Hand's Lucca Boyce Pursues School Rushing Record as Senior Season Unfolds

The senior running back has topped 2,000 career yards and sits eighth on Hand's all-time list, chasing Erich Hamel's 1995 mark of 3,581.

Madison, Conn. — Daniel Hand senior running back Lucca Boyce has surpassed 2,000 career rushing yards and now ranks eighth on the school's all-time list, within reach of the program record of 3,581 yards set by Erich Hamel, who graduated in 1995 and went on to play at Navy.

Boyce crossed the 2,000-yard mark in this season's opener against Bishop Hendricken, the reigning Rhode Island state champion, finishing that game with 124 yards and two touchdowns. He added 59 yards on four carries in a 47-0 win over Nonnewaug on Friday.

Last season, Boyce rushed for 1,459 yards and 17 touchdowns and added 168 receiving yards with four scores, helping the Tigers win the CIAC Class SS championship. He was named to the New Haven Register All-State Second Team. He topped 100 yards eight times, including a 200-yard, 39-carry performance against Fairfield Prep and a 190-yard, two-touchdown game in the Class SS final against Killingly.

Hand coach Erik Becker, in his 26th year coaching high school football, called Boyce a top-three athlete he has encountered in his career, citing his combination of size, speed and power. The 6-foot senior, also a co-captain and a center fielder on the baseball team, can squat 500 pounds according to Becker.

Boyce said he told Becker as a freshman that he intended to become the school's all-time leading rusher. He has spoken with Brown and other schools about college football and said a post-graduate season is also a possibility.