East Haven Football Loses to Amity 47-8

Quarterback Tyler Vallie ran for three touchdowns and passed for another score as he led Amity to a 47-8 Southern Connecticut Conference inter-divisional victory over East Haven Saturday at the Yellowjackets’ Crisafi Field.

Included in Vallie’s nine carries for 122 yards were TD runs of 11, 2, and 53 yards. He also completed four of seven passes for 65 yards, connecting with Cody Ellison for a five yard score as the Spartans even their record at 1-1. East Haven, which has won only two games in the last four years, is now 0-2.

“Tyler had a good day. He ran the option well and was able to pick up a lot of yards. He also made some nice throws,” Amity Coach Bert Mozealous said.

Amity thought it had scored on the opening kickoff of the game as Dave  Attolino gathered the ball in at his own 34-yard line  and churned 66 yards but the touchdown was nullified by an illegal blocking infraction at the Easties’ 20.

On its second possession of the afternoon, the Spartans, keyed by Vallie runs of 14 and 27 yards needed only four plays to find the end zone. Vallie’s 11 yard keeper and Lyle Luth’s extra point kick gave the visitors a 7-0 lead.

East Haven answered right back thanks in large part to a 50 yards pass from quarterback Niko Fiorillo to his favorite receiver, Mike Vessicchio for a first down at the Amity 30. Six plays later the same duo teamed up on a 16 yard scoring strike. The Easties took an 8-7 lead when Fiorillo hit Mike Panela with a two point conversion pass.

After that, the remainder of the game belonged to Amity, which proceeded to score 40 unanswered points. The first period ended with the Spartans capping a 10 play-66 yard drive with Vallie hitting Cody Ellison with a 10 yard TD toss. Luth’s extra point put the Spartans ahead 14-8. It was a lead they would never lose.

The second period saw Amity score three more times and walk off with a 34-8 halftime lead. Vallie scored on a 53 yard run on the first play after a Yellowjacket punt. After East Haven went three-and-out on its’ next possession, the Spartans took over at the ‘Jackets 40. Eight plays later, Vallie scooted into the end zone on a two yard run. That drive featured Vallie’s 37 yard pass to sophomore tight end Damon Robinson.

With his team holding a 27-8 lead, Tyler Bishop ended the first half scoring by picking off a Fiorillo pass at his own 45 and racing untouched down the Amity sideline for a 55 yard touchdown.

A 40 yard pass completion from Fiorillo to Panela gave East Haven a first down at the Amity 28. On the last play of the half, Fiorillo’s throw into the end zone was knocked down by the Spartan defensive secondary. On that play, East Haven’s Mike Libretti and the Spartans’ Frankie Cavanagh got involved in a tussle that resulted in both players being ejected and also being assessed a one game suspension.

“I thought we played a very consistent first half,” Mozealous said. “We moved the ball well because there weren’t many mistakes up front.”

He quickly added, “While we did play well, we can’t afford to make the mistakes we did make when we play good teams like Hand and then Xavier in our next two games.”

Following a scoreless, listless third quarter, Mozealous cleared his bench a  fourth quarter that saw sophomore reserves David Boone and Akash Mehta find the end zone., Buono scored on a 19 yard run that was set up by Vallie’s 22 yard keeper. Later in the same session, Mehta added a 38 yard dash to pay dirt.

East Haven managed to record only 24 yards of offense and no first downs in the second half.  It ended up with six first downs, a mere 55 rushing  yards and 151 in the air as it connected on seven of 19 passes. Vessecchio made five receptions that were worth 87 yards.

Mozealous added, “We knew coming in that most teams stop their running game but also  that No. 10 (Fiorillo) could throw the ball and No. 81 (Vessecchio) could catch it. They are both very talented, but we also have to improve our pass defense.”

The Spartans cashed out with 12 first downs, 302 yards on the ground and 65 more in the air as Vallie completed four of his seven passes.

After noting that Attolino ran hard, and picked up 52 yards on 12 carries, Mozealous said, “Dave does run hard, even though sometimes he hits the wrong hole.”

He added, “It was good to see that Damian Robinson is finally waking up. Dave Buono is going to be a good football player. He’s only a sophomore and all he needs is more experience. The same holds true for Akash Mehta. All three of those guys are sophomores. All they need is more varsity experience.”

The Easties will next face off against the Lyman Hall Trojans in Wallingford Friday, Sept. 30, beginning at 7 p.m.