WEST HAVEN — I write this now with Bunnell and Masuk running through their pregame warm-ups, which means that Greenwich and Shelton have still yet to play over at Southern Connecticut State

But, I'm saying this right now, with a sound mind, at 6:34 p.m. on this championship Saturday night.

Ansonia is the No. 1 team in the state.

I won't wait for the end of the Shelton-Greenwich final. Ansonia is it.

As most around here know, at some point toward the end of the season I publicly changed my vote from Ansonia to Greenwich, one that earned me a few jeers from the townspeople.

I had my reasons, the biggest being that I liked Greenwich's schedule a lot more than Ansonia and I had seen some weaknesses in Ansonia that I wasn't seeing in Greenwich.

Alex Thomas is a great back. But if you stopped him short of the end zone the Chargers were going to have problems.

On Saturday afternoon we were going to find out if that was going to end their dominating two-year run short of a state championship.

This was, after all, New London.

They were, after all, coached by Jack Cochran — a man who was about to coach in his 13th state championship game in his 15th year as a head coach.

This was, after all, a team armed with a future Division I quarterback in Jordan Reed, and an aggressive defense that ripped through this state unchallenged, outscoring its opponents 499-86 in 11 games.

From the day Cochran returned from a year's exile, this allegedly was the

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matchup he and his team had circled on its calendar.

This was a bigger team, a faster team. Ansonia would be no match.

Haven't we heard this all before?

Ansonia coach Tom Brockett had. He was worried. "They're the biggest and fastest team we've faced all season," he said.

He almost had me believe it, too. I picked Ansonia. But barely.

Final score: Ansonia 35, New London 0.

Did you get that? Zero points.

Yow.

This was supposed to be the best state championship game of the afternoon.

Ansonia turned it into a coronation.

I couldn't believe it. I know the New London people who retreated from this game at halftime couldn't believe it.

Heck, even the Ansonia players couldn't believe it.

"I thought this was going to be like a 3-point game," said Ansonia's all-state linebacker Mike Flynn. "It's so amazing to have a score like that."

You weren't the only one, Mike.

It was so disbelieving, when it came time to get the victorious team picture taken, Brockett halted the whole production and made sure they got the scoreboard showing 35-0 in the background.

You know, just in case somebody asks.

"They know today (Saturday) there was a lot of people out there who doubted them, and knocking them, saying this was going to be the game they met their match," Brockett said. He paused and shrugged.

"Thirty-five nothing ... I don't know."

Today you will read in plenty of papers what made this team the best in Connecticut. You will read a lot about the tremendous life and times of Thomas, No. 44, the best tailback this state has ever seen on the high school level.

The 5-foot-9 back with pistons for legs was a big part of this team. He's the Gatorade Player of the Year. He's run for 3,587 yards and 47 touchdowns this season and toppled state records like dominoes.

He will be the runaway pick for everybody's MVP award.

But this is why Ansonia is the best team in the state. n Thomas. OK. We knew that.

-Ansonia's massive, drive blocking offensive line, led by UConn-bound lineman Erik Kuraczea and Rashad Bass.

-A quarterback who couldn't have thrown more than 40 passes all year, being asked to throw at crucial moments and delivering — two touchdown passes, another pass that set up first and goal, and just one interception.

-A defense that forced four fumbles, made that future Division I quarterback complete just 3 of 15 passes and sacked him three times, all while missing one regular starter.

In short, this team is the best in the state because, when the spotlight shined the brightest, it needed a big time performance from everyone and got a big performance from everyone.

"We have such great kids and you just really want it for them," said Brockett, 31, who has yet to lose a game as head coach because of them. "This was the only way for them to go out.

"Did we expect it to be 35-0? I don't know. I really thought that was a great football team we were playing."

It was a great football team.

It was a Cochran-coached team.

Even after examining the film over and over again ... he knew his team was better.

Because it's the best in the state.

Brockett knows it. His players know it. Now everyone else knows it.

"We came in, we beat New London, we beat Jack Cochran. People wanted us to play them. Who else did you want us to play?" Brocket said.

"You know what? Line them up. This team is unbelievable."

It's the best.

This just in: Greenwich, my old No. 1 is down 14-0 to Shelton in the Class LL game.

Contact Sean Patrick Bowley at sbowley@ctpost.com