MADISON - Underdog North Haven stood toe-to-toe with Southern Connecticut Conference rival Hand for most of the first half Tuesday night in the quarterfinals of the CIAC Class L football playoffs.

Then a haymaker in the form of a long touchdown from out of the blue put the Indians down and eventually out, 19-7, at the Surf Club.

Second-seeded Hand advances to meet No. 6 New Canaan in a rematch of a 2007 title game Saturday.

With the game scoreless midway through the second quarter, Zach Miller's long pass found Leif Colberg for an 81-yard touchdown. Hand (10-1) - which had only 26 yards of offense before its first score - went on to post all 19 points in a 4:28 span before the end of the half.

"We got behind them once, and obviously that was a big moment in the game," Hand coach Steve Filippone said. "We were able to bang in a couple of other ones before halftime, and that was pretty much it. They played great defense for most of the game."

Not surprisingly, the wind played a factor in the proceedings at the Surf Club. North Haven (9-2) had the wind in the first quarter, and had the ball in Hand territory three times - including recovering an unintentional onside kick on the opening kickoff - but got no points.

After the Miller to Colberg connection, North Haven tried a quick kick on third down, and while it surprised the Tigers, it was no match for the wind, going only 24 yards to the Hand 38. Two plays later, Miller hit Alec Pacelli for an 8-yard score. After North Haven botched a punt snap on its next possession, it took Hand only three plays - its longest scoring drive of the night - to score again, this time Kevin Frey's 10-yard run put the Tigers up 19-0 with 2:06 left in the half.

The rest of the game belonged to the Hand defense. Twice in the third quarter, the Indians and their single-wing offense got inside the Tiger 10-yard line, and twice they were stopped cold, including once after a Nate Alleyne interception set his team up at the Hand 9.

"We try to get 11 hats to the ball on every play, and I think we did a good job of that tonight," Hand senior linebacker A.J. Hill - whose hat was in on a lot of big tackles - said.

North Haven finally got into the end zone on an 11-play drive when Joe Schwab scored on a 5-yard run with 6:55 left, but Hand never gave the ball back, countering with a 12-play drive of its own that sealed its berth in the semifinals.

"Our defense played tremendous," Filippone said. "They were on the field the whole game it seemed like. We had lousy position the whole game, but our defense did the job."

Miller, in tough conditions, was 13-of-20 for 238 yards, as North Haven held Hand to just 97 rushing yards. Meanwhile, the Indians - who had won nine straight coming in - were led by Alleyne's 61 yards on 10 carries. Three North Haven players combined to go just 4-of-14 passing for 43 yards.

"They were a little more physical than us, and that's a big part of our game," North Haven coach Anthony Sagnella said. "They deserved to win, but I'm proud of my team. They had a great season and lost to a great team."