Though he is just a sophomore standing 5-foot-7 and weighing 173 pounds,
Arkeel Newsome already has gained the status of a giant in Connecticut high school football.
This past week he increased his single-season state records with 55 rushing touchdowns and 59 total touchdowns. He could break the single-season rushing record on Saturday, when he leads
Ansonia (Conn.) into the CIAC Class M championship game against
Ledyard (Conn.) at Rentschler Field.
File photo by Jonathan Bloom
Arkeel Newsome, Ansonia
On Saturday Newsome ran 20 times for 320 yards and six touchdowns and sat out all but 17 seconds of the second half as the Chargers steamrolled Berlin (Conn.) in the Class M semifinals, 48-14. Earlier in the week, he ran for 291 yards during a 35-6 quarterfinal victory over Bethel (Conn.).
Newsome has carried 271 times this year for 3,399 yards. The state record is 3,596 yards by former Ansonia star Alex Thomas, currently the starting tailback at Yale University. Thomas had set the touchdown record at 47 in 2007.
Ansonia historian Ed Morse, who also is president of the Gridiron Club, told MaxPreps that Thomas played only offense, but Newsome also is an outstanding defensive player and rarely comes off the field.
"He's a shut-down corner and a tremendous player," Morse said of the sophomore star. "He comes out on the ball field like he's shot out of a cannon. He's a tough kid."
The Chargers have compiled a 730-234-57 record since 1900 with 16 state titles. The same families have provided football players for many generations. For example, the great grand father of one of the current players was a member of the team in the 1930s.
Ansonia is a blue-collar town and its football team reflects toughness, according to Morse, himself a former player from the late 1950s.
"We're one of the few teams left that runs the power-I," he pointed out. "We run right at you and dare you to stop us. We just knock you silly. We have an enormous offensive line (averaging around 260 pounds) - big, tough kids."
The line will be the key for Newsome this weekend as he seeks to add a state rushing record to his list of remarkable achievements.