Bloomfield was up against it again, trailing most of the game, down one when it lined up for its last possession. Down the field the Warhawks moved, Marlon Britton scoring with 1:27 left to beat Waterbury Career Academy, 28-23.
Ansonia survived in even more dramatic fashion, on a last-second touchdown pass, 34 yards from Matteo Sorrentino to Romeo Charles to defeat Woodland, 30-23. So when it came down to the end last Sunday, the CIAC Class S semifinals broke in an old, familiar way.
“There is definitely mystique to Ansonia football,” coach Tom Brockett says. “Especially when you’ve got to go to Jarvis Stadium. It’s a crazy place, how many times we’ve been down and the kids have found a way to win.”
Bloomfield, in fact, won both its playoff games on the last possession, rallying to beat East Catholic, 22-21, in the quarterfinals.
“We always say we have some special Warhawks up in the heavens that look down upon us and sprinkle down some love,” coach Ty Outlaw says. “We keep the fight going, and we end up pulling out games just like Ansonia pulls out games, because they don’t quit. But these types of teams, they don’t quit, they keep fighting until the last second.”
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Oh, there is a certain mystique, maybe best described as a champions’ mindset, to football in places like Ansonia and Bloomfield. Their public high schools will meet for the eighth time in a state championship game, more than any other pair of opponents in state history, on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at Rentschler Field.
But there isn’t really magic to it. Whatever the contrasts, these are football towns, small cities where football has, for multiple generations, threaded through the culture from the cradle on up.
“When you are born in Ansonia, a young man, you get a ‘Charger’ on your diaper,” says George “Coach” DeMaio, who has been calling high school football on the radio for WELI-AM for 34 years. “From the moment you’re born, you play football. Bloomfield, same kind of tradition. There are great teams every year, and there are great programs.”
Ansonia’s Chargers have won 21 state championships and four of its seven championship showdowns with Bloomfield since 1994. Assistant coaches Bob Lisi and John Sponheimer have been with the program more than 50 years, and will be part of their 33rd final on Saturday. Brockett, who took over as head coach in 2006, has an insane record of 214-18, believed to be the highest winning percentage (.922) in America, and has won seven of those titles.
“We could be playing the Kansas City Chiefs and people expect us to win,” Brockett says. “That does not change. That is real.”
Football grew in Ansonia during its days as a Naugatuck River mill town in the middle of the 20th Century, becoming as signature for the city as the production of copper and brass products, now home to about 19,000. Over the decades, the population and economics have changed, the numbers not quite what they were, but the passion for football endures.
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“We don’t have the generation kids from families as much as we used to,” Brockett says. “Though we’ve had a few the last couple of years. What hasn’t changed, the diehards that really love it, it really brings them happiness. It’s a bragging point for the community.”
In Bloomfield, once known for its agriculture, current population about 21,000, last summer witnessed its illustrious alum, Dwight Freeney, inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It’s high school program has won 10 state championships since 1982. The defending Class S champs, the Warhawks have reached the final game six years in a row now. With most of their skill position players graduated, the Warhawks were looking at a rebuilding cycle in 2024, but these cycles are relative for Outlaw, 130-34 in his 13 seasons.
“Bloomfield football has a great history of hard work, we back down to no one,” Outlaw says. “We’re good because we put in the work. Most of our guys run track, that’s our culture, and it’s become a culture that’s so good, we expect to be here every year. For some teams, this would be a rebuilding year. We reload. It’s next man up, almost like in college, the guy behind you is ready to go in, regardless of what grade he is in. I feel like we develop our players better than most teams, or anyone.”
The indoor-outdoor track experience gives Bloomfield’s football a clear identity that is sustained year after year.
“We’ve never played a Bloomfield team that’s not real physical and real fast,” Brockett says. “When I put in the film, you already know what you’re going to see. Hard, tough linebacker, big defensive end, even wearing the same numbers. I watched it 20 years ago and now you’re watching the same thing. That’s a credit to their coaching staff, and I have great respect for them. To go to six straight championship games is remarkable.”
The pipeline of talent is still humming in Bloomfield, too, with an undefeated Pop Warner team, the Junior Warhawks.
“COVID changed a lot of things,” Outlaw says, “but we have a new youth program that represented Connecticut (in the championships) in Florida, they were No. 1 in New England, and we expect to be good for a long time.”
Bloomfield and Ansonia are about 48 miles apart but, fittingly, there’s no easy, direct route between the football towns. However, the route to the championship goes through one or the other, and when they get together it takes a little something extra to win, a must-watch.
“We have great history, a great respect for each other,” Outlaw says. “They have a great coaching staff and a great system. Those kids come out and fight every single year, you never hear of Ansonia having a down year. They’re going to be around, because they have created a system and a culture of winning.”
Familiar faces
Ansonia and Bloomfield have met in more state championship games than any other opponents. The traditional football hotbeds will meet for the eighth time to decide the Class S championship on Saturday at Rentschler Field. Here’s the history:
2022: Ansonia 28, Bloomfield 21 (Class S)
2015: Bloomfield 31, Ansonia 20 (Class S)
2006: Ansonia 34, Bloomfield 12 (Class S)
1999: Bloomfield 56, Ansonia 0 (Class S)
1998: Bloomfield 40, Ansonia 7 (Class S)
1995: Ansonia 7, Bloomfield 0 (Class S)
1994: Ansonia 54, Bloomfield 14 (Class SS)