When Kevin Sullivan took over head coach of the Morgan football team for the 2021 season, he wanted to return the program to its former glory. The Huskies hadn’t posted a winning record since 2016 or made the playoffs since 2015, but that all changed under Coach Sullivan’s watch this fall.

Morgan finished with an overall record of 8-3 and qualified for the Class S State Playoffs as the No. 8 seed in Sullivan’s debut campaign. Although the Huskies took a loss to Bloomfield in the state quarterfinals last week, Coach Sullivan feels thrilled about the way everything unfolded for Morgan on the field.

“I thought the season went very well. Being able to have our first winning season since 2016 and first playoff appearance since 2015 meant a lot,” Sullivan said. “We were lucky to have a fantastic group of kids who wanted to be a part of changing the culture and help bring Morgan back to prominence. A tremendous group of seniors led us. It was a great situation to be in as a first-year head coach. Having such a group buy-in makes our jobs as coaches a lot easier.”

On Nov. 30, 8th-seeded Morgan hit the road to square off against No. 1 seed Bloomfield in the quarterfinals of the Class S State Playoffs. The Huskies took a 50-18 defeat to Bloomfield, which went on to earn a 22-14 win against New Fairfield in the semifinals to advance to face Cromwell-Portland for the championship.

Bloomfield scored the first two touchdowns of the game to grab a 14-0 lead over Morgan in the first quarter. Sophomore running back Casey Corrigan got the Huskies on the scoreboard with a 6-yard rushing touchdown to trim the deficit to 14-6 at the end of one.

Bloomfield went on to score 30 points during the second quarter to take a 44-6 halftime advantage against Morgan. The Warhawks (12-0) scored their final touchdown of the night in the third quarter for a 50-6 advantage.

Senior captain quarterback Andrew Nye connected with fellow senior captain Garret Garbinski for an 18-yard touchdown pass for Morgan in the fourth quarter. Later in the period, Nye threw a 33-yard TD pass to senior Ethan Ranaudo to make the final score 50-18.

Morgan lost its opening game of the year this season, but then got things going with Coach Sullivan by rattling off seven-consecutive victories. The most impressive moment of that stretch came when the Huskies rallied for a thrilling 44-42 comeback win versus the Sport & Medical Sciences Academy (SMSA) in a road game on Oct. 16.

“Watching these kids never give up and keep fighting was terrific. To be a part of a comeback like that was something special and something I had never been a part of before,” said Coach Sullivan. “The way these kids fought back was amazing. To see them take it play by play is something we preach, and to see it pay off was amazing.”

In his first year as a head coach, Sullivan felt that he learned a valuable lesson every week. Sullivan’s biggest focus throughout the season was putting the Huskies in a position to succeed each time they stepped on the field.

“Every day was a learning moment for me. Being a first-time head coach, every day brought something new. But the biggest thing was taking every moment and doing our best to put our kids in a position to succeed,” said Sullivan. “We would preach to our kids about trusting the process and not worrying about the results, which was true in the coaching aspect, as well. Seeing the kids enjoy coming to practice every day and get better was awesome.”

Morgan was led by its senior captains throughout the 2021 season. The Huskies’ senior captains were quarterback Nye, wide receivers Garbinski and Alex Fratamico, and outside linebacker Jordan Armstrong.

Nye threw for 3,168 yards and 44 touchdowns on the year. Garbinski and Fratamico were both 1,000-yard receivers and combined for 30 touchdowns. Defensively, Armstrong led the Huskies in tackles with 50 and sacks with two. He also forced one fumble. All four players were selected to the All-Pequot Conference Team for Morgan.

Wide receiver/defensive back Nick Schmidt, wide receiver Ranaudo, offensive lineman Dom Muce, defensive lineman Nolan Sullivan, and defensive back Cam Johnson were among the Huskies’ key contributors in the senior class this season. Morgan’s senior class also features Connor Loth, Joseph Ciarleglio, Declan Hayes, Cole Hornyak, and Connor Duffy.

“Our team was led by our seniors for sure. Without them, we would not have had the season we have had,” Sullivan said. “Drew had a record-setting year throwing the football to our great group of receivers. Our offensive line did a fantastic job protecting Drew all year.”

Morgan’s junior corps includes Jake Caprio, Seamus Staunton, Chris Carmona, Aidan Staunton, Luke Bellinger, Darren Abbott, Chris Dowd, Nathan Schumann, Luis Mendez, and Breydan Banning.

The sophomores on Morgan’s roster are Corrigan, Jake Jones, Tyler Baldwin, Nico Cimino, John Nye, Nicholas Ciaio, and Noah Hussaini.

The Huskies’ freshman class features Dominic Larabee, Hunter Roth, Mike Derenzo, Jalen Bunce, Carson Dowd, Jon Allen, Tyler Farrell, Joseph Noreikis, Connor Baker, Jovanie Molina, Anthony Gwara, Mason Jakober, and Logan Ryan.

Morgan will be saying good-bye to a talented cast of seniors who led the team on the comeback trail to eight wins and a playoff berth in this year. The good news is that Coach Sullivan feels the Huskies are returning strong players who will be hungry to achieve more big things in 2022.

“We expect to keep building on the success from this year. Though we lose a lot of seniors, we have a great core group coming back next year. We will keep building on the foundation that was built to build a successful program,” said Sullivan. “It was a fantastic year. We had a great group of kids, and I couldn’t have asked for a better group to coach. I thank them for the opportunity to lead them, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.”