Madison — It is perhaps the most iconic setting in Connecticut high school football, the fabled Surf Club on the banks of Long Island Sound, the longtime home of Daniel Hand and its 14 state championships.

The setting, with adjacent beachfront, picnic areas and baseball field, seems such an odd place for the carnage that often happens on fall Fridays to Hand’s opponents.

New London High became the latest victim in Friday’s season opener, falling to the defending state Class M champions 36-14.

“I thought we defended them well, the kids really flew to the ball,” Hand coach Erik Becker said. “Demetrias (New London senior Demetrias Fletcher) and Tyree (New London senior Tyree Barnes) really didn’t hurt us, although (Barnes) scored against our twos (backups) in the second half. We felt like we could win the box (line of scrimmage) and we did.”

Indeed. The Whalers honestly didn’t play all that badly, save the inability to establish a consistent running game and give quarterback Jack Philistin enough time to throw.

“Mental endurance,” New London coach Bobby Sanchez said, alluding to a killer end of the first half for his team that decided the game.

New London trailed 16-0 late in the first half when breakdowns — including a blocked punt that led to a score and Hand quarterback Paul Calandrelli’s 39-yard touchdown pass to Quinton O’Dea in the waning seconds — allowed Hand to score 20 points in the last 3:01 of the half. Suddenly, it was 36-0 at halftime.

“I was extremely proud of the way we played most of that first half,” Sanchez said. “But that last four minutes. Wow. We were down 16-0, but battling. Then we lost ourselves.”

Calandrelli threw two touchdown passes to O’Dea, while Ty Naracci, who missed last season with an injury, returned to rush for 78 yards and two scores, most of the yards coming five and six at a time.

Philistin was finally able to connect with Barnes on a 19-yard touchdown pass with 6:11 remaining and followed that with a 15-yard scoring strike to Makye Howard, after Barnes’ interception in Hand territory.

But the Whalers were unable to capitalize on their speed, something for which Becker had prepared his team.

“We work on speed,” he said. “We electronically time our guys. We have 24 kids who run at least 20 miles per hour. It’s a year-round commitment. We felt like we’d be able to contain them.”

Philistin finished 12-for-33 for 169 yards, which also included completions of 28 and 16 yards to Antonio Carmona.

New London visits Windham next Friday.

m.dimauro@theday.com