Sports

Football: Walters leads Amityville over Porters

GARRET MEADE PHOTO | Ryan Malone scored one of Greenport/Southold/Mattituck/Shelter Island's two touchdowns in Amityville on Saturday.

WARRIORS 49, PORTERS 13

When a high school football team plays powerhouse Amityville, it plays hard and hopes for the best. The Warriors have speedy, elusive runners and an offense that can explode for points just like that.

When Elijah Kelly ran under a 35-yard pass from Sean Walters for a touchdown on Amityville’s second offensive play from scrimmage on Saturday, Greenport/Southold/Mattituck/Shelter Island must have thought it was in for a long day.

Then, in a span of 3 minutes 5 seconds later in the first quarter, Ryan Malone and Tomasz Filipkowski ran for touchdowns, helping the Porters to 7-6 and 13-12 leads over the Suffolk County Division IV leaders.

Maybe, just maybe.

Sure, it was a longshot, but the thought of an upset might have crossed the minds of some of the Porters.

Ray Thilberg, who played right outside linebacker and fullback for Greenport, said, “That’s what we were going for, throwing an upset in, but …”

He need not have finished the sentence because Amityville finished the game, a 49-13 result on its Lou Howard Field. Walters, Amityville’s sophomore quarterback, passed for three touchdowns, going 7 of 10 passing for 118 yards.

Walters, who is in his second year as a varsity starter, can also run. The young quarterback covered 117 yards from five carries. Walters’ first run of the day was his longest. After slipping out of a tackle, he darted 41 yards for another score.

Although the final score might suggest otherwise, it wasn’t really an Amityville horror for the Porters, who played hard and did not seem intimidated by the division’s No. 1 seed.

“I expect nothing less,” said Greenport coach Jack Martilotta.

Martilotta applauded his players for their effort. “We always come out to win the game, and the kids played really, really well,” he said. “They’re the number one team for a reason. They have some really good players.”

GARRET MEADE PHOTO | Tomasz Filipkowski, who was involved in 18 tackles for Greenport/Southold/Mattituck/Shelter Island, dragged down Amityville's twisting Willie White.

Amityville (6-1), which was a playoff team last year in Division III, is difficult to defend against. The Warriors can run and throw. They ran up 298 rushing yards and totaled 416 yards in offense against Greenport (1-6).

It’s the sort of offense that gives coach Chris Taylor a multitude of options.

“Previous years you had a couple of guys, and now you’re always thinking, ‘What should I call here?’ ” he said. “Sometimes any play isn’t a bad play, you know?”

Amityville didn’t have many bad plays. Six Warriors scored touchdowns. Among them were Willie White and Deion Richards, who caught touchdown tosses from Walters, and Da’rell Hatcher, who broke free on a 38-yard sprint to the end zone.

After taking a 36-13 halftime lead, Amityville added two more touchdowns from a two-yard Damian Palmer run and an 85-yard interception return by Kelly.

Malone picked up 122 yards on 26 carries for the Porters (1-6). Filipkowski had a tremendous defensive game. The junior linebacker was involved in a game-high 18 tackles.

“We came out ready to fight, I guess, ready to play,” Thilberg said. “The score didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to be, but we played hard and left it all out on the field, so that’s all we can ask for.”

Amityville’s 22 seniors were announced prior to the game as part of the team’s Senior Day ceremony.

“It’s a good group of seniors,” Walters said. “I don’t want them to go, but they have to.”

Before they do, though, the Warriors could add a title or two to their proud history. Amityville has fielded championship football teams going back to the first half of the last century.

“There are so many great teams that come through,” said Taylor, who is in his seventh year as Amityville’s coach. “This team has a chance to be right up there with some of the better teams.”

Amityville is only two years removed from the last Warriors team to win county and Long Island championships. It’s a double the Warriors would like to duplicate.

Said Taylor, “Hopefully we can put together a good run and go from a good season to a special season.”

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