Connecticut gets a bad rap
Connecticut career rushing leader Alex Thomas carries for Ansonia during the 2007 state final. Thomas recently graduated from Yale, where he was a two-time All-Ivy selection.
File photo by Kathy Nowak
Because their regular-season schedules don't start until the third week in September, it's impossible for Connecticut teams to play in any of the high school football showcases that populate the interstate lineup of games in late August and early September. They don't play many interstate games in general, as most teams are locked into conference schedules.
Making comparisons is difficult.
But Connecticut teams still compete at a representative level when given the chance. Greenwich did not embarrass itself when it played at Naples (Fla.) in 2007. Southington gave a good account of itself when it faced Bergen Catholic (N.J.) in 2008 at the old Giants Stadium.
In addition to Thomas' recent career at Yale, Ansonia has sent a host of players to play college football, including Montrell Dobbs of Temple, who manned the tailback position between the tenures of Thomas and Newsome. Earlier in the last decade, running back Ken Tinsley went to Syracuse. Back in the 1980s, when Ansonia was more of a passing football team, quarterback Sandy Osiecki played at Arizona State, and later served as a backup with the Kansas City Chiefs.
"Connecticut football has gotten a bad rap, but we've had some very good players over the years," said Thomas. "Not as many, obviously, as the bigger states and the big football states but guys have held their own. We're not Florida or Texas but we produce players. Ansonia produces players."
