Submitted by Victoria O’Brien.
The Haddam Killingworth Youth Football teams welcomed East Hampton and South Windsor to Killingworth Recreational Park on Sunday, September 22, 2019 for their first home games of the season. Once again, the A squad HK Youth Cougars scored in the opening minutes of their game to take an early lead over East Hampton and never looked back. The early 70 yd touchdown run by Michael Seward (6 carries 151 yds, 1 catch 25yds, 3TDs) was aided by some thunderous blocks by the bruising duo of Noah Conlon and Ben Cozean. Four plays later, Cozean blocked the punt by the Hawks and the ball was recovered on their 23 yard line. The drive started well with a quick strike from Nick Fox (6/12 passes for 95 yds, 1 TD) to Eric Vincent (1 catch, 5 yds). From there the Cougars couldn’t connect on their next three passes and turned the ball over. After the teams traded a few three and outs the Cougars got going again with a nice punt return by Clark Burleson for 28 yds (2 returns, 62 yds). After a couple of nifty runs by Nick Fox (4 rushes, 46 yds) and a nice catch and run on a slant by Cooper Savoy (4 rec, 68 yds), the Cougars were in business when Fox hit Seward with a quick swing pass that Seward cutback and scored on.
East Hampton found some success in the second half with some strong running by their fullback #16. The Cougars stayed strong and had a “bend but don’t break” attitude for much of the half. After the first East Hampton drive stalled deep in Cougar territory, HK started fast with the longest pass of the day from Fox to Savoy who made a great catch in stride moving the Cougars to midfield. On the same drive, Noah Conlon (1 car, 50yds) ran off the left side with Chris Frasco and Luke Dooley leading the way on a punishing run that saw some broken tackles up the sideline before turning back in for the TD. East Hampton was undeterred and scored on their next drive on a 25 yd touchdown pass. As the Cougars have done all year, they scored on their next possession after their opponent scores. The drive was set up by another shifty return by Clark Burleson. The ensuing play saw lead blocking by Conlon and Cozean with the addition of the right side of the line (Cooper Pitts, Sully Rock and Carlee Harwood) that allowed Seward to run 50 yds up the sideline. However, the Cougars weren’t done as Sullivan Rock on the next East Hampton pass intercepted the ball and took it to the house as he had a caravan of blockers consisting of Cozean and Seward. Final score was 39-7, moving the Cougars to 3-0.
There were many contributors on Sunday with all players recording at least one tackle. (Cozean 7 tkl, Seward 6 tkl, Conlon 6 tkl, Fox 4 tkl, Savoy 3 tkl, Pitts 3 tkl, Burleson 2 tkl, Rock 2 tkl, Dooley, 2 tkl). Additionally Nick Fox added his second QB sneak for a TD on the day and Ben Cozean and Wyatt Solosky (kick) added to point after touchdowns.
The Cougars B squad defense held South Windsor to only 65 yards total offense, including getting a safety. HK offense played very well. It started with great blocking from the line and hard running by 7 different players. Final score 21-0, earning HK B squad their first win of the season
The 1-1 HK C squad also took on the South Windsor Panthers in what turned out to be a battle of the defenses. The Panthers were the first to put points on the board with a 70 yard jet sweep on their first play of their opening possession. However, from that moment and on, the Cougar defense went on to hold the opposing offense to negative 19 yards and zero first downs for the remainder of the afternoon. Leading the Cougar defense were Kyle House (2 fumble rec), Owen Hill (fumble rec), Willy Sulzbach, Tim Hickman, Jonathan Slane and Evan O’Neal amongst many other tacklers. At the end of the 1st quarter, the Panthers were on top 7-0. A Cougar fumble recovery by Hill deep in Panther territory led to a Noah Soucie (11-37-1) 5 yard touchdown run, followed by a Lucas Norko (10-45) dive for the conversion to even the score 7-7. The Panthers went on to receive the ball to start the 3rd quarter but would yet again fumble the ball away on 4th down at their own 42 yard line. HK then went on a march towards the end zone and took their first lead of the game with a 16 yard touchdown by Marcel Inkel (15-79-1) and a Norko conversion. Unable to move the ball, the Panthers again turned over the ball on downs and HK was able to use up the majority of the 4th quarter. With the final score of 14-7, HK improves their record to 2-1 on the season.
The HK D squad won their coin toss against South Windsor but unfortunately, that was one a few things that went their way on the day. The first snap on offense was a fumbled snap that was recovered by the defense. The South Windsor Panthers immediately capitalized on the turnover and scored on a reverse to take a 6-0 lead early in the first quarter. The Cougars responded on the very first play of the ensuing series with a 75yd TD gallop from Isaac Edwards. With the PAT no good the game was tied 6-6. The game came to a standstill with both defenses playing well through most of the first half. South Windsor scored a touchdown midway through the second quarter to make it 12-6. HK drove into Panther territory, but turned the ball over on downs with just seconds remaining in the half. The Panthers again turned to the trusty reverse, and a couple moves later, were into the end zone with no time remaining on the clock for an 18-6 halftime lead. The Cougars would not back down. HK came out strong on defense in the second half and only gave up one long TD run. The Cougars offense had another 75yd TD from Edwards to cut the deficit to 24-12 late in the third quarter. After the defense turned the Panthers over, with a fumble recovery by Maddox McNamara, the Cougars were primed to cut into the Panthers lead. With their heads held high the offense gave a strong effort, but couldn’t muster a consistent drive late in the fourth quarter. Cougars were taken down by the Panthers 24-12.
HKYFA takes on the North Branford Thunderbirds at home this Sunday, September 29, 2019. Game times are as follows:
- B squad- BYE
- A squad- 11 am
- C squad- 1 pm
- D squad- 3 pm
