Huntington Herald

Gaels use big plays to sink Spartans

Written by Tom O'Reilly, Correspondent
Friday, 04 November 2011 12:48

Nothing is certain in this world except for death, taxes, and the Shelton High varsity football team defeating Amity High on an annual basis.

Okay, that last one may not be certain, but it has been a real good bet since 1998.

Shelton spotted Amity an early lead before coming from behind to hand the Spartans a 28-17 defeat at the Sim Athletic Complex in Woodbridge on Friday night.

Shelton has now defeated Amity six straight times, and 13 of the last 14 meetings between the long-time foes.

“I don’t have anything for that,” said Shelton coach Jeff Roy when asked to explain Shelton’s dominance. “We’re just happy to win.”

Shelton improves to 5-2 overall, and 2-1 in the Southern Connecticut Conference Division I West.

The Gaels kept alive their hopes of qualifying for the Class LL state playoffs.

Amity drops to 2-5 overall, and finishes its SCC Division I West campaign at 1-3.

The victory wasn’t as clear cut as the 11-point margin might lead one to believe. The Spartans actually outgained Shelton 355 yards to 294 yards, and registered 18 first downs to Shelton’s 11.

But, Shelton came up with the big plays on both offense and defense — including a 68-yard Jeff Groth-to-Kyle Drost touchdown pass and a 70-yard interception return for a touchdown by Eddie Kochiss.

Amity opened the scoring with a 10-yard Tyler Vallie-to-Cole German touchdown pass midway through the first quarter for a 7-0 lead.

The Gaels had an answer, bolstered by a 48-yard Frank Camerino run on Shelton’s next play from scrimmage.

That set up a six-yard Camerino touchdown run four plays later, behind the blocking of Robert Rose, John Nacovitch, Mike Dellolio, Austin Rose and Joe Ortoli. Ed Groth added the PAT to tie the score at 7.

Shelton took the lead for good on its next possession.

Facing third-and-18 at the Shelton 32, Groth connected with Drost over the middle. The Amity defender slipped on the loose turf and Drost was off to the races for a 68-yard catch-and-run and a 14-7 lead.

Amity appeared to be on its way into the end zone for the potential game-tying score in the second quarter, with a second-and-goal inside the Shelton one-yard line.

But an illegal motion penalty set the Spartans back five yards, and Amity fullback James Semmonella was stopped for a one-yard gain on second down.

Vallie threw incomplete on third down, and the Spartans were forced to settle for a 20-yard field goal try, which Lyle Luth made to pull within 14-10 with 6:14 left in the first half.

“We’ve been playing good red zone and goal line defense all year,” said Roy, pointing to the stand as a win for his defense.

The Shelton offense extended the lead on its next possession.

Camerino, playing quarterback on this drive, served as the work horse and capped the drive off with a nine-yard keeper to make it 21-10 Shelton at halftime.

The second half saw Amity dominate in terms of yardage, but the Gaels stepped up when necessary on defense.

Amity’s first possession of the second half ended when Jeff Groth stopped Amity’s Cory Ricks for a five-yard loss on a fourth-and-two from the Shelton 10-yard line.

Kochiss’ pick six ended Amity’s next possession.

Vallie, Amity’s elusive quarterback, had scrambled away from three would-be Gael tacklers in his backfield before spotting an open receiver down the far side of the field.

But the ball was slightly underthrown, and Kochiss was there to pick it off. He broke one tackle at the Amity 40, and raced to the end zone untouched from there for a 28-10 lead.

Senior defensive back Ryan Brighindi ended Amity’s next possession with a fumble recovery at the Gael 13-yard line.

A fourth Amity possession deep into Shelton territory ended on downs at the Gael 21.

Amity finally broke through with 3:46 left in the game when Vallie kept the ball himself and scored from five yards out.

But Shelton recovered the ensuing onside kick, and was able to run out the clock.

Vallie was a one-man show for Amity, completing 15-of-28 passes for 124 yards and one touchdown. He ran 17 times for 141 yards and another score. Vallie has scored or passed for 19 of Amity’s 26 touchdowns on the season.

“They gave us problems with their offense,” Roy said. “The kid Vallie does a nice job.”

But Roy was equally as proud of his squad, which made the plays it needed to make to win the game.

Camerino had a big night of his own, rushing 22 times for 169 yards and two touchdowns. He did most of his damage in the first half, accounting for 122 of his yards.

Ed Groth completed 2-of-8 passes, one was the touchdown to Drost.

Conor O’Brien added 12 carries for 24 yards.

Defensively, Shelton got a balanced effort with Brighindi (two fumble recoveries), Kochiss (interception return for a touchdown), Gary Thompson (10 tackles), Robert Rose, Jeff Groth and Ortoli leading the way.

Shelton faces a must-win game against Fairfield Prep (5-2) Friday at Finn Stadium in a 7 p.m. kickoff.

The winner takes second place in the SCC Division I West, assuming top-ranked Xavier defeats Hamden in a game it is heavily favored to win to capture the Division I West crown, and also stays alive in the Class LL playoff standings, where Shelton is 14th and Fairfield Prep 16th entering the game.

Gael notes

The lone Amity win in the last 14 years was a 25-13 Spartan victory in 2005, when the Gaels went 3-7.

Shelton led 13-12 in that game, but gave up a pair of second-half touchdowns to the Spartans, who would go 6-3-1 that season.

Roy, whose overall record is 54-27, is 7-1 against Amity.

A moment of silence was held before the game to remember former Amity baseball and hockey standout Joseph Ciancola.

Ciancola, a 2010 Amity graduate, died a day earlier due to complications following a medical emergency during a baseball workout earlier in the week at the University of Rhode Island, where he was a student athlete.

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