By JOE SCALZO

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

BOARDMAN — When Tyler Amendola was in middle school, he went to Boardman High football games to watch guys like Tom Zetts, Evan Beard and Dave Sypert win big Steel Valley Conference football games in front of huge crowds.

But when he made varsity two years ago, the Spartans went 1-9 and were just starting to come out of a rebuilding process. Last year’s team went 3-7 — the Spartans probably should have won six or seven games — and everyone in Boardman was pointing toward this season.

“When we were freshmen, all over town you’d hear people say, ‘Just wait until you guys are seniors,’ ” Amendola said. “It was really tough the last two years because we worked just as hard as everyone else, if not harder. But we knew with the guys we had and the coaching staff we have, the program was turning around.

“This was the year everyone was waiting for.”

Opening thud

Then came the opener against Cleveland St. Ignatius, a 37-7 loss that left everyone in a bad mood.

“It was really frustrating,” Amendola said. “We’d waited for that game so long and for it to come out like that ... we knew they weren’t 30 points better than us.”

So, Amendola and the Spartans took out their frustrations last Friday, crushing a pretty decent Toledo Start team, 49-6. Amendola rushed for 127 yards and four touchdowns in the game.

Not bad.

“He’s just got a knack for scoring,” said his coach, D.J. Ogilvie. “He doesn’t have that breakaway speed, but he knows how to make people miss and people don’t ever really get clean shots on him.

“It’s his vision that sets him apart as a running back.”

Honors in 2006

Amendola (5-foot-10, 200 pounds) rushed for 848 yards and 17 TDs last year, earning second team all-Federal League and all-district honors.

His father, Larry, played football at Struthers (when asked if he’s better than his father was, he smiled and said, “Oh yeah”) and his older brother, Marc, played for the Spartans, graduating in 2004.

Amendola is a sports junkie — he plays sports in his free time and whenever he’s playing video games with his friends, they’re usually playing sports games — and he gets a lot of grief from his teammates for being a Cincinnati Bengals fan (his half-brother lived in Cincinnati for awhile) and a Texas Longhorn fan.

“All my family [are] Browns [fans], so I grew up rooting against them,” he said.

He’s also a good student (Ogilvie says he’s drawn interest from some Ivy League schools) and, according to his coach, a better person. Amendola isn’t a real vocal leader, but he’s a team captain who does his best to reach out to younger players and make them feel like they’re part of the team.

“He’s a great leader and a super athlete,” Ogilvie said, “but the big thing is he’s a great kid.”

The only knock on him is his last name, which has been garbled by everyone from fans to P.A. announcers to his own coach. (The first “a” is short and the “o” is long.) But hey, he’s already made a name for himself among area football fans.

Even if they can’t pronounce it.

scalzo@vindy.com