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Ansonia players celebrate their win over New London in Saturday's CIAC Class S Football state playoff game at Ken Strong Stadium in West Haven.
WEST HAVEN — The knock on Ansonia was that it hadn't played anyone, that senior tailback Alex Thomas' state record-breaking rushing numbers were inflated, that Ansonia was one-dimensional.

Ansonia players and coaches will agree they're one-dimensional, but in three different ways.

They have the No. 1 tailback.

They have the No. 1 defense.

They are the No. 1 team in the state.

And there was nothing anyone could do about it. Not even Jack Cochran and big, bad New London.

In a dominating performance that confirmed all of these things, top-ranked Ansonia and its heralded senior class called it a career by burying New London 35-0 in the Class S final in front of approximately 5,000 fans at Ken Strong Stadium Saturday.

Alex Thomas ran for 240 yards on what is considered to be a state-championship record 53 carries and scored two touchdowns.

Junior quarterback Ron Bilodeau threw two touchdown passes on five attempts. And, finally, Ansonia's defense forced four fumbles and held an offense that averaged 46.5 points a game scoreless.

"We had a formula for 26 games, they weren't going to stop it today," said second-year coach Tom Brockett, whose team completed its second straight 13-0 season with its second straight state championship and, most likely, a second consecutive No. 1 ranking.

"This was going to be a game that we were judged by. That's all we've been hearing about. They have every film on us, that they were going to do this, they were going to

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do that. Our assistants came up with a great game plan and our kids just executed to a tee."

The victory is Ansonia's 16th state championship, most in state history, and its first back-to-back titles since 2002-03. It also signaled the end of an era for a heralded senior class that included linemen Erik Kuraczea, Rashad Bass and Corey Dubose, and linebackers Dan DeGennaro and Mike Flynn.

"No. 1? Oh yeah," said Flynn, who had a sack. "I can't even remember what it feels like to lose. This feels great to go out like this. No. 1."

And, of course, there's Thomas, the most celebrated of them all, who finished his exceptional season with a single-season state record 3,587 yards and 47 touchdowns on 340 carries.

He finished his legendary career with 8,270 yards and 114 touchdowns on 811 carries.

"I guess I can finally reflect on that," said Thomas, who learned he would be attending Yale on Friday. "I guess I can finally be proud of that. But us winning this part, this is the biggest part, everything is just icing on the cake."

Ansonia built up a 21-0 halftime lead, not because of Thomas but because of junior quarterback Ron Bilodeau.

With New London's defense cheating up to stop Thomas, Bilodeau had the best game of his career.

"The defense is going to expect Alex to run, so when we call a pass play, you just have to get the job done," Bilodeau said. "I know my part is to give Alex the ball and then make the plays when they send in a pass play. That's what we did today."

Following a New London fumble on its first return of the game, Bilodeau threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Martin Lawlor on fourth down for a 7-0 first quarter lead.

He tossed a 26-yard pass to Tom Pitney that set up Ansonia's second touchdown, a 4-yard run by Thomas, on the first play of the second quarter.

Though he was picked off at the goal line on Ansonia's next possession, he redeemed himself by throwing a 23-yard strike to Pitney on second and long to give Ansonia a 21-0 lead at halftime.

"Ronnie did a great job," Thomas said. "New London came out, their game plan was to shut me down and they did that. Ron, he made his plays, he made his passes."

The lead was more than enough for Ansonia's defense, which sacked New London quarterback Jordan Reed three times in the second half and held the Whalers to just 18 total yards.

"Hey, we didn't execute," said Cochran, who was coaching in his 13th state championship game and is now 7-6 all-time. "The better team won today."

Ansonia's biggest test came early in the third when New London started in Ansonia territory for two straight possessions.

It didn't score on either. Dubose ran Reed out of bounds on fourth and 9 from the 14. Then Tom Hyde sacked Reed on back-to-back plays to force a punt. Ansonia put the game away on short touchdown runs by Thomas in the fourth quarter.

"I'm speechless," said Brockett, whose defense started Pitney at safety for the first time all year. "I've seen that offense go up and down the field. For our kids to go out and pressure them ... they laid it all on the line.

"You know what? Ansonia people should be proud of this team. ... This was the first team we've played that was bigger and stronger. But we were tougher."

State records set by Ansonia's Alex Thomas
Rushing yardage
Game 518
Season: 3,587
Career 8,270
Touchdowns  
Season 47
Career 114
Points  
Career: 729

Class S championship at Ken Strong Stadium

NEW LONDON0 0 0 0 — 0
ANSONIA7 14 0 14 — 35
A — Ryan Lawlor 20 pass Ron Bilodeau (Travis Torello kick)
A — Alex Thomas 4 run (Torello kick)
A — Tom Pitney 23 pass Bilodeau (Torello kick)
A — Thomas 2 run (Torello kick)
A — Thomas 5 run (Torello kick)
Records: New London 11-1, Ansonia 13-0