New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Third time the charm
Hand runs away from Masuk, avoids 0-3 start
MONROE — Hand hasn’t started a football season 0-3 since 1987, and this team wasn’t about to let the 2021 version get there.
Ethan O’Brien scored his second touchdown going into halftime Friday night at Benedict Field to put the Tigers ahead. Seth Sweitzer came out of halftime with a touchdown reception from Patch Flanagan. The Tigers dominated the second half of a 49-21 win at Masuk in a
Connecticut High School Football Alliance matchup.
“So many kids stepped up that we needed to step up,” Sweitzer said.
“We weren’t going to let that happen. Masuk is a very good football team. They’ve got dudes who can play. We just came out and played so hard for four quarters and just didn’t let up.”
O’Brien ran for 205 yards on 21 carries and scored three times. The crown on top was a 66-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter to put the Tigers up
36-15.
“You see the loss of last year in different ways in different kids,” said Erik Becker, who won his first game as Tigers coach. “We saw it in him especially: the lack of reps following his blockers, hitting the hole where we want him. He’s so fast, he tends to outrun his pullers.
“Today, it all clicked, and he had the game we needed him to have ... against a very good team.”
Masuk (3-1), just outside the GameTimeCT Top 10 (preseason No. 3 Hand was also receiving votes), had scored 37, 58 and 53 points in its wins.
“Don’t kid yourself with the 0-2: (Hand is) probably the best 0-2 team in the state,” Masuk coach Steve Christy said.
“We showed maybe we could play with these guys, and in the second half, we unraveled, two pick-sixes. We’ve got great senior leadership, though. We’ll fight through this.”
John Hayden and Sam Sisk returned those fourth-quarter interceptions for Hand touchdowns.
The teams traded first-half scores, trading drives, key plays to set up short touchdowns.
O’Brien went 28 yards for his