By Steve Kirck
ANSONIA >> Ansonia’s Arkeel Newsome ran himself into the state’s record book again, this time passing former Charger great Alex Thomas for career points scored.
Newsome ran for 181 yards on 10 carries, all in the first quarter, as Ansonia opened defense of its state championship with a convincing 52-7 win over Torrington Friday night at Jarvis Field in the season opener for both teams.
Newsome, who scored on runs of 1, 24, and 25 in the first quarter, all without being touched as Ansonia raced to a 26-0 lead after 12 minutes and 40-0 at halftime. Newsome now has 758 career points. Thomas finished his career with 747 points.
“I owe it all to my offensive line,” said Newsome. “They played great tonight. They always hustle and play to the whistle.”
Ansonia head coach Tom Brocket forgot Newsome had even set the record. “I feel bad. I forgot about it until you just told me. He is on pace to take them all down. If he stays healthy, he will have them all.”
As impressive as Newsome and his Charger offensive mates were, Ansonia’s defensive effort was stellar. In the first half, Torrington could only muster three total yards on 25 plays. Their lone first down came on an Ansonia penalty.
For the game, Torrington managed just 90 yards of total offense and four first downs.
And when Newsome leaves for UConn, Brockett has a pair of sophomore running backs to continue his NVL dominance. Tajik Bagley and Tyler Bailey also ran for over 100 yards each, combining for three touchdowns.
Bailey finished the night with 132 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, while Bagley added 118 yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns. Saiheed Sanders and William Phipps also scored for Ansonia (1-0).
“We couldn’t execute tonight,” first-year Torrington head coach Gaitan Rodriguez said. “That is an excellent football team. We have a young team, but we grew up tonight.”
Torrington (0-1) did play better in the second half and avoided the shutout when Connor Finn and Tyler Marens connected on a 60-yard scoring strike.
