Hand athletic director Craig Semple confirmed Tuesday that Hand will host New London in next year's season opener. The game will be played on the Thursday of the opening week at the Surf Club.

The schedule next season allows teams to play an 11th game.

"(Hand coach) Steve (Filippone) and I were talking about the 11th game," Semple said. "We knew most leagues are playing (other teams in their league) so that knocked out some of the non-league games."

"But Steve is a competitor. We wanted to play a strong opponent, one that's historically strong. It's not that far away (the distance between the two schools) so it's logical. It's a done deal."

Both Hand and New London are currently unbeaten and both have a realistic shot of winning a state championship. Hand is in Class MM, New London Class S.

Both teams should be very strong once again next season and the game will be one of the more intriguing match-ups in the state that should draw plenty of interest from the fans.

"We were first interested in playing Ansonia," Semple said. "But they have to play in their league. We don't shy away from competition. It should be a really competitive game."