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| Trey Dawson (11), Tyler Gendron (8) and company helped lead Sacred Heart/Kaynor Tech to a 6-4 record in 2016, the first winning season for the program since 2010. |
The last time the Sacred Heart football had a winning season, Kaynor Tech wasn’t part of the program.
It was 2010, and the Hearts finished 6-4 in the regular season. That year, 6-4 was good enough for the eighth and final spot in the Class S state playoffs. Sacred Heart lost to top-seeded Valley Regional/Old Lyme 37-24 in a quarterfinal round matchup.
Sacred Heart/Kaynor Tech had endured some hard seasons, but success found its way back into the program in 2016. The co-op finished the season with a 68-14 pasting of Wilby (0-10) on Thanksgiving Eve at Municipal Stadium’s Ray Snyder Sr. Field.
With the win, SH/KT finished the season with a 6-4 record. There’s no playoff berth this time around, but the co-op will certainly take the winning season. SH/KT set itself up for a shot at a winning season by winning a 57-38 shootout at Crosby.
The co-op began the season with a surprising 34-22 win at St. Paul. After a loss to Oxford, SH/KT blew out Woodland. A loss to Seymour followed, then the co-op defeated Watertown.
SH/KT was then involved in the highest-scoring game in state history, a 72-70 loss to Waterbury Career Academy.
The co-op defeated Holy Cross, but lost the next game to Kennedy to drop to 4-4 on the season. The four wins were the most for a Sacred Heart team, co-op or not, since 2011, but a bigger goal was in sight.
The co-op had a chance to surpass that win total, and they did with wins over their city rivals.
The explosive offense was led by quarterback Trey Dawson, along with wide receivers Tyler Rudolph and Courie Stevenson. The offense made sure SH/KT went out with a bang, putting up 68 points. The 68 points were the second-highest total of the season, and it was the fourth time that the co-op scored 57 or more in a game.
It was a record season for SH/KT, and it was a winning season. After winning one game over the past three years, there’s not much more the co-op could have asked for.
