Football

The Haddam-Killingworth football team improved to 3-0 on the year by posting a 37-22 home victory over Morgan on Sept. 21. The game was tied 14-14 at halftime, before H-K scored the first three touchdowns of the second half to take a 37-14 lead. Tobey Callender had a huge night by rushing for three touchdowns and grabbing two interceptions on defense to lead the Cougars to the double-digit victory.

Morgan opened the scoring with a 13-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter for a 6-0 lead. H-K knotted the score at 6-6 when Callender punched one in from the 1-yard line. Morgan took a 14-6 lead in the second quarter with a 10-yard touchdown reception and 2-point conversion pass for a 14-6 advantage. The Cougars responded when Dalton Brown scampered into the end zone from 21 yards out, followed by Callender’s 2-point run that tied the game at 14 heading into the break.

In the third quarter, Dalton Modehn broke off a 20-yard touchdown run and took in the 2-point conversion to give H-K a 22-14 lead. Callender later scored on a 6-yard rush, after which Modehn ran in the 2-point try for a 30-14 advantage after three quarters. Callender later found the end zone from two yards away for his third TD of the game to solidify the win for the Cougars. Jordan Callahan kicked the extra point for a 37-14 lead. Morgan (0-3) used a 30-yard touchdown pass to make it 37-22.

Modehn rushed for 130 yards, while Zach Kauffman added 88 yards on the ground for H-K in the win. Tobey Callender had six tackles to go with his two interceptions on defense. Callender’s brother, Trey Callender, turned in a monster performance by sacking Morgan’s quarterback four times.

“We started out slow with some early turnovers and penalties, but we challenged the kids at halftime, and they responded with touchdowns on three consecutive drives in the second half,” Head Coach Mike Baklik said. “Tobey Callender played an outstanding game on offense, running tough and scoring on three touchdown runs. His brother, Trey Callender, was a force for us on the defensive line, neutralizing Morgan’s running game and recording four sacks.”

This week, the Cougars head to Cromwell to square off against Cromwell-Portland on Friday, Sept. 28 at 6 p.m.

Boys’ and Girls’ Cross Country

The Haddam-Killingworth cross country program competed in two separate meets on Sept. 15. The varsity squads traveled to Bear Mountain, New York to run at the Suffern Invitational, while the rest of the team went to Cromwell to compete in the Connecticut River Valley Invitational.

The H-K boys’ varsity squad placed second overall out of 20 teams from New York and New Jersey in the Varsity C race at the Suffern Invitational. The Cougars were led by sophomore Matt Jennings, who placed seventh with a time of 17:04 over the three-mile course. Jennings was followed across the line by senior Nate Carlson (11th, 17:15), senior Kyle Criscuolo (16th, 17:40), sophomore Fisher Harris (17th, 17:41), and senior Seth Freeman (18th, 17:44). Rounding out the squad pack were juniors Owen Howes (23rd, 17:56) and Christian Uzwiak (27th, 18:18). The boys’ team scored 66 points to place second behind Cornwall, New York.

The girls’ varsity team saw four runners compete at the meet, led by senior captain Emma Anziano, who placed seventh in a time of 20:15. Sophomore Meara Bodak placed 16th with a time of 21:15, junior Julia Callis came in 18th place (21:19), and junior Lauren D’Amico finished 19th (21:24).

At the Connecticut River Valley Invitational, H-K’s girls’ JV team swept the first five places in the race to post a perfect team score of 15 points and easily place first as a squad. Freshman Ali Twachtman won the race in a time of 22:19 for the 5,000-meter course. She was followed by freshman Brianna Minervino in second place, (22:28), senior Sadie Strom in third (23:02), freshman Kylie Studzinski in fourth place (23:10), and senior Michaela Flaherty in fifth (23:19).

The boys’ JV team swept the first 10 places to score 15 points and easily outdistance the other teams in the race. Freshman Dakota Tucker won the race with a time of 17:43 for the 3.1-mile course. Finishing behind him, going from places 2 to 10, were sophomore Sean Rutledge (18:04), freshman Greyson Merola (18:18), junior Griffin Robinson (18:32), freshman Caleb Freeman (18:32), senior Tuckerman Wink (18:33), junior Nate Petras (18:34), sophomore Henry Sodergren (18:34), sophomore Julian Spector (18:35) and sophomore Dan Studzinski (18:43).

Boys’ Soccer

H-K came away from last week’s slate with a win and a tie to move to 2-1-1 on the season.

On Sept. 17, the Cougars had a game at Valley Regional and earned a 1-1 tie against the Warriors. Four days later, H-K defeated Coginchaug by a 1-0 margin.

Girls’ Soccer

The Cougars picked up two points by battling to a couple of ties in last week’s action.

H-K hosted Valley Regional on Sept. 20 and played the Warriors to a 2-2 draw. Two days later, the Cougars were in Durham to face Coginchaug and the game ended in a 2-2 tie.

Volleyball

The Cougars split a pair of matches at home last week and now stand at 4-2 record on the year.

On Sept. 17, Haddam-Killingworth took a 3-1 home loss to Coginchaug. Three days later, H-K defeated Cromwell by the final score of 3-1 at home.

Field Hockey

H-K had three games on its schedule last week. The Cougars took two losses and also earned a tie for a record of 0-3-1 on the season.

On Sept. 17, the Cougars played Canton at home and lost by a 4-1 score. Three days later, H-K hosted Lyman Hall and the two teams played to a 1-1 tie. Then on Sept. 21, the Cougars lost a 7-1 contest to Old Saybrook.