This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
11/28/2015 11:00 PMGuilford football hosted rival Hand in the pair’s annual Thanksgiving Eve showdown to conclude the regular season with the Tigers taking a 42-7 victory. The Indians, who finished the year at 2-8, drove deep into Tigers’ territory on their first drive of the night and later denied Hand a shutout bid by scoring a touchdown as just more than three minutes remained in the contest.
“I thought we really drove the ball well in the first half. It was just that we couldn’t finish any of those drives off, which has been the story of our year. Yet it’s part of the learning process, but you can’t make mistakes like that versus a good team like Hand,” said first-year Head Coach Mike Eagle. “The kids, though, kept fighting their butts off and were aggressive. When we came out before the second half [down 28-0], I had a ref come up to me and say that it was the most even 28-0 game he had seen.”
Senior running back Mike Filley rushed for Guilford’s lone score and finished with 20 carries for 89 yards. The Indians followed up their first offensive series by reaching the Tigers’ 19-yard marker on their second and totaled 10 first downs between those first two possessions.
“We’ve been so close this year and it’s tough, especially for our seniors. Yet they are all great kids and have done everything we’ve asked of them,” said Eagle. “But Hand is Hand. They are good, have confidence, and expect to win every game. They trust in their system and all of those things are where we are trying to get to.”
The Indians reached the 22-yard line of Hand (7-3) on their first drive of the night before the Tigers’ defense awoke about seven minutes into the opening quarter and held the home squad off the board. On the ensuing Hand possession, it took only 2:12 for the Tigers to break the scoreless game when senior quarterback Nick Van Dell and senior wideout Mark Hill hooked up for a 38-yard connection and a 7-0 lead.
Van Dell was then forced to sit out an offensive series due to an upper-shin injury. Junior Brett Bilcheck stepped on the field in relief behind center and found Hill on a 7-yard strike for a 14-0 Hand command early in the second period. From there, Van Dell made his way back onto the gridiron and threw a 3-yard TD pass to senior Reid Sweitzer as Hand led 21-0. The Tigers continued to score in goal-to-go territory when junior Nick Anderson scampered in from 1-yard out just 1:04 before intermission.
Up 28-0 to start the third, Hand’s offense persisted as Bilcheck raced past the goal line from three yards out to cap off the Tigers’ initial drive of the second half. The final points for the Tigers came when Van Dell and Sweitzer again found each other—this time from 10 yards out—with 2:58 left in the third for the 42-0 cushion.
However, Guilford prevented the Tigers’ hopes for a blanking thanks to Filley scoring on a 13-yard rush for a touchdown with 3:04 remaining in the matchup.
“I told the kids that we are leaving the seniors in and finishing the game on our terms and leaving with a sense of pride by getting one in the end zone,” Eagle said. “I was really impressed and proud that they were challenged, responded, and came through, which they’ve done throughout this season.”
In addition to tri-captains of Jack Jankura (All-SCC Division II First Team selection), running back/inside linebacker Nick Russello, and center/nose tackle Nick Moscato (All-SCC DII First Team, the Indians seniors included Filley, wide receiver Jae Cooper, Ben Fazzina, Billy Conover, Casey Huffman, left guard Connor Peters, lineman Dan McCloskey, receiver/outside linebacker Lucian Zingarella, wideout/cornerback Cody Cox, Brandon Maio, and outside linebacker Alex Ulrich. It’s a group that helped lead Guilford to some strong feats on the turf despite its 2-8 record.
“Even with the All-SCC awards, they are huge accomplishments because it reflects the team as it shows the kids are fitting into the system and the kids are doing things right as a team. Other big accomplishments were the 41-0 shutout of Lyman Hall, getting our first road win at Law after a tough loss at East Haven, where we left two, three scores off the board. It was also nice the fact that, aside from the games against Hillhouse and Hand, we led at some point in each game. During the first half, we were pretty much in every game,” said Eagle. “Our seniors also went out and did what they set out to do in learning the system and teaching the younger kids. We also started the year with 60-plus kids in the program and ended with 60-plus, so the kids are enthusiastic about things and getting ready for next year.”
Coach Eagle added that other targets for his team in a transitional year with a new sideline leader included being a better unit than they were seven days prior, along with enjoying the steps they took along the way. With a core of seniors who played hard on the field and displayed maturity beyond their years off of it, Guilford realized those objectives and then some following a slate of 10 games and countless practices.
“A major goal coming into the season that we talked about was we wanted to make it fun for them and see them have fun playing football. We were trying to change the culture of things, such as going from a triple-option offense to a spread, and we told them that there would be growing pains. Yet we also worked on having fun in the process,” Eagle said. “Each senior spoke after the last game and said they had fun and then the underclassmen added that the seniors set the tone for them and the future. We also wanted to get better every day and week. I think weeks 1 [to] 7 we did that offensively and then defensively after playing Fitch [in Week 6]. So we did get better each week, which certainly bodes well for the future.”
From the Sidelines
Hand leads the all-time series with Guilford 37-5-1. The Indians last defeated the Tigers in 2006.
The Indians finished third at 2-2 in SCC Division II West with victories over Law (24-12) on Sept. 18 and Lyman Hall (41-0) on Oct. 30.
Eagle’s coaching staff was comprised of Tom Drew (offensive/defensive lines), Mike Aresimowicz (running backs/inside linebackers), Jon Reinecke (quarterbacks/outside linebackers), Chris Skaggs and Kyle Murphy (both wide receivers/defensive backs); Dan Hackett (quarterbacks/defensive backs); and Mike Eagle, Sr. (general manager/administrative assistant).