This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
11/28/2015 11:00 PMAt the beginning of Valley Regional-Old Lyme football team’s season, one of Head Coach Tim King’s goals was to end the year with a winning record. After starting the campaign 0-2 and then sitting at 2-4 entering the home stretch, the prospect of that happening looked suspect. However, once they got healthy on the field and bonded together off it, the Warriors rallied to win three-straight games and put themselves in position to finish above .500 if they could defeat Haddam-Killingworth in their season finale. Valley-Old Lyme fulfilled that goal and sent off its seniors with a victory when King’s club prevailed at division rival H-K by a 27-13 final in the annual meeting for the Principal’s Cup on Nov. 24. The game was tied at 13-all at halftime before the Warriors scored two second-half touchdowns to end the season on a four-game win streak and a record of 6-4.
Quarterback Matt Sapere threw for 323 yards and two touchdowns and fellow junior Daniel Stecher rushed for a pair of scores to lead the Valley offense. Garrett Burdick, also a junior, finished the game with three interceptions to anchor the defensive effort.
“I’m so proud of the kids, especially our seniors. They are such a great bunch of guys and fun to be around. Their dedication is second to none and really held this season together,” Head Coach Tim King said. “We lost a lot of players off last season’s squad and had a bunch of injuries, so to send them off with a winning record was huge. These kids were a big part of last year’s championship team and had a winning record every year they were here, which is impressive.”
Valley and H-K both entered the contest with identical marks of 5-4 and were fighting to finish the year with a winning record. Everyone seemed to be in a giving mood with the holidays around the corner as the teams exchanged turnovers on their first few drives. Valley (6-4, 3-2) threw an interception and the Cougars returned the favor, after which the Warriors drove down the field, but fumbled the ball. Haddam-Killingworth then threw a second pick and the Warriors turned it into points on a 4-yard touchdown run by Stecher. Jared Roche’s extra point put Valley up 7-0. After stopping the Cougars (5-5, 0-5), Valley took over on its own 5-yard line with 10 seconds left in the first quarter. The coaches called for a play action fake and Sapere hit Gus Cummins on a long pass that he took to the house for a 95-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 13-0.
In the second quarter, Haddam-Killingworth went on a 75-yard drive that resulted in a 5-yard TD run to pull within 13-7. The teams then battled for field position and, with 50 seconds to play in the half, the Cougars threw deep. Miscommunication in the Warriors’ secondary left the H-K receiver all alone for the easy 51-yard touchdown reception and the clubs went into the half knotted at 13 following the missed point after touchdown.
“I told the seniors, ‘You have 24 more minutes to play in your career. Someone is going to be 5-5 and someone is going to be 6-4. Who is it going to be?’” said King.
Valley responded to Coach King’s motivational speech and came out of the locker ready to play by stopping H-K on its first drive. On fourth down and six, the Cougars attempted some trickery deep in their own end, but the Warriors were prepared and Jared Roche stopped the run for a 2-yard loss. Later on offense, Valley had to make a big decision of its own for a 4th-down-and-1 play on the Cougars’ 17. The Warriors went for it and ran a play action fake up the middle to Stecher, who sold it perfectly. Quarterback Sapere found tight end Will Visgilio up the seam for the score to put Valley ahead 19-13 after the extra point attempt was blocked.
It stayed a one-possession game into the fourth quarter, when Haddam-Killingworth drove deep into Valley-Old Lyme territory. With their chance at a winning season on the line, someone had to make a play for the Warriors. The defense forced H-K into a 3rd-and-5 and the Cougars tried to move the chains through the air, but Cummins stepped up and stepped in front of the pass at the 10 for the pick to end the threat. With time winding down in the game, Valley put together a time-consuming, 90-yard drive. Faced with 3rd-and-9 at midfield, Sapere hit Burdick with a 30-yard strike to retain possession. Later, the Warriors converted another crucial third down when Sapere threw to Cummins for 12 yards and moved Valley into scoring position at the Cougars’ 10-yard line. Two plays later, Stecher scored his second TD of the game on a run from one yard out to pad the lead with 1:35 to play. Valley decided to go for the 2-point conversion and Stecher scored after catching a short pass from Sapere to seal the 27-13 victory.
For Valley, Cummins finished with four receptions for 139 yards with one TD and Garrett Burdick caught seven passes for 101 yards. On defense Stecher made 11 tackles, Roche, Jason O’Brien and Micth Conrad each had 10 tackles, senior Jack Giaconia made nine, and Will Visgilio had a sack. Burdick’s three interceptions in one game tied a school record originally set by Jimmy Fairfield-Sonn in 2010.
From the Sidelines
Prior to beating Haddam-Killingworth, Valley-Old Lyme defeated Coginchaug (31-20), Old Saybrook-Westbrook (27-13), and Canton (62-22) to win its last four games of the year.
During that four-game stretch, the Warriors outscored their opponents 147-68, including the school record total of 62 points against Canton.
The Warriors went 3-2 in the Pequot Conference South Division to finish tied for second with North Branford, which Valley upended 27-21 in double overtime on Oct. 1.
Valley’s are seniors are captains Jack Giaconia, Jared Roche, Gus Cummins, Sean Hunt, Will Elliott, Matt Robertson, Will Visgilio, Dillon Rodriguez, Austin Guasp, and Luke Williams.