Amityville flag football snaps losing streak with win over Wyandanch
Amityville’s Anayah Hampton sprints into the end zone for the first touchdown of the game against Wyandanch in a Suffolk flag football game at Wyandanch on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. Credit: Jonathan Singh
Amityville did not believe it played its best brand of flag football in the frigid, windy conditions at Wyandanch on Tuesday. But it still made the necessary plays to earn a much-needed victory, showing palpable growth in their first win in two weeks.
Amityville’s defense did not surrender a point, Alana Henry threw two touchdown passes – a 3-yard pass to Anayah Hampton and an 8-yard toss to Sydney Carter – and Beverley Polelomon had a timely 59-yard touchdown run in a 20-2 road triumph in a Suffolk League II game.
“It feels great to get a win because we desperately need a win,” Amityville coach Bill Maisel said. “It was very ugly. We are a 10 times better football team than what we showed today. But big shoutout to Wyandanch, who kept us on our toes and played really, really well. They're a good football team. Their record doesn't show it, but they're a good football team.
“We got to clean a lot of things up going down the road. We still have a possibility to be a playoff contender. We just got to clean up a lot of things, but we are a good football team.”
Amityville (2-4) picked up momentum right before halftime, grabbing a lead it never surrendered.
On fourth-and-goal from the Wyandanch 4, Henry connected with Hampton for both a touchdown and one-point conversion to give Amityville a 7-0 lead with 1:06 left in the first half.
“We weren’t playing our game,” Henry said. “Especially in this weather, [the touchdown] really boosted us up.”
Wyandanch (0-6) cut it to 7-2 with 16:33 left in the game after Amityville fumbled a handoff exchange in its own end zone. Wyandanch continued with an 11-play drive, including a 38-yard fourth-down pass from Nyasia Murphy to Roselyn Sanchez to get to the Amityville 10, but Imani Brown's flag pull forced a turnover on downs.
Three plays later, Polelomon’s touchdown run and a one-point pass from Henry to Hampton gave Amityville a 14-2 edge with 6:27 left.
“It was good, I felt great,” Polelomon said. “But I felt a little faint because I kept running so much, I didn’t know. I thought they had my flag.”
Jaelle Aiken had an interception and 20-yard return to the Wyandanch 5 on the next play. Henry’s touchdown pass to Carter brought the score to its final margin with 3:37 left.
“We're getting better every game,” Maisel said. “We're starting to really act like a team … You’re standing out here, freezing your butt off, but you're still here cheering on your team. This is a very close-knit and special group.”
Ben Dickson joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.