Monday morning quarterback: East Lyme's determination paying off

East Lyme - Of all the teams in the Eastern Connecticut Conference heading toward the high school football playoffs, perhaps East Lyme is the biggest surprise.

Unlike Montville and New London, which advanced to the postseason a year ago, the Vikings did not. And they have not since 2005.

The genesis for this, the best season in the Paul Tenaglia era at East Lyme, began nearly a year ago, when a talented group of seniors was determined to put the memories of a 4-7 season behind them.

"It all started in the offseason," senior fullback/defensive end Mike Babcock said. "We had 25-30 kids in the weight room. Ninety degrees in the summer and we'd all be lifting and conditioning. It worked two ways: Our whole offensive line put on 15 pounds and got in better shape and, on top of that, it made the whole team a lot more united and brought us all together more."

The determination wasn't lost on Tenaglia.

"I knew it when I saw them all in the weight room in the offseason," Tenaglia said following the Vikings' 33-2 win over Bacon Academy on Friday. "This is a committed group and it goes back to December."

East Lyme looked sharp in defending the pass, picking off four passes. That secondary would be tested should the Vikings meet top-ranked New Canaan and its spread offense in the Class MM playoffs.

"The only thing I wasn't sure of was if we had enough in the box to stop the run and obviously we did," said Tenaglia, East Lyme's defensive coordinator during its 2003 Class MM championship season. "Defensively, we were solid. No complaints on my end."

Maranda: Penalties 'horrible'

• Bacon Academy coach Duane Maranda stood on Dick North Field following the Bobcats' ugly loss to East Lyme and took responsibility for his team's play.

"Horrible, undisciplined," Maranda said of Bacon's 11 penalties. "We have to correct those things and that's the first thing we'll work on in practice. It's absolutely unacceptable. That's two weeks in a row we shot ourselves in the foot with penalties. Against a great football team like East Lyme, you can't do that."

The Bobcats fell apart in the second half, getting flagged twice for unsportsmanlike conduct at the end of two long touchdown runs by East Lyme's Jordan McCoy and Kevin Miao.

"They're a great group of kids and we feel like we have a great football team," Maranda said. "But we have yet to beat a team that we're not supposed to beat. We feel comfortable beating teams we're supposed to. But when we get on the field and things don't go our way, we start to get frustrated and things start to snowball and get out of control."

Go for it 

• Nobody on the sideline asked senior Rob Foisey if Griswold should go for the two-point conversion and the win Friday night against Stonington, following a touchdown in the final minute. But he was clearly on the same wavelength as his coach, Glenn LaBossiere.

"I would have definitely went for it," said Foisey whose 25-yard touchdown reception with 33 seconds remaining set up Tony Velasquez's game-winning two-point run for a 15-14 victory. "It's either all or nothing for us."

Because of the gamble, the Wolverines are guaranteed a share of the ECC Small Division regular-season title with Stonington. Killingly also is in the running.

"This team has come so far from Week 2," LaBossiere said.

LaBossiere had faith in Velasquez to convert the conversion despite the junior fumbling twice - for two of Griswold's five turnovers - earlier in the game.

"Tony is just a tough football player," LaBossiere said. "I gave it right back to him."

Almost lost in the dramatic come-from-behind victory was the stellar play of Griswold's defense. The Bears never found their offensive rhythm until the fourth quarter when they marched 72 yards in 11 plays to score on Josh Whitford's 5-yard run and two-point conversion for a short-lived 14-7 lead.

The Bears went three and out on their first three drives of the second half, never advancing farther than their 24-yard line.

"They did a great job stopping us," Stonington coach A.J. Massengale said. Stonington needed to go only 10 yards in its only other scoring drive after recovering a first-quarter fumble.

• NFA kicker Steve Calitri scored 14 of his team's 44 points on Friday night.

He kicked field goals of 33 yards, 44 yards and 25 yards and kicked five extra points. The information was incorrect in Saturday's editions.