Hand scores 54 in first half for title repeat
Maloney unable to capitalize on early lead in Tigers’ 54-14 win
NEW BRITAIN — For a brief moment, it seemed as if Maloney wasn’t going to suffer the same fate as each of Hand’s 12 previous opponents over the past three months.
On the opening kickoff, Maloney (10-3) recovered its own squib kick. On the first play from scrimmage, senior quarterback Elliot Good launched a pass down the sideline. The ball was tipped by Hand’s Isaiah McNeilly, then caught, bobbled and eventually reeled in by Maloney receiver Maurice Brackett, who ran into the end zone for the 42-yard score.
For the first time all season, Hand trailed in a game.
Only Windsor, in last week’s Class L state semifinals, had been able to score in the first half against the Tigers (13-0) this season. If Maloney could capitalize on its early lead, maybe — just maybe — it would be able to derail the perfect season.
Then the Tigers got the ball. “I think we knew that it was just kind of a fluke,” Hand junior Colin McCabe said of Maloney’s TD. “We didn’t take it too seriously. We just had to play our game and we’d be fine.”
With 10:28 to go in the first quarter, McCabe (114 yards, two touchdowns) ran untouched for a 31-yard touchdown to put Hand on the board. Isaiah McNeilly punched in the two-point conversion.
Sooner, rather than later, Maloney saw firsthand how Hand had gone 448 days without losing a game. The Tigers scored 54 straight points in the first half — proving that Maloney’s early score was nothing more than a whisper of hope — en route to a 54-14 win and a second consecutive Class L state championship.
“Not a greater feeling in the world,” McCabe said. “We love each other, we love this championship, and we’re going to cherish it.”
The Tigers’ offense worked efficiently in the first half, with their longest scoring drought being a 4-minute, 10-second stretch between Ethan Haberman’s 22yard touchdown catch to make it 54-6 and the end of the second quarter.
The scoring came from every possible angle. Junior quarterback Phoenix Billings rushed 14 yards for a score to extend the lead to 16-6 with 7:58 left in the first. Ben Corniello, who racked up 2.5 sacks in the first half, tackled Good in the end zone for a safety to make it 18-6. Senior Chris Bartosic caught a 6-yard score, followed by a 36-yard touchdown reception from Kevin Girardi.
Julain Banerji returned a punt for a 47-yard score, McCabe took one 46 yards to the house, then Haberman scored to cap off the half. It took the Tigers just 33 plays, 14 first downs and 14 minutes to start and finish their 54-0 run.
“It’s momentum, everybody likes big plays,” Hand coach Dave Mastroianni said of his offense. “I’m just so proud of the way they get after it. They feed off of each other.”
At halftime, Maloney had 66 yards of total offense — 42 of which came from Bracket’s touchdown. At the end of the third quarter, Hand had more penalty yards (114) than Maloney had total yards (110) and still led by 48 points.
In total, Maloney possessed the ball longer than Hand did — by just two seconds, 24:01 to 23:59 — but was outscored by 40 points. Maloney scored its second touchdown with 3:18 left in the game off of a Kamrom Moreno 20-yard catch.
The defense — which sacked Good seven times, recorded 13 tackles for loss and had one interception from Ian Butler — held the Spartans to 204 yards of net offense. Corniello led the defense with three sacks, and four-and-a-half tackles for a loss.
“He’s a dude,” Mastroianni said of Corniello. “He wins the line of scrimmage single-handily. Couple him with Jack Flanagan and Macken McDonald, they are a rough trio to deal with.”
Since Mastroianni took over last season, the Tigers have gone 25-1 and won two state championships. They show no signs of slowing down either — Billings, McCabe and Corniello are all juniors.
“We’re going to celebrate this now for a while, but we’ll get back to work next year,” Billings said. “We know we’re going to have a shot to do three in a row.”