Mitchell leads Hamden past Amity to clinch first winning season since 2009

WOODBRIDGE — It took four years, but Tom Dyer has his first winning season as head coach at Hamden.

The Green Dragons (6-2) got over the hump Friday night as Hamden defeated Amity 15-8 in a Southern Connecticut Conference Tier 2 contest at William Johnson Field.

The win was the Green Dragons’ fourth consecutive victory.

“I think we have some talented kids that have bought into the program,” Dyer said. “I’m just proud of the way we responded. This was a great win for us.”

Amity took the lead with eight minutes left in the first half when Sam Sachs rambled into the end zone from seven yards out. The Spartans made it 8-0 when quarterback Ben Iwaszkiewicz passed to Nico Semmonella for the two-point conversion.

But Davonte Mitchell (27 carries for 147 yards) closed the gap to 8-7 in the final minute of the first half when he raced 31 yards down the sideline in front of the Amity bench for the score.

“I have to give credit to my guards,” Mitchell said. “There were a lot of holes, but without them, I wouldn’t be where I am.”

After receiving the second half kickoff, Mitchell put Hamden ahead for good with an 11-yard jaunt with 6:27 to play in the third quarter.

“The kid is awesome, but the kids up front did a great job.” Dyer said. “That Amity front is a tough unit to run the ball against.”

From there, the teams played mostly between the 20-yard lines.

However, Amity had one big chance to tie or go ahead in the fourth quarter. The Spartans drove 61 yards to the Hamden 8-yard line, but Joe Digello (19 carries for 96 yards) was sacked in the backfield and two passes fell incomplete.

Amity got to the Hamden 35-yard line with just over a minute left in the game, but three passes were incomplete and the Green Dragons ran out the clock.

“We moved the ball and got some first downs,” Amity coach Craig Bruno said. “Their defense got tighter and it’s tough to get into the end zone.”

The win kept the Green Dragons slim hopes alive of qualifying for the CIAC Class LL playoffs, but they’ll have to beat Sheehan and Notre Dame-West Haven to have a chance.

“We have a bye week and we have to get healthy,” Dryer said. “We have an awesome team in Sheehan next. The thing is that it’s a meaningful game in November.”

Amity fell to 4-4 with the loss.

“They (Hamden) ran the ball well,” Bruno said. “They got a good surge up front. We were unable to stop them and they just made a few more plays than we did.”