Tigers Seek The Perfect Holiday

Other than pride and achieving a perfect regular season record there is not much else on the line for the Tigers.  Their post-season bid has been secured.  Even if they lost now, they will still fall no lower than third seed and that guarantees that there will be a home playoff game at the Surf Club on Tuesday night, November 27th.  

Hand holds the decisive edge in this series at 33-5-1.  Guilford’s last win came in 2006.  That year they won 27-16 at the Surf Club.  Even with a win, Guilford cannot qualify for the playoffs.  They do have a chance to end with a winning season percentage (over .500) for the first time in many years.  It would be even sweeter for them if they were able to do that and knock Hand out of the number one ranking at the same time.  

Guilford has been on a hot streak recently, winning their last four games.  Last Wednesday they beat Foran 47-13.  In October they put up 43 points against Amity and lost 61-43 in a wild shootout.  They have a very capable offense led by quarterback Joe Nault.  Their leading rusher is Eric Zergiebel.  

Certainly on paper these two teams do not match-up well.  Guilford’s four losses all came at the hands of common opponents that Hand has defeated this year.   But still Guilford is no pushover.  They have some offensive weapons that can cause problems.  Hand cannot afford to treat them lightly or or look past them for the playoffs ahead.  

Team record also on the line

A win by Hand tonight will extend their current win streak to 23 games.  That will tie the current team record.  The Tigers from 1976-1978 also won 23 in a row.  The state record for consecutive wins is 49 set by Cheshire from 1992-1996.

Tigers cruise to win over Notre Dame

Last Thursday the Tigers travelled to West Haven and defeated the Green Knights 47-14.  The score was 40-0 early in the third quarter and most of the starters sat out a good portion of the second half.  

See full game recap by Dave Phillips for the Milford-Orange Bulletin 

Patch Players of the Week

Offense: BRENDAN BILCHECK threw three touchdown passes and ran for one more.  

Defense: A great defensive effort.  Notre Dame’s running back, Cameran Tucker was held to just 15 yards for the night.  SCOTT SWEITZER picked off two passes.   

The Playoff Picture

Class L is nearly complete.  Seven of eight spots are taken.  Three of the four home games are clinched.  Hand, Windsor, Avon, Masuk, Middletown, New Canaan and Fitch are all in.  Platt of Meriden is in the driver’s seat for the eighth spot, if they win over Maloney on Thanksgiving, they’re in.  If they lose, Farmington or Darien may sneak in.  North Haven has a possible chance, but a lot of things need to happen that are very unlikely.  

If Hand wins, they will get the #1 seed and host #8 (most likely Platt) on Tuesday.  

Follow these links for great info and analysis:

Sean Patrick Bowley’s Blog on CT Post

Official CIAC realtime points calculator

If there are any Hand players reading at this point... stop now and go back a couple lines.  The #1 vs. #8 game is all you need to know about.  Okay... Now that they’re gone ... WE fans can speculate.  The next thing you need to watch is... who ends up in the #4 vs. #5 slot.  The winner of #1 vs. #8 plays them in the semi-finals.  Right now it looks to be New Canaan at Avon, but that’s all subject to change.  

Around the SCC

Class LL:  Xavier will have its hands full with Middletown on Thursday, but either way they have clinched a playoff berth.  I think they will successfully defend for a three-peat Class LL Championship.  

For West Haven, the playoffs have already started.  They need to beat Fairfield Prep on Thursday to get the eighth slot.  That will most likely earn them a trip to Staples in round one (If Staples beats Greenwich on Thanksgiving).  And hey... Staples has lights now!

Class L:  Besides Hand, North Haven is the only SCC still alive in the playoff hunt, and they’re only hanging on by a sliver.

Class M:  Hillhouse will get in the playoffs with a win over Wilbur Cross.  Don’t sneeze at their 7-2 record, their only losses are Hand and Xavier (just barely).  They have a good chance to make another title run.