Submitted by Eric Anderson.
In the final week of the regular season the A and C squads recorded victories at Canton and Rocky Hill respectively and the D squad lost a close game to Canton, also on the road. The B squad had a bye.
The A squad overcame a sluggish first quarter of play and prevailed in a shut out win over the host Canton Warriors by a 30-0 margin. The Cougars defense shut down the Canton passing game and allowed only 99 yards of total offense in the victory.
Despite a fumble recovery by Orion Inkel on the kickoff and an interception by Kevin Harrison in the first quarter, the Cougars were unable to capitalize, turning the ball over on downs and returning possession to the Warriors with an interception. The Warrior offense fared no better. Sacks by Jayden Fulton and a combined effort by Ben Cozean and Aiden Griswold along with a trio of tackles for a loss (Cozean/Bryce Anderson, Cozean/Aiden Griswold, Carey Harwood) disrupted the Warrior offense. In the second quarter the HK offense gained some much needed momentum when Tate Callender energized the HK fans with a 45 yard touchdown run and 20 yard touchdown pass to give the Cougars a 13-0 halftime cushion.
Inkel and Callender controlled the ground game behind solid offensive line play on HK’s first 2 possessions of the second half with Callender adding a pair of scores to his first half tally. Three sacks in a row during Cantons first possession of the second half were recorded by Vincent Scileppi/Aiden Griswold, Aiden Griswold and Carey Harwood.
Rushing leaders on the day were Callender (110 yds), Inkel (41 yds), Carey Harwood (29) and Nick Fox (25). Quarterback Alex Phipps completed 2 of 4 passes to Callender (20 yds) and Anderson (24 yds) and Cavin Napoletano had another solid day kicking 3 of 4 extra point attempts. Owen Lelko and Anderson recorded interceptions and Fulton had a fumble recovery.
Tackle leaders for the game were Vincent Scileppi (3.5), Aiden Griswold (3.5), Owen Lelko (3) and Cozean (3). Also recording multiple tackles on the day were Fulton, Callender, Fox, Harrison, Anderson and Carey Harwood.
The A squad has rebounded from a 1-2 start to the season to record 5 wins in a row and finish with a 6-2 record. The team is the #2 seed in the A playoffs and will host North Branford, the #7 seed, on Sunday, November 4th at 2:30pm at KRP.
The undefeated B squad is the #1 seed in the playoffs and opens against #8 seed Cromwell at 12pm on Sunday at KRP.
The C squad beat the Rocky Hill Terriers 20-0 to finish the season with a 6-2 record and will host the #5 seed New Hartford at 9am on Sunday at KRP.
The D squad pulled to with 5 points of the Canton Warriors late in the game on a Andrew Soucie touchdown run and extra point run but were unable to score the go ahead touchdown after getting the ball back with a great defensive stand. A Canton touchdown with seconds remaining resulted in an 18-7 final. The D squad finishes the season with a 1-6 record.
Photos: Football by Eric Anderson. Cheer courtesy of Laura Napierkowski.
