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"H-K is the best team in the league and they bring back almost everyone," said Morgan coach Ricky Lye. "They just line up and pound you. You know what's coming and they challenge you to stop them. With the offense and defense they run, they don't have to be overly fast. They just beat you up and wear you down."
O'Rourke believes that eight wins is very realistic for the Cougars this year.
"I think it is," said O'Rourke, who started the football program at H-K in 1976. "Without knowing who is coming back, I just assume Hyde has a good team. A lot of it boils down to athletes and they just have great athletes."
But in order for H-K to challenge for the Sassacus title this fall, it will have to get past at least two of three teams it had trouble with last year. In a span of three weeks, the Cougars suffered double-digit losses to the top three teams in the league: North Branford (28-6), league champion Cromwell (35-18) and Hyde (28-14).
"We did struggle against North Branford, but we played well against Cromwell," said O'Rourke. "We had them on the ropes in the fourth quarter, but just couldn't put them away."
The Cougars were also upset victims at the hands of Vinal Tech/Coginchaug (22-12), which happened to be Tech's only win of the season.
"That game hurt us," said O'Rourke. "We didn't play every well against Vinal."
With victories in its final two games over Old Saybrook/Westbrook and Valley Regional/Old Lyme, H-K finished 3-4 in the Sassacus and 6-4 overall a year ago.
This fall, however, H-K won't be playing North Branford, Hyde and Cromwell in consecutive weeks, but all three match-ups are on the road, which makes it more difficult.
"Those are teams you have to go play well against," said O'Rourke. "If you're going for the league championship, you have to beat those people."
The biggest loss to graduation for the Cougars will be offensive guard Ryan Hardgrove, who was the team's captain in 2006.
"He did an outstanding job of pulling on our sweeps," said O'Rourke.
The 2007 Cougars will be led by senior captains Eric Auer (tight end/linebacker), Jarrod Ramsey (fullback), Chris Arrigoni (running back/cornerback), Nick Kanaras (safety) and Joe VanHuysen (offensive guard/defensive tackle).
Auer was an All-League Honorable Mention pick in 2006.
Other seniors returning are quarterback/punter Alex Pollack, running back Dave Bartolotta and end Peter Harrington.
Juniors back in the fold are linebacker Nick DiGoia, end Tim Shine, strong safety Tyler Wilcox, defensive tackle Stephan Palumbo and running back Sal Zichichi.
Offensively, H-K will continue its tradition of pounding the ball on the ground between the tackles in its double wing, no-wide receiver offensive set. The Cougars usually throw less than 10 times a game.
"When we throw, we like to throw to the backs out of the backfield," said O'Rourke. "If a team gives us some problems with the run, we'll throw to loosen them up."
Defensively, H-K employs a 4-3 defense.
As for qualifying for the state playoffs, O'Rourke calls it frosting on the cake. (In 1994 H-K lost to Putnam, 20-14, in the Class S title game).
"I'd like to have simplistic goals such as winning our division," said O'Rourke. "If you do that and you happen to get into the state playoffs, it's fabulous."
