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11/28/2015 11:00 PMThe Haddam-Killingworth football team hosted division foe Valley Regional-Old Lyme in the teams’ annual Thanksgiving week showdown for the Principal’s Cup on Nov. 24. The Warriors broke a tie by scoring two touchdowns in the second half and emerged victorious with a final score of 27-13.
HK finished the year with an overall record of 5-5 and a mark of 0-5 in the Pequot Conference South Division, while Valley-Old Lyme concluded things at 6-4 and went 3-2 in the division. In terms of the schools’ rivalry, the Warriors are 29-9 in the series versus HK and have taken seven of the last eight meetings, including four straight.
Valley-Old Lyme scored two touchdowns in the second half to pull away from the Cougars after the score was tied 13-13 at half. First, Dan Stecher scored on a 3-yard TD scamper and then Gus Cummins was the recipient of a 95-yard strike from Matt Sapere to put the Warriors ahead 13-0 after the opening quarter.
However, the Cougars stormed back to have the game knotted heading into halftime. Alex Segaline took it in on his own from six yards out and then he took to the air later in the second quarter through a 51-yard touchdown pass to Nate DeRita for a 13-all score.
Will Visgilio’s 16-yard touchdown reception from Sapere in the third quarter proved the deciding score for Valley and the Warriors put the game away with under two minutes remaining when Stecher scored on a 1-yard run. Sapere was 18-of-30 with 312 yards passing.
Nate DeRita led HK with 101 receiving yards on four receptions, including the 51-yard TD catch, and Christos Lavelle rushed for 84 yards on 20 carries for the Cougars. Despite the loss, HK improved its record of 4-7 from one year ago by finishing with its .500 mark.
“I told the boys after the game that they should be proud of the way they have worked over the past year to keep the team moving forward,” said Head Coach Mike Baklik, who completed his second year at the helm. “This is one of the best ‘game teams’ I’ve ever seen at HK. They always came ready to play and they played at a high level. I couldn’t be more pleased with their effort this season.”
—John Lecardo