Ansonia junior running back Arkeel Newsome was named the Hal Levy High School Male Athlete of the Year presented by the Connecticut Sports Writers Alliance.

This is the second year of the award, which is named in memory of the late Shore Line Newspapers sports editor and former CSWA president and longtime member. Newsome will be honored at the 72nd Gold Key Dinner on April 28 at the Aqua Turf Club in Southington.

Newsome rushed for 2,245 yards and scored 41 total touchdowns. He helped leadthe Chargers to a second straight 14-0 season and a consecutive Class S state title. Newsome has scored a state-record 119 career touchdowns. 

Newsome, who was recently selected as the Walter Camp Football Foundation’s Connecticut Player of the Year for the second straight season. He was also named to the Max Preps Junior Class All-America Football Team, and to the New Haven Register All-State Team for the second year in a row after being selected as its Player of the Year as a sophomore.

As a sophomore, Newsome scored a state-record 62 touchdowns while setting a single-season rushing record in Connecticut with 3,763 yards. That broke the mark of 3,596 yards set by another Ansonia back, Alex Thomas, in 2007.With one season still to go, Newsome has already rewritten much of the state record book. He has also rushed for 6,805 yards on 610 carries (11.1 average), and needs 1,474 yards next season to become the state’s all-time leading rusher. Thomas is the current leader with 8,279 yards, and Newsome’s 740 career points is only seven behind Thomas for another state record.

 

The All-Area team will run on Sunday Jan. 20.

The team  features a 13-player offense and a 13-player defense, including the Area MVP, and the Coach of the Year.

There will also be selections for Second Team and Third Team.

Craig Bruno, who coached Bunnell to state titles in 2006 and 2007, has been named the next coach at Naugatuck. The news was first reported by the CT POST on Thursday.

From the POST article:

Bruno, 44, played at Bunnell in the 1980s and was elevated to head coach in 2001 to replace his mentor, Bob Mastroni.

Bruno will leave as its most decorated after 12 years, four state playoff appearances and two state championships.

Bruno, who is also the athletic director at Bassick, takes over at Naugatuck after a tumultuous 2012, which saw the school embroiled in a recruiting scandal involving former coach Rob Plasky and Sacred Heart receiver David Coggins. Plasky resigned in August. The Greyhounds went 6-4 under interim coach Shawn Kuczenski.