Sayville football beats Half Hollow Hills West in Suffolk III thriller
Sayville DB Donovan Bartolotta (L) bats a pass away from Half Hollow Hills West TE Mason Reisch late in a Suffolk III football game, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. Credit: George A Faella
Kyle Messina wasn’t letting this game get away from Sayville. Not on Homecoming Day. Not on any day.
The senior halfback rushed for 183 yards on 28 carries and scored two touchdowns as host Sayville beat Half Hollow Hills West, 28-21, Saturday night in a Suffolk Division III football game.
Messina willed his way into the end zone, dragging would-be tacklers with him for the go-ahead 9-yard touchdown run with 1:40 left in the game.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to bring this team a win,” Messina said. “It’s all about the team. The hole was open, and I hit it hard.”
The Sayville defense needed one final stop to secure the victory.
Hills West quarterback Joseph Filardi, who accounted for 379 all-purpose yards, drove the Colts to the Golden Flashes 26 with 23 seconds remaining.
On fourth down, he fired deep into the end zone, where Donovan Bartolotta batted the pass down to secure the win with six seconds left. Bartolotta earlier caught a 70-yard pass to set up Messina’s go-ahead TD.
Sayville improved to 6-0 and Half Hollow Hills West fell to 5-1.
“The defense got after the ball and did what they do, they stopped people,” Sayville coach Reade Sands said. “We were ready for whatever they threw at us.”
The game lived up to all expectations as two of Long Island’s finest players went head-to-head in Filardi and Messina. Neither disappointed.
Filardi rushed 18 times for 182 yards and a score and completed 10 of 23 passes for 197 yards and one score.
Sayville opened the scoring when junior quarterback Pat Coan scored on an 11-yard run to cap a five-play, 71-yard drive with 6:28 left in the first quarter. Messina carried four times for 60 yards on the march.
Half Hollow Hills West answered immediately. The Colts needed 27 seconds and two plays to tie the score at 7. Filardi hit Jesse Brooks for 58 yards and Christian Alfaro barreled into the end zone from 12 yards out for the score with 6:01 left.
Sayville used a big defensive stop to set up the next touchdown. On fourth down and six, defensive end Leo Mongiello came through the line untouched and caught Filardi for an 11-yard loss at the Colts 42. Three plays later, Messina was in the end zone after a rugged 9-yard scoring burst through the middle of the Colts defense for the 14-7 lead with 9:23 left in the half.
“He is as tough as they come and he’s such a workhorse,” Sands said. “He showed all of Long Island what he’s all about. Kyle is all heart and gives us everything he can.”
Hills West came right back. The Colts drove 54 yards in eight plays before Filardi lofted a10-yard scoring pass to Anthony Raio in the corner of the end zone. Ryan Levy added the kick to tie the score at 14 with 6:02 left in the half.
The punting played a huge role in the final three minutes of the first half.
Sayville’s Dylan Kent flipped the field with a 61-yard punt to the Hills West 22 with 2:26 left in the half. The Colts failed to move the ball and the ensuing punt only traveled 17 yards setting up the Golden Flashes at the Hills West 43.
Three plays later, Coan found Kent all alone on a blown coverage behind the secondary for a 39-yard touchdown pass with 58 seconds left in the half and a 21-14 lead.
Filardi finished the first half with 251 all-purpose yards and had a 70-yard TD run called back after a blindside block was called behind the play.
The Sayville offense controlled the entire third quarter. On the opening drive, the Golden Flashes moved the ball to the Colts 9-yardline. The drive stalled and the Colts blocked a 26-yard field goal attempt.
Sayville’s defense forced a three and out and after another short 20-yard punt took possession at the Colts 33.
On fourth down and goal from the 9, Coan’s pass fell incomplete, and the Hills West defense came up with a big stop. Filardi marched the Colts 49 yards in three plays capped by his 11-yard run to tie the score at 21 with 4:14 left.
And then it was Messina’s turn.
The rematch promises to be another epic battle.
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
