Norwich — Don Drust, the winning coach, was popping Excedrin late Friday night, his sweaty face and pounding head the best illustrations of what had just transpired.

Drust is the coach at Cheshire High School, the state's fourth-ranked team. And the Rams needed all their resolve (and talent) to get back on the bus victorious. They crawled over broken glass and edged Norwich Free Academy, 35-29, before 3,800 fans that made it more of an event than a mere game.

"Two great teams, great atmosphere," Drust said. "We knew we weren't just going to come in here and roll along."

Not with Shea McManaway as the opposing quarterback. McManaway, the drastically improved NFA senior, completed 26 of 45 passes for 328 yards and four touchdown passes to Jahiem Spruill, Kevin Pomroy, Nolan Molkenthin and Tyler Briggs. McManaway's notable scrambles of 54 and 35 yards electrified the crowd as well.

"That's a good football player," Drust said of McManaway. "I don't know how else to say it."

McManaway had just thrown his fourth score, a 39-yard strike to Briggs, bringing NFA (1-1) within six at 35-29. The Wildcats had Cheshire stopped with a little more than three minutes left before a late hit out of bounds enabled the Rams to keep possession and run out the clock.

NFA's back-to-back offside penalties on fourth down earlier in the game led to a Cheshire score as well.

"That's on me," NFA coach Jason Bakoulis said. "I've got to do a better job in practice of preparing our guys for stuff like that and the unique situations these kinds of games bring. We'll all get better."

If they do: The rest of the Eastern Connecticut Conference better duck. Given the degree of difficulty so far — Xavier and Cheshire — NFA's 1-1 record doesn't look so bad.

"What I liked tonight is that our guys didn't give up," McManaway said. "When Cheshire got that score late in the first half that could have really hurt us. But we kept fighting. That's what I love about our team."

McManaway's lone mistake of the night was hardly a mistake. More like bad luck: a tipped pass that Cheshire's Eric Angelone returned 25 yards for a touchdown in the first half, giving the Rams (2-0) a 14-10 lead. NFA trailed 21-10 before McManaway hit Molkenthin with a 70-yard touchdown pass.

Cheshire, however, scored late in the half to lead 28-17.

NFA rallied in the third period when McManaway hit Pomroy with a touchdown pass, but Cheshire's Jake McAlinden responded with a 63-yard touchdown run, his third score of the game.

"The community really came out and made it a special night," Bakoulis said. "We are very appreciative of that. Our kids really battled to the end."

m.dimauro@theday.com