vs
| 11/27/24 - Away | 51-28 W |
| 11/22/23 - Home | 36-20 W |
| 11/23/22 - Away | 28-25 W |
| 11/24/21 - Home | 43-18 W |
| 10/29/20 - Home | 32-25 W |
| + 5 more games |
Hand has gone a perfect 10-0 against Guilford recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Wednesday. After both having extra time off, the two teams will shake off the cobwebs and hit the field against one another at 6:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Guilford will square off against a team with plenty of momentum: Hand extended their winning streak to four last Friday. The Tigers claimed a resounding 49-18 victory over West Haven. The final result isn't all that surprising considering the Tigers' considerable advantage in MaxPreps' Connecticut football rankings (they are ranked fourth, while the Blue Devils are ranked 34th).
Hand's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Bobby Reh, who threw for 161 yards and four touchdowns on only 14 passes. Stone Leckey was another key pass catcher, picking up 46 receiving yards and a pair of TDs.
Meanwhile, you can't lose the game if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Guilford's strategy against Lyman Hall last Friday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that the Grizzlies blew the Trojans out of the water with a 48-8 final score. The Grizzlies haven't had any issues with the Trojans recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive victory against them.
Guilford's win came from a few key players Hand will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Aiden Ruotolo, who rushed for 179 yards and four scores while picking up 11.2 yards per carry. Those four rushing touchdowns gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Alex Tafro, who rushed for 125 yards and one touchdown on only 13 carries.
Guilford was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 325 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Guilford didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Archer Fitton and Andrew Plancon.
Guilford's win bumped their record up to 8-1. As for Hand, their victory bumped their record up to an identical 8-1.
Wednesday's matchup will pit two of the most dominant backs against one another: Lucca Boyce and Ruotolo. Boyce just won't slow down this season and has run in 12 touchdowns while averaging 103.2 rushing yards per game. Ruotolo has been a dominant force too and has run in 10 touchdowns while averaging 114.1 rushing yards per game.
Everything went Hand's way against Guilford when the teams last played back in November of 2024, as Hand made off with a 51-28 win. Do the Tigers have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Grizzlies turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
