Ansonia tramples Derby-O’Brien Tech

Written by Mike Suppe, Assistant Sports Editor
Thursday, 05 November 2009 10:27

The first meeting between the Ansonia and Derby-O’Brien Tech football teams since 2003 was a real barn burner— for one half.

Ansonia carried a hard-fought 21-14 advantage into the break, but the final two quarters belonged to Montrel Dobbs and the Charger defense.

Dobbs, a junior tailback, rushed for two of his four touchdowns in the third quarter and the Charger defense, led by Paul Stumpo, limited the Red Raiders to three first down in the second half.

The result was a resounding 44-14 victory for Ansonia over Derby in an NVL Brass Division showdown at Lou DeFilippo Field in front of 2,500 fans on Friday night.

With the win, the Chargers improved to 5-2 overall and maintained their tie with Wolcott High atop the Brass Division standings, while keeping their Class S playoff chances intact.

“It means a lot,” Dobbs said. “We know we’ve got to keep it going. It was a big game for us coming off of a loss.”

Derby (3-4) dropped its third game in a row following a 3-1 start.

The Red Raiders, despite a tremendous effort from senior tri-captain Rich Gonzales on the defensive line, could not slow down Dobbs or senior fullback Bobby Kinnebrew on defense.

Dobbs gained 193 yards on 32 carries, while the bruising Kinnebrew added 119 on 13 carries, capped off by a 53-yard touchdown run up the middle with 1:26 left in the game.

Ansonia’s blockers at the line of scrimmage, led by Stumpo, Chris Jeanette, wing back Christian Sobin and Kinnebrew, controlled the point of attack against the larger Derby defenders.

“The o-line played great all night,” Ansonia coach Tom Brockett said. “It was pretty much domination at the line of scrimmage. We were giving away a lot of size up front. I’m proud of those guys.”

At the start of the second half, the Chargers put together a 10-play scoring drive that resulted in Michael Palmquist’s 30-yard field goal.

Quarterback Nick O’Conner engineered it with a 20-yard scramble and a 16-yard strike to Marty Lawlor to set up a first-and-goal from the Derby 8-yard line.

Armed with a 24-14 advantage, Ansonia never looked back.

After forcing a three-and-out on the next Red Raider series, Dobbs took a toss on the right side and ran 13 yards for a touchdown.

The score, his third of the game, capped a nine-play, 54-yard drive that took 3:33 off of the clock.

“Coach said at halftime, ‘Let’s play some Ansonia football,’” Dobbs said. “That’s what we did, we came out and lit it up.”

Trailing 30-14, Derby put together its best drive of the half, with Linbert Cousley and Mark McCormick combining to pick up a first down.

Quarterback Ray Kreiger completed a 12-yard pass to wide receiver Jacob Tomczak to broach Charger territory, but the drive stalled there.

After an incomplete pass, Julian Sobin sacked Kreiger for a loss of eight.

Kreiger scrambled for seven yards on third down on the first play of the fourth quarter, but Derby punted and Ansonia took over on its own 20.

Dobbs then punched in a three-yard touchdown to finish off an 80-yard, 12-play drive that salted nearly six minutes off of the game clock.

Kinnebrew’s long touchdown run closed out Ansonia’s scoring account.

“Derby has a dangerous offense,” Brockett said. “We talked about wanting to play ball control. We just wanted to wear them down and physically pound them... All around, it was a great effort.”

The Red Raiders struck first late in the first quarter, with D’Ron Conyers hitting pay dirt from 15 yards out following a big block from tight end Zach Salazar.

After Luis Casco tacked on the extra point, Derby led 7-0.

Dobbs sprinted in from 28 yards out on the ensuing Ansonia possession, with Palmquist’s PAT tying the game at 7 with 9:16 left in the second period.

“I wanted to win so bad, I was willing to do anything,” Dobbs said.

After a roughing the kicker call on Derby extended the next Ansonia drive, Dobbs crouched low in the hole and barreled into the end zone from 20 yards out.

Tomczak, Derby’s explosive sophomore, provided an emphatic response with a 94-yard touchdown return on the ensuing kickoff to tie the game at 14 with 5:04 left in the first half.

O’Conner plunged in from a yard out to put Ansonia back on top, 21-14, with 1:36 left before Derby tried to respond.

Kreiger led the Raiders down the field to the Charger 12, but a string of incompletions led to a 29-yard field attempt from Casco.

Julian Sobin and Kinnebrew broke through the line of scrimmage to converge on the block, preserving Ansonia’s seven-point margin heading into the half.

“That was huge,” Brockett said. “It would’ve been the third or fourth game in a row we gave up a points in the final twenty seconds of the half.”

Ansonia hosts St. Paul-Goodwin Tech (6-1) at Jarvis Stadium on Friday night at 7 in a key NVL battle, while Derby travels to Waterbury to lock horns with Wilby High (4-3) on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.

Game notes

The game was a family affair for Dobbs, who has a pair of cousins, Cousley and Rashawn Hendricks, who play for Derby.

“I didn’t even talk to my cousins,” Dobbs said. “I didn’t even want to talk to them because I knew how serious this game was.”