Waterford - Waterford's football season ended Thursday, just when things were getting fun.

The Lancers rallied in the fourth quarter for a 22-16 win over East Lyme to finish the season on a four-game winning streak.

"At Stonington (on Oct. 24), we were down 28-0 at halftime,'' said Waterford coach Mike Ellis, "and we made a pact that we would come out, play hard and have fun the rest of the way.''

That they did. Waterford (5-6) held Stonington to seven points in the second half of a 35-0 loss, then reeled off wins over Griswold (34-14), Woodstock Academy (35-3) and Fitch (23-7).

"The players decided the attitude had to change,'' Ellis said.

Thursday's game mirrored Waterford's season. East Lyme (4-7) scored 16 unanswered points in the second quarter for a 16-7 halftime lead.

Then the Lancers shut the door, holding the ball for all but 5 minutes, 3 seconds of the final 24 minutes and limiting the Vikings to one second-half first down.

"We just couldn't get the ball, and the one time we did we were pinned in our own end zone,'' said East Lyme coach Rudy Bagos of the second half. "They were getting 3, 4, 5 yards a pop.''

The winning touchdown came on a 14-yard run by Chase Speller with 8:15 left in the fourth quarter and was followed by a conversion pass from Jake Mangual to Isaiah Jones.

Waterford's final possession yielded no points, but when it was stopped by a Conner Parker interception the Vikings had only 29 seconds left and had the ball on their own 11.

The game ended when Parker's pass from midfield was intercepted by Jones as time ran out.

"We started off kind of flat,'' said Waterford's Chase Speller, who rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns. "But it feels good to finish with four wins in a row.''

Speller, a junior, got the Lancers on the scoreboard first.

His 8-yard run and Spencer Hoagland's extra point made it 7-0 midway through the first quarter. The Vikings took an 8-7 lead when Hunter Waido scored on an 8-yard run and, as the holder on Brett Bragaw's extra-point attempt, picked the ball up and ran for the conversion.

Mike Morgan's 5-yard scoring run with 1:03 left in the first half was followed by a second successful fake hold by Waido, who again ran through the middle for the conversion, and gave the Vikings a 16-7 halftime lead. Morgan's touchdown was set up by Travis Franco's block of a Hoagland punt, which was recovered by Tom Hillyer.

Mangual's 2-yard touchdown run and Hoagland's extra point came on the first play of the fourth quarter and pulled Waterford within two at 16-14.

Waterford rushed for 147 yards, with 100 of it coming in the second half.

"Our offensive line got the hang of what (East Lyme) was doing,'' said Ellis. "They improved as the game went on. And our defense played really well, once we adjusted to East Lyme's speed.''

• Morgan, who rushed for 99 yards, and Speller won the Palmer Sabilia Award as their team's most valuable player. Waterford's undefeated 1973 team, which finished sixth in the state poll, was honored at halftime. Waterford leads the series 26-21, and leads 23-20 since the game moved to Thanksgiving in 1972.

d.davis@theday.com

Twitter: @DaveDavis522