Amity Football Falls to Lyman Hall, 34-27

Amity football Coach Bert Mozealous was quick to admit that his team was lucky to hold a 13-6 halftime lead over Lyman Hall last Friday night. The Spartans scored on their first possession of the game.

While the Trojans answered late in the same session, they missed the extra point and Amity still led 7-6. In the second quarter, Kyle Kalanta galloped 73 yards for another six pointer that give Amity a 13-6 edge. Lyman Hall twice drove inside the Spartan 10-yard line, but the fired-up Amity defense held the Trojans out of the end zone on both occasions.

Looking back at his team's first half, Mozealous said, "I thought we were very lucky in the first half. Their offensive line dominated us but we still were ahead. We put the challenge on the kids and they played well. I think Lyman Hall offense rolled up about 290 yards in the first half but only scored one TD."

The Spartans ran out of luck in the second half. Lyman Hall fullback Zac Falconeri scored three times and his team came from behind to defeated Amity 34-27. The Southern Connecticut Conference inter-division clash took place at Richitelli Field in Wallingford.

With the win, Lyman Hall is 7-1 and is still in the chase for a berth in the upcoming state playoffs. The defeated Spartans saw their record dip to 3-5.
Clinging to its 13-6 lead as the second half got underway, the Black and Gold  drove to the Lyman Hall 23, however, on fourth-and-six, Sebi Aliberti caught a pass from quarterback Tyler Vallie. Officials ruled he caught it out of bounds and the ball went over to the Trojans on downs.

Later in the same session, a Brian Speer punt rolled out of bounds at the Lyman Hall 4-yard line. This time, Trojan quarterback John DeSandre marched his team 94 yards and tied the game 13-13 on a seven yard run by Falconeri and Bill Woznicki's PAT. It came with 2 minutes, 33 seconds left in the third quarter.

The fourth quarter began with two more Falconeri touchdowns. Following the Trojans' game-tying score, they kicked off to Amity. Tyler Bishop gathered in the ball at his own 15 and raced it back to his 45 but coughed up the ball when hit and the Trojans recovered.

Falconeri cashed in that turnover with his 13 yard TD to put his team in front, 20-13. Shortly thereafter he added a two yard score that extended the Trojans' lead to 27-13.

After surrendering two scores in a row within a span of 1:42, Amity finally added six points on a nine yard run by Vallie. Joe DeSandre answered right back with a 15 yard dash to pay direct that made it 34-20. The hectic final quarter continued as Vallie cashed in on a five yard run.

Trailing 34-27 with less than a minute left to play, Amity successfully pulled off an on-sides kick and raced from midfield down to the Trojan 8-yard line. With 18 seconds left, Vallie launched four throws into the end zone but each one fell incomplete.

"Our defense didn't play well in the second half," Mozealous said. "Their offensive line dominated us, but our kids stepped up and worked their butts off. We got beat by a better team and we made a lot of mistakes, but we never gave up. They had the two most dominating tackles we have seen all year. One (Robert Goldstein) is 5-9 but about 290 pounds and has great feet. The other guy (Scott McNeil) is much taller and about 280. They do a great job up front."

The winners rolled up 547 yards of offense with Falconeri lugging the ball 36 times for 221 yards and three touchdowns. With that effort, he now has gained 1007 yards this fall. Joe DeSandre added 192 yards on his 16 carries. He has now picked up a season total of 941 yards and is only 66 yards from joining Falconeri in the 1000 Yards Club. John DeSandre threw for another 136 yards.

Thanks in large part to his long first half touchdown run, Kalanta cashed out with 147 yards on 16 carries and now has gained a season total of 1084 yards. Falconeri has now scored 16 touchdowns and added a pair of two-point conversions for 100 points. DeSandre has scored 10 TD's and with his two conversion runs has accumulated 64 points. Kalanta has nine touchdowns and 54 points. 

According to Mozealous, "Tyler Vallie scored three touchdowns and the last two weeks, has shown that he is the player we thought he'd be. Earlier in the season, he was slowed by a bad ankle. He made good decisions on the option and kept our offense rolling. Defensive back Cody Ellison played a great game, too. It was just a case of too little, too late. We just came up short."

Amity's first score was set up by Bishop's 60 yard kickoff return to the Lyman Hall 30-yard line. Vallie's one yard plunge and Greg DeBarba's PAT gave the Spartans an early 7-0 lead. The Trojans' first touchdown followed a 60 yard run right up the middle by Joe DeSandre. 

Hunter Ricks used his great speed to catch and then pull DeSandre down from behind. His brother finished off that drive with a 29 yard TD pass to Conor Riordan. When Kalanta "took the ball to the 'house" on his 73 yards run, Amity extended its lead to 13-6.