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12/12/2014 11:00 PMIt may not have been the best season for the Hand football team in terms of wins and postseason bids, although the Tigers did give some of the top squads in the state all they could handle.
Head Coach Steve Filippone (completing his 26
th
year at that spot) and Hand missed the state playoffs for the first time in five seasons with a mark of 5-6. Taking on five 2014 postseason clubs this fall, which included earning a 2-2 mark against four state finalists, Filippone stated that the Tigers may have fallen short of their targets but hung tough with the elite.
“We didn’t hit any of our goals this year, which were to have a winning season, win our division [2-2; 3
rd
in SCC Division I East], and qualify for the state playoffs, so it was disappointing to not hit any of our stated goals. Yet the kids were in a fun environment to grow, learn, and play football,” said Filippone. “We played four teams that made the state finals this year and beat two of them [Notre Dame-West Haven, 14-13 in overtime and Xavier, 10-3], so that shows you how tough our schedule was and how we played. It was certainly a tough season, but not one that we are not proud of.”
The captain’s helm was held by four athletes for Hand in seniors of safety Scott Sweitzer (Division I All-SCC Team), center Tom Durkin (who will play at Bryant University), offensive tackle Jack Driscoll (set to play at the University of Massachusetts), and linebacker Cory Walsh (Division I All-SCC Team). Filippone praised the foursome for their abilities as leaders and dedication to their fellow brothers on the gridiron.
“Corey was a really great player who was hurt early in the year, but when he got healthy, he was such a lift to our team. Jack started the season at tackle, yet then we had to move him to guard, and he did a magnificent job there. In the last four games, we moved him to tight end and we went 3-1, so he made a lot of sacrifices for us,” said Filippone. “Tommy understood what he needed to do; he was a great leader and player, and he will have a great career in college. Scott was clearly the heart and soul of our team as he made us go. He was a terrific football player and safety. All of them were both great football players and kids.”
Completing the 28-member senior class were punter/place kicker Evan Nelson, place kicker Tyler Phan, running backs Tommy Wilson (who missed the season with an ankle injury) and Ryan Whelahan, tight ends/defensive ends Brandon O’ Neill and Eric Girardi, wide out/offensive lineman Luke Nolan, running backs/linebackers Ben Onofrio, Josh Antwi , and Kyle Freiman, wide receivers/cornerbacks Connor McShane, Clay Sweitzer, Mike Sampson, Tom D’ Annolfo, and Jayce Barnaby, offensive lineman Taylor Houghton, offensive tackle/defensive end Raymond Vanacore, offensive tackle/linebacker Bryan Twohill, offensive guards/nose guards Kevin Kao and Reid Staples, guards/defensive ends Jaden Coppola and Brian Venter, receiver Brandon Miller, plus offensive tackle/nose guard Grant Hesse.
“Most all of the seniors played and played well for us; they were a special group,” Filippone said. “They were great kids, great workers, and just terrific. We lost some skill with Tommy Wilson’s injury, but these seniors had a huge impact on our team.”
Even in the midst of a four-game losing skid through most of October, Filippone took great pride in the fact that the Tigers never wavered with their game plan on offense or the belief they had in it.
“A big accomplishment was how we stuck with our offensive system that got us a lot of wins over the last five or six years,” said Filippone. “The kids never lost faith in what we were doing and got better with it. Our defense also played magnificent versus some of the best teams in the state.”
Hand will bring back a good number of contributors from this season—including junior two-year starting quarterback Nick Van Dell—and Filippone hopes that the taste of missing postseason ball will only water the Tigers’ appetite for prominence more come 2015.
“I think we approached this season fine, but I didn’t think we came into this season as hungry as we should have been coming off an overachieving year in 2013,” said Filippone. “Now, coming off an underachieving year, I hope the kids will be hungrier, work harder, and do what it takes to win.”
Filippone was assisted by associate coach Mike Ciotti, defensive coordinator Dave Mastroianni, and offensive coordinator Erik Becker; along with wide receiver/outside linebacker coach Gary Gravina, inside linebacker/quarterback coach Mike Ferraiolo, defensive backfield coach Paul Philpott, assistant line coach Don Giles, and running back/receiver coach Rich Bella.