Football Preview: Hand Tigers vs. Shelton Gaels
Hand hasn't had much luck against Shelton recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Hand Tigers are taking a road trip to take on the Shelton Gaels at 7:00 p.m. Hand will be looking to extend their current 15-game winning streak dating back to last season.
Hand gave up the first points last Friday, but they didn't let that get them down. They claimed a resounding 44-14 win over Berlin on the road. Fans of the Tigers have seen this all before: every one of the games they've played this season has ended in a blowout of 20+ points.
Hand's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Tyler Narracci, who rushed for 121 yards and two touchdowns. Narracci is on a roll when it comes to rushing touchdowns, as he's now punched in two or more in the last three games he's played dating back to last season. The team also got some help courtesy of Quinton O?Dea, who picked up 89 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Hand was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 243 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 169 rushing yards in 14 consecutive matches dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, Shelton was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their fifth straight defeat dating back to last season. They took a blow against East Hartford, falling 46-14.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Ryan Kinik, who rushed for 68 yards and a touchdown, and also picked up 35 receiving yards. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards.
Hand's win was their sixth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 3-0. As for Shelton, their loss dropped their record down to 0-3.
Hand was dealt a bruising 28-0 defeat at the hands of Shelton in their previous meeting back in September of 2022. Can Hand avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps