Friday October 25, 2013
The Daniel Hand Tiger Football Team (5-1) will travel to Shelton tonight to take on the Shelton Gaels (5-1) at 7 pm. Last week's win against Fairfield Prep has put the Tigers back into the Top Ten in the polls; they are #9 in the Coaches' Poll and #8 in the New Haven Register Media Poll.
Shelton was ranked #8 a couple of weeks ago until they were defeated by Fairfield Prep. That put Fairfield Prep in the Top Ten for one week until Hand replaced them this week. It will be a tall order for the Tigers to stay in the Top Ten over the next three weeks as they have Shelton, Xavier at home and then they travel to West Haven.
Last week Shelton defeated Wilbur Cross 36-19. In that game their starting quarterback, Mark Piccirillo, left in the first quarter with a strained hamstring. He is expected to be back this week.
Patch Player of the Week
Last week Hand had a 14-6 lead before the offense stepped foot on to the field. On the third play of the game, Dan Rogers stripped the ball from the Shelton RB and ran it back 25 yards for a TD. After a Prep touchdown on the ensuing drive, Tom Wilson returned the kickoff 85 yards for the score. QB Nick van Dell is really starting to click with his receivers. None better than Tom Wilson who also had seven catches for 177 yards and two more TDs. Tom Wilson is our POTW. I do also have to make mention of the gutsiest play for the game. With under two minutes left in the game, on third and nine, Tim D'Annolfo caught the screen pass from van Dell from behind the line of scrimmage. Somehow... despite three or four Prep defenders in the area, he weaved his way to the critical first down and iced the 35-27 win for the Tigers. You can see a replay here: Highlights on Youtube
Around the SCC
West Haven pulled off a 35-34 dramatic win in overtime against Xavier. That placed WH coach Ed McCarthy in tie with former Ledyard coach Bill Mignault for all time career wins at 321. West Haven will try to get the record outright for him tonight at Hamden.
If you can't make it to the game tonight, you can watch it live, streaming over the internet at TigerPrideFootball.com And if you do watch, please consider making a donation on that website to keep these broadcasts coming.
And if you're going, bundle up. It looks like it will be mostly clear and in the high forties for game time.
