The Hand football team sat with a 2-8 record a year ago, with a youthful bunch that took its lumps against some of the heavyweights in the state. The fortuitous and tenacious Tigers used those bumps to help smooth out the path to a state crown that they now sit one win away from attaining.

The Tigers first capped off an impressive 9-1 regular season by dispatching Thanksgiving Week rival Guilford at home on the Surf Club turf by a 36-20 final on Nov. 22. At halftime, the victory seemed in doubt to some, but not to Hand, which trailed by five at 12-7 before outscoring the Grizzlies 29-8 in the second half.

The Tigers earned themselves the top seed in the Class M State Playoffs and hosted No. 8 St. Joseph in the quarterfinals at the Surf Club on Nov. 28, racing to a 29-14 victory. Then, hosting No. 4 Abbott Tech in the semifinals on Dec. 3, the Tigers emphatically punched a ticket to the state final with a 48-0 shutout.

Hand (11-1 overall) will now face No. 2 Rockville, also 11-1 on the campaign, for the crown on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 1:45 p.m. at Central Connecticut State University.

“This is the program’s 24th year in the playoffs, and our program is about setting high goals,” said Head Coach Erik Becker. “We were excited to host a playoff game; Strong Field [at the Surf Club] is a place like no other. We just take them as they come. We are now playing like a good football team this year.”

For the opening half on Thanksgiving Eve, which saw Guilford (finishing 8-2 on the regular season) blow past the Tigers in terms of total yardage by a 277-136 margin, Hand actually took a 7-0 lead four minutes into the evening when senior Aidan Dolan (earning 171 yards on the ground with

9 carries) raced to the end zone from 25 yards away. Moving to the second stanza, with 10:48 remaining until the break, the Grizzlies trailed by a point after a one-yard touchdown rush, and then took a 12-7 edge on a six-yard touchdown toss with 32 ticks to play.

The Tigers came out firing and ready to produce points via the air in the third frame. First, senior Jack Shay fired a 15-yard pass to junior Quinton O’Dea less than four minutes into the second half to put Hand ahead for what would be for good at 15-12, after a successful two-point attempt from junior Paul Calandrelli. Shay did not stop there–going for 21 yards and connecting for paydirt with Dolan–and then a second Calandrelli two-point play increased the lead to 11 with 6:17 to play for the third.

“Guilford was a great team this year, and it was the best Guilford team I can remember and they are hard to defend,” said Becker. “[Guilford Head Coach] Brian White is doing an excellent job there, and I admire him and his coaching staff. At half, we knew we had taken their best shot, and the question was how were we going to respond. Great championship teams have courage, and we responded with courage. Our defense stepped up, too. We made some Xs and Os adjustments, but the boys responded like champions would.”

Dolan added on a pair of scoring scampers of 19 and two-yard distances with 4:42 and 1:42 remaining in the fourth, respectively. Guilford did break up those tandem scores and the overall offensive onslaught by Hand with a 71-yard touchdown bomb, but it was too little too late, as the Tigers coasted to the victory and an all-time 44-5-1 lead in the series between the two schools.

Following an Opening Night loss to Bunnell, Hand rattled off nine consecutive triumphs, including a stretch of six straight shutouts from Sept. 22 through Nov. 3–leading to the Tigers taking the SCC Tier 2 title with senior Bryce Malary (on offensive line), Shay, and senior Owen Preskar (as wide receiver) making the All-SCC Tier 2 Team on offense. Linebackers Brady Corsello (senior) and Kenny Carter made the squad defensively.

“We are a bigger and stronger football team than last year because we had so many young kids and our schedule was brutal last year,” said Becker. “But then this year, we were able to put kids on the field that looked like they had been on the field because of the time they had last year. The DNA of the program is championship DNA. In the past, the seasons where we have struggled have planted the seeds for the championships that came later. You are only as strong as the adversity you overcome, and they are playing like a good, strong football team.”

Becker is back for his third season at the helm as head coach for Hand. He is assisted by defensive coordinator Mike Davis, quarterbacks/safety coach Billy Ryan, co-offensive coordinators Tim Chalmers and Tyler Tarantino, offensive/defensive lineman coach Mike Marino, defensive line assistant John Sagnelli, and senior advisor and longtime former Hand head coach Steve Filippone. The freshman team staff is comprised of head man Tyler Michaud, assistant coach Carl McDowell, plus Don Giles and Ed Olsen.

The 2023 Hand football team roster is comprised of seniors Corsello, Dolan, Owen Hardy, Kassidy Layton, Malary, Preskar, Johnny Reh, Carlos Santos, Shay, Gavin Wagner; juniors of Cooper Burke, Calandrelli, Ralph Carter, Trevor Cash, Braeden Clark, Owen Donahey, Tatem Hansen, Jake Hanson, John Healy, Samuel Markovitz, Tyler Narracci, O’Dea, Nicholas Pompilli, Morris Selmani, Aedan Virgulto; sophomores Finn Barry, Kyle Borduas, Anthony Bowe, Ayden Brennan, Conor Casagrande, Brody Duncan, Paul Fumex, Quinn Gies, Sean Healy, Drew Horn, Jack Kilduff, Carrig LaVigne, Stone Leckey, Timothy O’Malley, Cameron Oranzo, Henry Pearson, Kenneth Pompilli, Cole Preskar, Robert Reh, Brendan Riordan, Liam Scott, Andrew Seehusen, Dashawn Winter, Tyler Wohlgemuth; plus freshmen of Lucca Boyce, Travis Brotherton, Henry Condo, Michael DeFlippo, Brayden Dempsey, David Elder, William Emerson, Tommy Fahy, Desmond Fisher, Connor Francisco, Brendan Keating, William Kennedy, Andrew King, Jacob Linke, Samuel Lizondro, Luke Medeiros, Lucas Newcomb, Luciano Pesce, James Anthony Diego Portley, Leo Pratt, Kole Samuelson, Owen Scheps, Grady Van Hine, Wilson Walker, Andy Wang, Hayden Whitcher, Collin Williams, Ezekiel Williams, and Shain Wolfe.

2023 Hand Football Team Regular Season Results

Sept. 8: Bunnell 28, Hand 21

Sept. 16: Hand 35, Fairfield Prep 34

Sept. 22: Hand 29, Xavier 0

Sept. 29: Hand 17, Hillhouse 0

Oct. 6: Hand 63, Cross 0

Oct. 13: Hand 30, Law 0

Oct. 27: Hand 40, Branford 0

Nov. 3: Hand 46, Amity 0

Nov. 16: Hand 28, Sheehan 18

Nov. 22: Hand 36, Guilford 20