Amity Football Thrashes Hamden 55-26

Racking up 27 points in the first quarter, Amity proceeded to roll past Hamden 55-26 Friday night in a Southern Connecticut Conference Division 1 football game, played in intermittent drizzle at Sim Field in Woodbridge. The victory ended the Spartans’ two-game losing streak and upped their record to 2-3. On the other hand, Hamden remains winless in five games this fall and has now lost 17 consecutive contests.

Amity quarterback Tyler Vallie had a career night as he had 20 carries for 166 yards and three touchdowns. On top of that, he completed 11 of 20 passes for another 215 yards and three scoring strikes. All totaled, the Black and Gold charted 22 first downs, 352 yards on the ground and the previously mentioned 215 yards in the air for a season-high 567 yards.

Tim Dube, the Green Dragons’ QB, also had a busy night as he scooted for 181 yards and two scores on 20 carries and completed 14 of his 41 passes for 232 yards and one TD. The losers ended up with a total of 487 yards (232 on the ground and 255 in the air). Each team turned the ball over three times.

Winning Coach Bert Mozealous said, “Our offensive line came together tonight and Tyler had a great game too. He has very quick feet and he is a true leader. He works hard in practice and during our games. He can play almost anywhere we need him on the field. Tonight, he got to keep the ball and do more things on his own that he had been able to do in previous games.”

Amity scored on each of its first four possessions of the game. Set up by Vallie’s run of 17 yards on their first play from scrimmage and a 17 yard scamper by Dave Attolino for a first down at the Green Dragon 11 the Spartans needed only six plays to go 58 yards. Vallie opened up the scoring on a 16-yard keeper with 7 minutes, 33 seconds left in the opening session.

After holding Hamden and forcing a fourth down punt, Amity’s second possession began at its own 37. Keyed by Attolino’s 24 yard jaunt to the Hamden and a 26 yard strike from Vallie to Cody Ellision for a first down at the nine, Vallie scored on the next play to make it 13-0 at the 4:58 mark.

Just two plays after that touchdown, Dube teamed with wide receiver Derrick Atkinson on a short screen pass that speedy Atkinson turned into a 68 yard dash to pay dirt.

Amity struck right back. Vallie connected with Cole German on passes of 10 and 16 yards to put the ball at midfield. After Attolino (who ended up with a season’s-best 141 yards on 19 carries) ripped through the Dragon defense for 17 yards, Vallie found the end zone once again. His 21 yard run with 2:44 still left in a hectic first quarter, concluded a 78 yard march in 11 plays and extended Amity’s lead to 20-7.

With only five seconds left, Vallie concluded his busy first period by hitting Ellison with a five yard TD that gave the Spartans a 27-7 advantage.

“We had a good week of practice and came out tonight all charged up, wanting to run the ball. By scoring 27 points in the first quarter, we made things for ourselves and forced Hamden to play catch-up all night long,” Mozealous said.

Hamden opened the second quarter with a drive that stalled at the Amity 18. Later in the same session Vallie connected with Semmonella on successive passes of 17 and 15 yards and drove the ball to the Green Dragon one-yard line before being pushed back 30 yards on back-to-back major penalties. Undaunted by those major infractions, Vallie first shredded the Green Dragon defense for 24 yards. Then with just two seconds remaining in the first half, he flipped an eight-yard touchdown pass to German to extent his team’s lead to 34-7.

Hamden opened the second half with a 10 play-80-yard drive that was finished off with a four yard run by halfback Stephen Gray. Leading by a still comfortable 27-13 lead with :25 to go in the third stanza, Amity’s offense played what Mozealous conceded was a very sloppy third quarter, and  turned the ball over three times. While Amity held off the Dragons after its first two fumbles, it was not so lucky on the third one. Following a 28 yard run to the Hamden 34, the ball was stripped away by Atkinson, who raced it back 49 yards in the opposite direction. Starting at the hosts’ 12 after a five yard walk-off against the hosts, Dube cashed in on a 12 yard run, which cut his team’s deficit to 34-20 with 2:24 to go in the quarter.

“Our entire offensive line played hard but I think we might have let down and lost our focus in the third quarter,” Mozealous said. “We knew that all Hamden did was throw the ball, so we had to be sure to take away their going deep stuff.”

On its first play from scrimmage in the fourth quarter, Amity found the end zone on a 70-yard throw from Vallie to Attolino that extended the Spartan lead to 42-20. With 2:22 to go in the game, Jonathan Aliberti picked off a Dube pass at the Hamden 45 and took it “to the house” for a final six points. Lyle Luth followed with his sixth extra point kick in seven tries.

Semmonella picked up 28 yards on eight carries and added another 105 yards on three receptions. In addition to Semmonella, Vallie connected with Ellison on three passes for 64 yards and German for three more completions that were worth 30 yards. Dube and Atkinson combined on fibe passes for 107 yards and also connected with Trevor Perry for six completions for another 107 yards.

According to Mozealous, “James Semmonella played well and came into his own tonight.

He added, “After Hamden’s third quarter come back, my guys knew that our goal was getting first downs and eating up the clock.”

Looking back at the final tally, Mozealous said, “My guys were disappointed how we had played against Hand, especially in the second quarter. We weren't competitive.  While Xavier beat us up pretty badly on the scoreboard (49-0), we played hard and never quit. Tonight, we wanted to turn things around.”

Amity takes its 2-3 record on the road Friday for a 6 p.m. visit to Fairfield Prep.