Amity's Aliberti Plays in Hall of Fame High School All Star Football Game

Fairfield County defeated New Haven County 34-14 Saturday night in the 15^th annual National Football Foundation College Hall of Fame High School All Star Football Game before 2422 fans at Ken Strong Stadium in West Haven. It was the first time in 3 years and only the fifth time in 15 years that the Downstaters had come away with a victory.

At the completion of the game, the sports journalists that covered the game chose former Foran quarterback Tucker Schumitz (who will attend Western New England College) as New Haven’s Most Valuable Offensive Player of the Game and Shelton linebacker  Cody Kitson (New England College) as its defensive MVP. Schumitz completed 9 of 12 psasses for 71 yards. Included in that total was a 33 yard flea flicker that saw starting QB Sean Goldrich of Notre Dame (University of New Hampshire) toss a pass to Schumitz, who in return hit a wide open Goldrich for 33 yards and the game’s’ first touchdown.

St. Joseph quarterback, Joe Della Veccia (Stonehill), who completed 18 of 27 throws for 296 yards and four touchdowns, was the Fairfield County Most Valuable Offensive Player. Three of those TD tosses were to his former Cadet teammate and long-time friend, Tyler Matakevich (Milford Academy). who picked up 81 yards on 3 receptions. His scores came on catches of 20, 22, and 39 yards.  In addition to his offensive heroics, Matakevich had an outstanding defensive game as a line backer and was selected as his team’s defensive MVP.

Della Vecchia’s father, Joe Della Vecchia, Sr. is the Cadet head coach and was the Fairfield County head coach. The All Star game marked the last time that the Della Vecchia father and son duo will be together on the grid iron. The same held true for the lethal Della Vecchia to Matekevitch air attack.

Among the 39 New Haven All Stars was recent Amity grad, Sebastian Aliberti (Norwich University) , who played linebacker for All Star Head Coach Ed McCarthy of West Haven High (Della Vecchia Sr’s coach during his high school days as a Cadet). Former Spartan running back Kyle Kalanta (Union) had originally been chosen to play in the All Star game but when he opted not to play. Aliberti was chosen as his replacement.

According to the 5-foot 9-inch, 195 pound ex-Spartan, “Being selected to play in this game means a lot to me. It means my 4 years of football at Amity paid off.  I’m very proud to be here on the field, representing my high school. It’s an awesome feeling to be asked to plsay on a team with all stars from many different towns and cities. I really wanted to play in the game, but it’s nothing I ever took for granted. At first it felt a little funny playing with guys I had played against in high school, but after 2 weeks of practicing together with them as teammates, I feel I’ve made some really close new friendships.”

Starting in the fall, Aliberti will be attending Norwich University. He plans on majoring in business management and playing either linebacker or safety for the Cadet football team.

Fairfield County’s 34 points are the most it has ever scored in the 15 year All Star Game series and New Haven’s 14 points are the fewest it has scored since 2002.