He also carried the hammer, a heavy, gold and blue sledgehammer presented to the Cougar player after every game with the biggest hit(s). Auer had several big hits to help lift Haddam-Killingworth to a 22-16 season opening victory over Avon Saturday.
Auer sparked a Cougar defense that sacked Avon QB David Wyrick four times and limited the Falcons to just 78 yards rushing. With the Falcons threatening to score from the Cougar 15-yard line with four seconds left in the first half, Auer was untouched as he flattened Wyrick with a 10-yard sack to end the threat.
Sophomore teammate Mike Digregorio outleaped Avon receiver Mike D'Onofrio in the end zone for an interception with 27 seconds left in the game to extinguish a final Falcon threat.
"We thought our defense would have to step up and they did," H-K coach Dennis O'Rourke said. "We came up big when it counted."
Auer's sack of Wyrick to end the first half was one of three tackles he had on Wyrick, who was Avon's leading rusher (18-48). "You relax, everything opens up and you do what you need to do," Auer said. "You go straight through and nothing stops you. You have to work like a machine."
Mistakes cost the Falcons, especially in the first half. Wyrick actually completed a 27-yard pass to Terence Olsen that would have been a touchdown. But the play was nullified when the Falcons were penalized for an illegal man downfield.
With 2:39 left in the second quarter, Avon punter Jared Marshall dropped the snap and was tackled for an eight-yard loss. The Cougars took over on the Avon 30-yard line. Jarrod Ramsey scored on a two-yard run with 1:32 left and he ran in a two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead. Dave Bartolotta had a key 22-yard run on a sweep in the five-play drive.
Thanks to a 18-yard reception to Avon receiver Andy Roell and a roughing-the-passer penalty on the Cougars, Avon drove to its 15-yard line with four seconds left. But Auer's sack ended that scoring chance.
H-K took a 16-0 lead when it opened the second half with 66-yard drive on 10 plays that ended with Ramsey scoring his second TD on a three-yard run. Again, Bartolotta (16-120) had the key play with a 27-yard run on a sweep.
"That's our offense," O'Rouke said. "It is ball control and controlling the line of scrimmage. Four yards and a cloud of dust."
The Falcons got back into the game with their passing game. Wyrick completed just two of his first 13 passing attempts. But he completed 10 of his final 16 attempts for 153 yards and a touchdown, primarily in the fourth quarter.
Avon cut the Cougar lead to eight on a 10-yard TD pass from Wyrick to Terence Olsen with 7:53 remaining but H-K took over on the Avon 40 when an attempted onside kick didn't travel 10 yards. Bartolotta capped off a quick, four-play drive to give H-K a 22-8 lead on a 15-yard run with 6:10 remaining.
Avon cut the lead to six, 22-16, on a one-yard TD run by Wyrick, who also ran in the two-point conversion with 4:02 to go.
After forcing H-K to punt with 1:12 remaining, Avon took over and drove to the Cougar 35-yard line with 20 seconds left before Digregorio's interception ended the game.
"It's a win," O'Rourke said. "We have a lot of things to work on but we can do it from the perspective of a W."
Peter Harrington had 1.5 sacks for 15 yards while Tyler Wilcox, Ramsey and Nick Kanaras each had a 0.5 sack.