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01/13/2021 11:00 PMAfter making significant contributions in his sophomore year, junior Kevin Cavrell was gearing up for his best season yet as a member of the Haddam-Killingworth football team last fall. Although the COVID-19 pandemic prevented football from being played, Kevin is hoping for a chance to compete in the spring or, at very least, in his senior season next fall.
Kevin plays wide receiver and cornerback for the Cougars, in addition to serving as their kicker and punter. Kevin started playing football in 8th grade, because he was a strong athlete and had always wanted to try the sport. Now, Kevin is one of H-K’s most versatile players who makes an impact on all sides of the ball.
“Obviously, this year we didn’t have a season,” says Kevin. “But last year, which was my sophomore season, I was pretty nervous to be playing varsity. I started 9 of 10 games, and my favorite moment was when we beat our rivals Morgan, and I had an interception in the fourth quarter that pretty much iced the game.”
When Erik Becker took the reins as H-K’s head coach last year, one of his biggest points of emphasis was improving the team’s overall speed. Becker feels that Kevin is one of the fastest athletes in the Pequot Conference, and the coach is excited to see what he will bring to the field whenever play resumes.
“He is an incredibly dynamic athlete,” Becker says of Kevin. “He runs a legit 4.5, 40-yard dash. I believe he is the fastest player in the league and will be among the league’s best next year.”
Even though Becker is new to the H-K program, Kevin says that the Cougars quickly formed a bond with their coach. Kevin knows that every player on H-K’s roster is focused on performing their best when they finally hit the gridiron.
“I can confidently say that he has built a good relationship with not just me, but all of us players,” says Kevin of Becker. “He is very involved with our recruitment to the next level, and has been consistently building a good atmosphere with the team ever since he got here.”
One of Kevin’s biggest goals is to continue improving at the wide receiver position. Kevin has spent a lot of time working on route running, making strong cuts at the line of scrimmage and, of course, catching the ball.
“I want to improve my skill at the wide receiver position, because I feel that, although my talents are somewhat raw still, I definitely have the skill set to excel in Coach Becker’s system,” Kevin says. “My expectations for next season are very high. I believe that we are going to be a very dangerous offense with three of the four starting receivers returning. I also believe the sophomore class this year will contribute heavily to the team’s success next season. I wouldn’t sleep on this team next season.”
When the 2020 fall season was canceled, Kevin, a couple of his teammates, and a few other local football players helped organize a rally at the state Capitol building in an effort to try to save the campaign. While the season never took place, Kevin is staying optimistic that he will be competing alongside his H-K teammates at some point in the near future.
“In early September, when playing football was a controversial topic in Connecticut, me along with two other H-K student-athletes and two student-athletes from Amity and East Haven started a petition that reached over 30,000 signatures,” Kevin says. “We organized a rally at the Hartford Capitol building with football players across the state where we protested the cancellation of our season. Although it ultimately didn’t get the CIAC to allow fall football, we did get a tentative spring season.”
Kevin wants to see the Cougars channel their energy into games when they are able to play again. Kevin believes that he and his teammates showed a lot of solidarity with their effort to help put together that rally.
“I am definitely very proud of the effort that was put in by me and the other boys that helped organize the entire event,” says Kevin.