Printer Friendly Version - H-K Football’s Playoff Hopes Fall Just Short in Thanksgiving Loss to Valley

Senior Joe Slane and the H-K football team experienced a season with a lot of bright spots and wins with a 7-3 record. Photo courtesy of Tyler Wilcox

Senior quarterback Bryce LaCoss and the Cougars football squad finished one win shy of a postseason berth after a hard-fought 22-18 loss to Valley Regional-Old Lyme on Nov 26. Photo courtesy of Tyler Wilcox

The Haddam-Killingworth football team may have come up just one score short of extending its season beyond the regular season. Though the way the Cougars clawed until the end in their finale summed up the theme of their 2024 campaign by leaving their heart on the gridiron in a very productive run.

The Cougars hosted Valley Regional-Old Lyme on Nov. 26 in the program’s annual Thanksgiving Week matchup that housed some major playoff implications, with H-K entering the clash with a 7-2 mark and the Warriors at 6-3. It was Valley-Old Lyme that grabbed the decision with a 22-18 final. Both teams conclude their campaigns with a 7-3 record.

“The goals coming into this season were to be competitive week in and week out. We accomplished that goal. We were in every game throughout the season, whether we were down 14 at times or up 35,” said Head Coach Tyler Wilcox following the finale. “We lost three games by a total of 16 points a game. The goal was to make the playoffs, and we fell just short of that, losing to Valley in the final regular season game. The kids fought all year. They earned a winning record in a very competitive Pequot Conference with a lot of strong teams. Early on, we had some big wins against Stafford, North Branford, and our rival, Morgan-Old Saybrook-Westbrook.”

Thomas Troy scored on a one-yard run with 13 seconds remaining to give the Warriors the victory. H-K took an 18-15 lead into halftime on the strength of two touchdowns from senior Ryan Rafferty–one on a five-yard run and another on a five-yard pass from senior Bryce LaCoss. Senior Gunnar Howes opened the scoring for the Cougars with an 11-yard touchdown run in the first quarter to give them a 6-0 lead after a missed extra-point attempt. The visitors responded later in the first with a 14-yard scoring scamper from Troy and then took a 7-6 lead after converting the point-after kick.

In the second frame, Valley-Old Lyme added to its lead with a four-yard dash by Troy to go ahead by 9 at 15-6. H-K responded with a tandem of five-yard scoring plays from Rafferty, one a run and the other through the air to give the home side an 18-15 lead at intermission. The second half remained scoreless, until Valley-Old Lyme scored on its final drive.

“This was an absolute heartbreaker,” said Wilcox. “We could have qualified for the playoffs with a win, but we didn't get it done tonight. Tip your hat to Valley; they came out hard and did just enough to beat us.”

Three H-K players in 2024 earned Walter Camp Players of the Week in juniors Josh Frith, Tyler Napierkowski, and John Moyher.

Wilcox added that the seniors and captains were exceptional cornerstones of the program through their tenure. They fought hard through a pandemic and had to take early varsity lumps as underclassmen, but they persevered through it all.

“This is a special group, and all of them know that. They are great players, but they are even better people off the field. The relationships we have made over the last four years will never be forgotten,” said Wilcox. “I love each and every one of them, and they should be proud of the impact they will leave behind with this program. They came in from competing day one as freshmen the season after COVID and having to fill many holes due to graduation. A lot of them saw time as freshmen, and it only made them better as their careers went on. The captains certainly led by example and are role models on and off the field. The younger players looked up to these individuals and saw the work ethic they put forward.”

Despite the defeat and coming up just shy of a postseason berth, Wilcox was in the Thanksgiving spirit and expressed plenty of gratitude for what the boys accomplished this fall. The Cougars completed one of their best regular seasons in recent memory, and he was very thankful of how selfless the boys fought while evenly distributing the rock.

“I told my players after the game not to hang their heads,” said Wilcox. “They had one of the best seasons in H-K football history with seven wins. I have a special place in my heart for the seniors because I came in with them when they were freshmen, and that was my first year as head coach. They're a great group of kids who played their tails off this year. This group really bonded together from the season prior. We talked about it internally how we were ‘I’-centered in 2023 and had to make that shift to a team mentality. The kids really bought into that, and you saw the success as the season went on. We weren't a one man team, as we had different guys step up each week, and we were not one dimensional. We had games where we ran five touchdowns and games we threw four passing touchdowns. It all depended on the matchup we liked, and the kids understood the ball would be distributed.”

Wilcox finished his fourth campaign as head coach. Barth Keck returned for his 20th season and coached the offensive and defensive lines, along with the special teams units. George Callender finished his 10th season with the Cougars. He headed up the offensive and defensive lines.

Torren Callender was back for his sixth season at H-K–acting as the JV defensive coordinator and varsity linebackers/running backs coach. Jon Grasso concluded his third year and guided the linebackers and quarterbacks while being JV offensive coordinator. Greg Annino was welcomed back into the H-K family. He was a long time baseball and football coach for the Cougars prior to starting a family of his own.

The 2024 Cougars’ roster consists of seniors Riley Schipritt, Leo Wolf, Jacob Lamarre, LaCoss, Joseph Slane, Jesse LaViola, Rafferty, Gunnar Howes, Trevor Dixon, Stephen Signore, James Inkel, Thomas Lundgren, Hunter Leslie, Colin Castagno, Michael Brooks; juniors Jamien Evans, Napierkowski, Chase Lombardi-Bole, Jackson Bottaro, Marcel Inkel, Frith, Caleb McLean, Nathan Mulhall, Moyher, Kellen Cassidy, Ian McLean, Christopher Frasco; sophomores Daniel Cavrell, and Caleb Cimma.