and Naugatuck went to the locker room trailing by two touchdowns.

The Chargers (10-1) defense was on its game all morning. Ansonia tallied four sacks and two interceptions and forced Naugy to turn it over on downs three times.

“Ansonia played better than us in a lot of areas of the game,” Naugatuck head coach Craig Bruno said. “We thought we would move the ball a lot better than we did but they’re an excellent team and their defense was making plays.”

The Naugatuck defense looked to make its own mark early on. Jack Reardon, Will Paul and Socrates Ilunga applied pressure up front as Aaron Yourison and P.J. Murphy filled in to make tackles and Maleek Brooks, Etty Ilunga and Chris Quarles blanketed receivers down field. Naugy forced the Chargers to punt and turn the ball over on downs on their first possessions of the game.

Then Ansonia caught a break. Tyler Bailey intercepted a pass and returned it to the Naugatuck 12-yard line. Three plays later Tajik Bagley, who ran for 163 yards and scored five total touchdowns to earn the Clarence Fortin MVP award, burst through a hole from 3 yards out to open up a 6-0 lead with 4:34 left in the opening quarter.

As the first quarter was coming to a close, Bradley engineered an 11-play drive with Logan Bond, Dave Kloc and William Chockey making room up front. Back-to-back 20-yard passes from Bradley to Jalen Datil (four catches, 51 yards) got the ‘Hounds into Ansonia territory.

Bradley, who rushed for 49 yards, took off on a 15-yard run before hitting C.J. Wall on a 12-yard pass to set up a first-and-goal. Antoine Sistrunk (17 carries, 34 yards) pounded it into the end zone from a yard out to tie the game at 6-6 with 10:01 remaining in the half.
After another Bagley touchdown gave Ansonia the lead back at 12-6, the Naugatuck defense was poised to strike.

Naugatuck had Ansonia pinned deep and facing a second-and-26 from the Chargers’ 19 yard-line. Ansonia quarterback Jai’Quan McKnight mishandled the snap but was able to pitch to Bagley, who turned a busted play into a 37-yard gain.

Later in the drive, the ‘Hounds had Ansonia in a tough spot again. The Chargers were facing a fourth-and-8 when McKnight dump off a pass to tight end Angel Falero for 12 yards. Bagley capped the drive with an 8-yard touchdown extending the lead to 18-6.

“They are the four-time defending league champs and they are a well-coached team,” Bruno said. “I thought our guys played hard but they just made more plays than we did. We got back into it tying the game but then their defense came up and made the stops.”
Ansonia came out in the second half and ended all doubt. The Chargers piled on 22 points in the third quarter to open up a commanding 40-6 advantage.

Bradley hooked up with Sistrunk on a 38-yard pass play to set up a first-and-goal late in the third quarter. Coney (four catches, 72 yards) hauled in a 7-yard pass and a touchdown to complete the scoring for Naugy.

Bailey (eight carries, 38 yards) scored the final touchdown of the game on a 5-yard run with 10:25 to play for the 47-12 final margin.

Naugatuck heads into the Class L large playoffs. The No. 4 seeded Greyhounds will hit the road to face the No. 1 seeded Darien Saturday at 1 p.m.

Naugy to face Darien in playoffs

Naugatuck’s bid for a state championship begins Saturday in Darien.

The Greyhounds (9-2) earned the fourth seed in the Class L Large bracket and will face No. 1 seeded Darien (11-0) in the semifinal match.

Darien, the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference champions, are coming off a come-from-behind 28-21 win in overtime over New Canaan (9-1) on Thanksgiving. Darien averages 176 yards on the ground and 200 through the air per game. The Blue Wave puts up 38 points per game and gives up nearly 13 a game.

Naugatuck is coming off a 47-12 loss to Ansonia (10-1) on Thanksgiving. The Greyhounds are averaging 45 points per game this season while giving up about 25 points. Naugatuck does most of its damage through the air with senior quarterback Jason Bradley, who has throw for 2,697 yards and 43 touchdowns this season. The ground game will be paced by Antoine Sistrunk, who has churned up 1,083 yards this year.

Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Darien High School, 80 High School Lane, Darien. The winner will face either No. 2 seeded New Canaan or No. 3 seeded Wethersfield (11-0) either Dec. 12 or Dec. 13.