DURHAM - Tim Hickman's final pass in a classic Pequot Conference showdown fell to the turf. The eyes of both teams first turned to a scoreboard that showed one second remained on the clock, then toward Haddam-Killingworth freshman kicker Isaac Edwards.
After Coginchaug/East Hampton/Hale Ray took a timeout to make Edwards think about things just a little longer, Edwards knocked home the game-winning 26-yard field goal to lift the visiting Cougars to a 23-20 victory on Friday night.
"I never really experienced that before, I love my teammates," said Edwards, who is 8 for 9 on field goals since taking over as the Haddam-Killingworth kicker. "They are all supportive of me and believe in me and I believe in them.
"I was very nervous on that (last kick), it wasn't centered so I had to rely on getting the ball through the center. I am very grateful we could pull out the win."
Haddam Killingworth (4-2, 3-2 in the Pequot) raced out to a 14-0 lead on first-quarter touchdown runs of 11 yards by Kyle House and 8 yards by Hickman.
Mason Bender got the Blue Devils on the board early in the second quarter on a 16-yard run. On the last play of the first half, Brody Manning connected with Colin Neary on a 10-yard touchdown. Neary added the conversion run as the teams headed into halftime tied at 14.
Hickman completed four passes on Haddam-Killingworth's first possession of the second half. The last one saw Even Garcia break a tackle en route to a 40-yard touchdown.
Coginchaug converted on third down three times when the Blue Devils got the ball back. Neary tied the game with an 8-yard run early in the fourth quarter. The conversion run was stopped to set the stage for an action-packed final 10 minutes.
Each team had a fourth-down stop. Coginchaug's Jacob Clark had back-to-back tackles behind the line of scrimmage to get the ball back for the Blue Devils. Haddam-Killingworth's Dane Rich returned the favor as the Cougars started their game-winning drive with 4:04 remaining.
"Either one of us could have won that game," Coginchaug coach Anthony DeFilio said. "Props to them, they performed better than we did."
Hickman completed passes to three different receivers and extended the drive by running for nine yards on a 3rd-and-3 play in the red zone.
With just 7 seconds left to play, Haddam-Killingworth took a chance by calling one more offensive play. Hickman was looking to end the game with his second TD pass of the game.
"I wanted to give my guys one more chance," Hickman said. "I knew it was third down and if I put it up a little high and it was incomplete, we would have one more shot to kick."
Hickman ran for 64 yards and was 12-of-19 for 122 yards. Garcia finished with six catches for 77 yards. House led the Cougars with 10 tackles.
Neary rushed with 124 yards. Garrett Sharpe had 11 tackles and four tackles for loss while Jacob Clark added eight tackles, two quarterback pressures and three tackles for loss for Coginchaug (4-2, 3-2).
Player of the Game
Haddam-Killingworth kicker Isaac Edwards connected on a 26-yard field goal as time expired.
Quotable
"We are a young group, but I am proud of these guys and the experience they gathered through the first five games of the season and it really paid off in the second half. We really challenged these guys to stick together, we have to get a three-and-out and go down and score. That's what we did and we put ourselves in a position to win the game in the end with special teams and special teams matters." - Haddam-Killingworth coach Tyler Wilcox.
Haddam-Killingworth 23, Coginchaug 20
HADDAM-KILLINGWORTH 14 0 6 3-23
COGINCHAUG 0 14 0 6-20
H - Kyle House 14 run (Isaac Edwards kick)
H - Tim Hickman 8 run (Edwards kick)
C - Mason Bender 16 run (run failed)
C - Colin Neary 10 pass from Brady Manning (Neary run)
H - Even Garcia 40 pass from Hickman (kick blocked)
C - Neary 8 run (run failed)
H - Edwards 26 FG
Records: H-K 4-2 (3-2); C 4-2 (3-2)
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This article originally published at Connecticut freshman kicker Isaac Edwards nails 26-yard field goal for Haddam-Killingworth win.