Fall Sports Preview: Football

With 19 seniors having graduated in June, there will be a lot of new faces on the field when the Amity football team opens its season Friday night at West Haven. Among the key Spartan losses are Kyle Kalanta, Sebastian Aliberti, Dylan Natale, and Brian Speer. This year’s Spartan roster lists only eight seniors but also includes 25 juniors and 30 sophomores. Bert Mozealous starts his second year as head coach knowing one of the keys to success this fall will be his five senior starters as they will provide the badly needed leadership and experience his otherwise young team needs.

“As long as we stay healthy, we should improve during the season as we gain confidence, experience, and composure, especially in pressure situations,” Mozealous said.

Last year the Black and Gold finished with a 4-6 record. Mozealous is optimistic that can be improved this fall as he feels that his team has improved speed and a healthy senior Captain/quarterback Tyler Vallie. Last fall The 5-foot 9 inch, 190 pound Vallie  started only three games as he was hobbled with an assortment of injuries. Vallie is expected to provide excellent leadership, experience, and speed.

Mozealous said, “We will run a spread offense but with Tyler’s speed, we’ll run some option too. While we plan to run more than we throw (because running better suits our personnel) Tyler can throw the ball and we do have some talented receivers. Our biggest problem on offense is we have only one senior on our offensive line. Once they come together, we could be pretty good.”

While he is only 5-8, 150, senior wide receiver Cody Ellison could be a big key to Amity’s success this fall. Last year the speedy defensive safety picked off five passes and also returned a punt for a touchdown. Once football ends, Ellison (as he did last year) will head off to Utah to attend the National Snow Boarding Academy and then return to Amity in the spring.

Other seniors who Mozealous is looking to for much leadership are: running back/wide receiver/linebacker John Aliberti (5-10, 190), running back/wide receiver Tyler Bishop (5-5, 135 and an All State wrestler as a junior), center Sube Salah (5-8, 225), and punter Cole German (6-2, 175).

The Spartan running game will rest in the hands and legs of junior James Semmonella (6-0, 190), junior Dave Attolino (6-0, 195), sophomore Cory Ricks (5-8, 150), and Aliberti.

Noting that Attolino worked very hard in the weight room during the off-season, Mozealous rates him as “my number one running back.”

When Vallie wants to throw the ball, he will be looking for sophomore wide receiver Ben Feola (6-0, 175), sophomore tight end Damon Robinson (6-3, 205), and Ellison.

Joining Salah up front will be junior tackles Mike Vitale (6-4, 270) and and Greg Purcell (6-0, 255), as well as a rotation of junior Connor Myatt (6-1, 200), sophomore Eric Laugeni (5-10, 215), and junior Dennis Flanagan (6-2, 220) in the 2 guard slots.

Lyle Luts will handle the Spartans’ place kicking chores.

Senior Frank Cavanagh (5-10, 230) will be the nose guard in Amity 3-4-4 defense. Purcell and junior Skye Zawadski will be flanking him as the defensive tackles. Junior Jordan Laugeni (5-10, 205) and Aliberti are penciled in as inside linbackers with Semmonella and Myatt on the outside. The defensive secondary will feature Ricks and Bishop on the corners, senior Jack Kane (5-9, 160) at strong safety and Ellison will be the free safety.

In addition to opening at West Haven, the Spartans also face Hand, East Haven, and Xavier in the first month of the season.

Mozealous said, “Three of our first four games will not be fun. Last year seven of the 10 teams we played went to the playoffs and we play the same exact schedule this year.”

He added, “While we have eight or nine guys who have previous varsity experience, the rest are all new—with little or no prior varsity experience. How fast they develop experience and confidence will have a lot to do with how successful we will be this fall.”