Charging Ahead
Ansonia dominates in victory over Oxford
OXFORD — Since the Oxford football team joined the Naugatuck Valley League in 2014, Ansonia has had the Wolverines’ number.
The last four seasons the Chargers have gone 4-0 against the Wolverines and outscored them a combined 162-20.
On Thursday, the Wolverines kept it close the first 10 minutes of the game against the Chargers. But then it was déjà vu all over again. Sheldon Schuler completed 8-of-11 passes for 170 yards and four touchdowns and Shykeem Harmon rushed for 95 yards and caught a 40-yard touchdown pass to lead Ansonia to a 45-9 NVL Copper win over Oxford at Wolverine Field.
Despite the one-sided victory, Ansonia coach Tom Brockett wasn’t a happy camper after the game.
“We have a lot to work to do, a lot to improve on,” Brockett said. “We didn’t play good defense. Schuler had a good game and threw for some touchdowns, but there are a few things he needs to work on too.
“I wasn’t concerned that the score was close at 6-2 the first 10 minutes of the
game, it’s a football game. But time of possession was important in that first half and they had the time of possession. Our only clean drive was that first drive in the third quarter.”
In the first quarter, John Picheco got the scoring started with a 47-yard scamper down the left sideline for a touchdown and a 6-0 Ansonia lead with 8:21 to go.
On its next possession the Wolverines used a quick kick to pin the Chargers at their own 1 yard line. On the next play, Harmon was gang tackled in the end zone to give Oxford a safety and trim the Chargers lead to 6-2.
But turnovers on Oxford’s next two possessions put the Chargers in the driver’s seat.
Picheco recovered a fumble to give Ansonia a first down on its owen 44 yard line. with 2:53 to go in the first quarter. Six plays later Schuler connected with Harmon for a 40-yard touchdown pass. Jalen Johnson’s kick made it 13-2 Chargers.
On the Wolverines’ next possession, Tyler Navarro recovered a fumble on the Oxford 21. Three plays later Schuler fired a line drive pass to Noah Wagnblas who caught the ball in stride and walked into the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown. The kick failed but the rout was on with a 19-2 Ansonia lead with 2:42 to go in the first quarter.
The final score in the first came on another Schuler to Wagnblas connection, this tijme for a 42-yard touchdown pass with 9:11 left in the second quarter.
“We were up against it tonight with a lot of injuries on our team,” Oxford coach Joe Stochmal said. “We asked the kids to give us all that they had and that’s what I’m proud of the most. These kids will come to every practice and every game and they will improve.We will teach them and they will get better
“Right now, what we need to do is eliminate our mistakes. We had some good drives tonight but we didn’t finish. They (Ansonia) are an aggressive defense and that’s what we were faced with tonight.”
Ansonia (3-0, 1-0) opened the second half by padding their lead on the first drive of the third quarter. A 36yard touchdown pass to Garrett Carafaro with 10:29 to go capped a four-play drive for a 32-2 lead. Tyler Carfaro scored on a 12-yard touchdown run with 8:08 to go in the third quarter and Javal Parker and a Johnson kick made it 45 -2 only 11 seconds into the fourth quarter.
The Wolverines (1-2, 0-1) scored their only touchdown when quarterback Cayden Mitchell scored on a 1-yard run with 2:52 left.
Mitchell ended up cmpleting 15-of-29 passes for 133 yards and Andrew Aldo had eight receptions for 84 yards. Ryan Jefferies ran for 53 yards on 10 carries.