New London — Nine seconds left Friday night and the ball sailed to the end zone, a most discomforting sight for Stonington.

Here's why: It was headed for Major Roman, New London High School's Yale-bound tight end, all 6-feet 6-inches of him.

You can guess the rest.

Roman caught the fateful 13-yard touchdown pass from Melquann Gomez and the Whalers escaped by a gnat's eyelash with a 14-7 win, keeping their record perfect.

Yes, it was tied to the end, testimony to a textbook week of preparation by Stonington coach A.J. Massengale and staff.

"Our guys have to learn that sometimes, you just have to grind it," New London coach Juan Roman said. "We haven't been in this kind of situation this year and it wore on some of our guys. You're not going to score 40 every game."

New London (5-0) took over at the Stonington 30 with 43 seconds remaining, following a punt that went out of bounds. Gomez hit Gio Lopez for 27 yards to the three-yard line, giving the Whalers hope to avoid overtime.

Except that a holding penalty moved the ball back to the 13. That's when Gomez thought about being in the backyard again.

"It's something you dream about doing," Gomez said. "In the backyard, game on the line ... and when you throw it to your best friend, that's even better."

Major Roman: "I had faith our coaches would call the right play. We were down a few guys tonight and this wasn't easy."

That's because Stonington's defense, which had allowed a handful of points all season, played as advertised.

"We believed we were going to win this game," Massengale said. "We came here with that attitude. There wasn't a second we doubted."

The Bears (3-2) pounced on a fumbled opening kickoff and scored a few plays later when Liam Wallace hit Kyle Whipple with a 10-yard touchdown pass. New London responded in the second period when Gomez hit Star Stokes with a 27-yard touchdown pass, tying it at 7.

It stayed that way to the end.

"We didn't play as clean of a game as we needed to," Massengale said.

The Whalers, meanwhile, might have escaped. But winning always beats the alternative.

"Our guys have to learn that you can't take anything for granted," Juan Roman said. "I hope we learned that we are a team that can win 41-0 or 14-7."

m.dimauro@theday.com