After losing four-straight games, the Haddam-Killingworth football team was determined to deliver a strong performance when it hosted the Windsor Locks-Suffield-East Granby (WL-S-EG) co-op squad on Oct. 29. The Cougars did that and more on their way to earning a 21-14 victory in a Pequot Conference contest at H-K High School.

First-year Head Coach Tyler Wilcox admired his team’s effort to get the win after the Cougars had taken a couple of frustrating defeats, including a one-point loss to North Branford in their previous contest.

“We preached all week at practice to get off to a fast start like we did last week, but with a different end result,” Coach Wilcox said. “Two weeks in a row, we have gotten off to a fast start, but left points on the field after causing turnovers, which allowed the opponent to creep back into the game.”

H-K scored two touchdowns during the first quarter when it faced WL-S-EG last week. Junior Orion Inkel opened the scoring when he rushed for a 9-yard touchdown in the first. Later in the frame, junior quarterback Alex Phipps connected with senior Ryan Duncanson on a 30-yard TD for the Cougars.

WL-S-EG got on the board with a 48-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. The subsequent 2-point conversion pass cut H-K’s lead to 14-8 at halftime. The Raiders scored on a 3-yard run in the third quarter, but the 2-point pass was no good, and the game went to the third quarter tied 14-14.

After sophomore quarterback Tate Callender guided the team down the field, H-K took the lead for good when Inkel ran for a 7-yard touchdown during the fourth quarter. Senior Kevin Cavrell kicked his third extra point of the night to give the Cougars a 21-14 lead. H-K’s defense kept the Raiders at bay the rest of the way as Coach Wilcox’s squad walked off the field with its second win of the year.

“It was déjà vu again in the third quarter, allowing the opponent to tie the game. This week, we were able to finish the job after a late-game quarterback change that sparked the offense,” said Wilcox. “Tate Callender took over in the fourth quarter and led the team on the go-ahead touchdown and final drive to run the clock out after a 40-yard roll out.”

The Cougars improved their record to 2-4 on the year with the victory. Coach Wilcox feels pleased with his team’s overall progress thus far this season.

“We are making progress. Young guys are stepping up. Unfortunately, we can’t shake the injury bug, but the kids have bought into the next-man-up mentality,” Wilcox said. “We played Morgan well, who is a playoff contender, but didn’t finish the game last week against North Branford when we led the entire game.”

Prior to last week’s win, H-K’s other victory this year came when the team defeated Old Saybrook-Westbrook 27-22 in its season opener. Coach Wilcox said that victory resonated with him because of how young and inexperienced the Cougars were coming into the season.

“We went into that first game as a young team with the cards stacked against us,” said Wilcox. “Despite half our team quarantining for COVID and losing players mid-game to crucial injuries, not one of my players gave up. They showed up and kept showing up play after play. Even those players who could not be with us that night were felt out on that field. It was for sure a highlight moment in my new career as a head coach and one I am very proud of.”

Wilcox knows there are still several ways in which he can improve as a coach. One aspect that Wilcox is constantly working on is becoming more educated on different drills and techniques that he can teach athletes during practices.

“If we are asking our kids to learn something new every day, we should be doing the same,” Wilcox said. “We need to be open-minded to different drills or techniques as coaches and further our own learning.”

H-K is hosting Rockville for its next game on Friday, Nov. 5 at 6:30 p.m. The Cougars have three regular-season games after that, finishing with a road contest against Valley Regional-Old Lyme two nights before Thanksgiving. As his team enters the home stretch, Coach Wilcox is expecting H-K to finish the season strong for his players to give a 100-percent effort in every matchup.

“We have a tough stretch to end the season, but we are looking forward to the challenges that each week will bring,” said Wilcox. “As a team, we are looking to go 1-0 every week and compete. We will be getting some guys back and are looking forward to the annual Principal’s Cup game to end the season on a positive note.”