Vikings fight to the finish

Groton - Jordan McCoy lowered his body, kept his legs moving and churned ahead, giving a second, third and fourth effort to get a crucial first down by a nose with two minutes left on Friday night at Dorr Field.

It was one of a number of examples of a new and improved East Lyme High School football team.

Coach Paul Tenaglia spent most of his postgame huddle following the Vikings' 14-6 Eastern Connecticut Conference Large Division win over Fitch naming off players who contributed to a win that improved their Class MM playoff chances.

"We got a lot of big plays from a lot of different people," Tenaglia said. "I can go on and on naming names."

"This was a great win. There's been a lot of misery for East Lyme on this field in the past. I have a great amount of respect for Fitch and (coach) Mike Emery. Our team was hungry for a win."

The Vikings (6-1, 3-1) applied the bend don't break philosophy on defense, allowing Fitch (4-2, 1-2) to gain ground in between the 20-yard-lines, but clamping down when it mattered most.

The Falcons were able to drive inside the East Lyme 10-yard line just once, when Mike Bond scored on a 6-yard run early in the fourth quarter.

"Our defense has been our strength all year," said Brendan McDermott, who had one of East Lyme's two interceptions. "We held New London to just two touchdowns on two big plays (in a 14-13 loss). We have good linebackers who fly to the ball. Everybody stepped up. If we win out, we're in the playoffs."

Such talk probably isn't what Tenaglia wants to hear with three games left, but for a proud program that won the 2003 Class MM title and was the runner-up in each of the next two seasons, it's understandable.

"We've had so much pain the past two years," said Kevin Miao, who ran for 101 yards and a pair of touchdowns. "... 4-6 two years ago, 4-7 last year. It's finally good to know we're playing for something bigger, and this game was huge."

East Lyme quarterback Jacob Grills converted a 16-yard completion to Eric McGlone on 4th-and-11 with four minutes left in the third quarter to set up Miao's second touchdown that put the Vikings up 14-0.

Fitch put together an 11-play, 65-yard drive that ended with a Mike Bond 6-yard run to answer and make it 14-6.

The Falcons had a chance to tie after taking over at their own 37 with 36 seconds left. They moved the ball to the East Lyme 37, but Mike Babcock sacked Fitch quarterback Derek Baldoz on the game's final play, just another in a long line of contributions for the Vikings.

"It's one of those games you look back on and everybody, coaches, kids, say 'If I'd only done this, or only done that,'" Emery said. "We're trying to avoid doing that. We're going to try not to, including myself, because I have a tendency to do it, go back and replay the game in my head. We didn't win the game."