Ansonia senior Zane Henderson moved the ball, moved the chains, and kept the clock moving in the Tigers’ 24-13 win over Preble Shawnee. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Sonny Fulks)
Impressively, Ansonia won its eighth straight by playing gritty, ball-control football, proving to undefeated Preble Shawnee…that you can’t win if you can’t score. And you can’t score if you don’t have the ball.
Ansonia, OH – I’m not sure if they actually keep stats like time of possession with Ansonia football – along with some other unimportant details.
But one thing sure, the Preble Shawnee Arrows, their latest victim, probably realized on the trip back to Preble County Saturday night…we didn’t have the ball that much.
And they didn’t do much with it when they had it.
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The Ansonia Tigers (8-1, 8-0 in WOAC) made sure of it, controlling the ball, the game, and the scoreboard on their way to a convincing, and frustrating, 24-13 win over the previously unbeaten Arrows (8-1, 7-1 in WOAC).
They used the ground game…a slow, methodical, frustrating style of counter left, counter right, misdirection, and it’s four-down territory anywhere on the field. The way Ansonia plays is an anomaly in the modern culture of football, and they like it. They don’t want it any other way.
“The way we play gets into your mind,” said Tigers coach Adam Hall, post-game. “I told the guys all week…we need long drives, make them wonder how many times they’re going to get the ball the rest of the game.
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“That’s a huge thing because if there’s six minutes left they’re not sure they’re going to get the ball back…another chance to score.”
And as it turned out, that’s how it worked Saturday for Hall and the Tigers.
They scored first, at 5:26 of the first quarter on a four-down run by senior workhorse Zane Henderson, who would touch the ball 26 times during the course of the game…and was willing to do more. The scoring drive took eleven plays to go 65 yards, and nearly six minutes. And yes, Preble must have wondered…are we ever going to get the ball?
When they did they did nothing with it, and forced to punt they forced Ansonia to do something, and they did. They fumbled on the first play from scrimmage and Preble Shawnee recovered the ball around the 35 yard line as the first period ended.
Quarterback Layne Bowman provided the Tigers’ longest play of the night…his 32-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
This time the Arrows did do something as running back Isaac Blankenship scored from point blank range of the goal line, and the extra point gave Preble a 7-6 lead and their only lead of the game, just seconds inside the second quarter.
Ansonia immediately answered at 9:07 when quarterback Layne Bowman used some backfield sleight of hand to make the Preble defense go right, while he went to the left…32 yards, untouched to put the Tigers back on top, 12-7. Ansonia has no kicking game, chooses to go for the 2-point conversion after every score, and that 12-7 lead would hold up until halftime. But against a team like Preble Shawnee, who averages 50 points per game, it was tenuous.
Ansonia kicked off to start the second half, and the Tigers defense once again stalled the Arrows quickly, forcing them to punt. At 8:41 on the clock Ansonia took the ball and began another arduous, long march up the field, culminating with a four-yard touchdown plunge at 3:29 by Jacob Schmitmeyer. The two-point conversion was again no good, and the Tigers had some breathing room at 18-7. But only for a couple of plays.
On the ensuing kickoff and possession Preble Shawnee finally extended the Ansonia defense downfield, and quarterback Brody Morton lofted a pass that teammate Reece Smith went over the top of Jacob Schmitmeyer to tip to himself, came down with the ball, and ran ten yards to score at 2:33. Chasing points, the Arrows went for the two-point conversion, were stopped short of the goal line, but were within a possession of the lead at 18-13.
Ansonia’s best defense, as it turned out, was its offense – a huge issue when you’re behind. And as the fourth quarter began Ansonia found itself with the football again, driving to inside the Preble Shawnee ten yard line before running aground. On fourth down and two, Preble stopped Zane Henderson short of the first down at 6:46 on the clock.
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The Arrows took over, needing a touchdown to go ahead, but Ansonia’s defense would have something more to say.
“Our defense played as good as we could play,” said Adam Hall, later. “Or at least as good as we could ask them to play.” And with four minutes left in the game they chose the perfect time to justify his confidence.
Facing their own fourth and one from the 24 yard line, Preble chose an unimaginative dive play directly into the teeth of Ansonia interior line. The Tigers held, the ball was turned over on downs, and Preble knew…they probably weren’t going to get the ball back.
In fact, with 2:26 remaining Ansonia drove the remaining 24 yards and with 66 seconds left on the clock when Henderson broke through the line from a yard out to push the lead to 24-13. The PAT try, of course, was no good…but up 11 with a minute to go, no one cared.
As it turned out Preble did get the ball back, but a couple of Hail Mary throws downfield were incomplete, a third was intercepted, and that’s how the game ended.
Preble Shawnee’s longest play…a pass that the Arrows’ Reece Smith (#8) tipped to himself for a 40-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
As Hall said, it worked out for them – holding onto the ball, killing the clock, and denying opportunity to the opposing offense.
“It’s the way we’ve played since Coach Hoening [Eugene Hoening) was here. That’s why we’ve named the field for him,” he smiled. Hall learned his football under Hoening as a player at Ansonia.
They never threw the ball all night – didn’t need to.
“We actually did try to throw the ball once (at the end of the first half), and we got sacked,” he smiled. “I think there’s a misconception that we can’t throw, but Layne (Bowman) has thrown it well when we’ve asked him to do it. But we do what we do well enough to be confident with staying with it. We want to get you outnumbered and outmanned, and I think we did that tonight.”
The fans loved it…have always loved it as a matter of the only football that most have ever known. Again, in a day where people in the stands demand the ball be thrown, and a more entertaining style of football, people at Ansonia just appreciate winning.
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“It’s not pretty but we win with it,” said end zone camera operator Alex Peace.
“It’s hard-nosed football, and we like it,” added Don Barnt, who lives in Greenville.
“The people here, and our players, are bought in,” adds Hall. “Fans, parents…they’re bought in. It’s not like that everywhere. No one complains about who has stats, or who get touches, or who scores. We’ve got guys who are just happy to be on the field. Actually, I wouldn’t keep stats if we didn’t have to. The conference (WOAC) wants to keep them so we do, but I don’t think the players would care at all if we didn’t.”
There is no more colloquial football setting than what they have at Ansonia. The people are friendly, appreciative of media coverage, and fans and players alike go out of their way to make a first impression memorable. Zane Henderson was right in the middle of the people, afterwards…enjoying the win, without concern for how many carries, how many touchdowns, or how many yards.
“I don’t know how many times I carried the ball,” he smiled. “But that’s how we play. We want to win every play. We’re a machine…we play like a machine. Five yards, three yards…that’s all we need. You can feel the frustration from the other team, and it makes you want to hold it more, and longer.”
Ansonia’s Jacob Schmitmeyer runs through a tackle attempt on his way to a third quarter touchdown.
At 8-1, few people believed that Henderson and the Tigers would have enough after last year’s regional run, and subsequent graduation losses, to be back in this position again.
“It’s our seniors,” he assures. “We have a big job and big shoes to fill. We have to show the underclassmen how to keep it going…how to be leaders. I think seniors are more important to this team than they might be with others. I’m sure of it. We love playing football here. It’s a great community. The people are great. They love football and they love us, and that’s what keeps us going. We just love it.”
For good reason.
It’s a well-kept secret that few suspect in this day. And everyone’s fine with it in 45303 – all 1,200.
Old-time football.
Three amigos – Jacob Schmitmeyer, Zane Henderson, and Ben Zerkle – celebrate the final touchdown and the Tigers’ win.
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