Willimantic — There are worse ways to lose your head coaching debut.

Not that it is any consolation to John Strecker, a longtime assistant at Waterford in charge for the first time in Friday's season opener at Windham.

Strecker watched his Lancers fight back from a seven-point halftime deficit and seize control of the game in the second half.

On the verge of heading to overtime, a defensive breakdown contributed to Windham's game-winning 86-yard pass play with 16.7 seconds left and handed Waterford a crushing 20-14 defeat.

"That's a tough one to lose," Strecker said. "They made the play and we didn't make the play. That's what it comes down to."

The play came with Windham backed up deep in its own territory. The Whippets appeared to be playing for overtime after running the ball on two straight downs.

But Windham coach Brian Crudden had other ideas.

"I called somewhat of a Hail Mary play, considering the time ...," Crudden said. "We're famous for trying crazy things right until the very last second. We're not thinking we're going to go into overtime. ... We're going to try to make something happen."

Quarterback Brody Labbe lofted a pass down the middle to Tyrek Baker, who slipped behind three defenders. Baker caught the ball, shed a tackler and sprung free, running hard until finding the end zone.

Baker dropped two passes earlier in the game.

"I couldn't go down," Baker said. "I was exhausted. I just wanted the game to end."

The game ended after Waterford tried three unsuccessful passes.

The dejected Lancers walked off the field. Only minutes earlier, they wildly celebrated a huge fourth down and inches stop at the Windham 17-yard line.

Three plays later, tailback Chase Speller busted into the end zone from five yards out and Spenser Hoagland booted the extra point to tie the score at 14-all with 5:28 remaining.

Another defensive stand gave the Lancers the ball again with 3:31 left. But the drive quickly stalled.

Windham took over at its own five with 1:21 remaining and then scored its only touchdown of the second half for a dramatic victory.

"We worked all off-season, going hard," Speller said. "It just didn't pay off tonight. It didn't go our way."

The Lancers did so many things right in the second half. They controlled the line of scrimmage, moved the ball behind the tough-running Speller, who had 85 of his team-best 103 yards after intermission, and they came up big on defense. They held fullback Seiji Arzuaga to just 37 yards after halftime, but he finished with 135 overall and had a two-yard touchdown run.

"We were feeling good," Speller said.

But they made a few too many mistakes, including committing three turnovers, to pull out the win.

"We've got a lot to work on ...," Strecker said. "But they played hard, that's a good team over there."

Waterford's other touchdown came on its first series of the season. Noah Concasia's five-yard scoring burst capped a 41-yard drive.

Windham dominated the second quarter, scoring twice to take a 14-7 lead. Luis Torres bolted into the end zone from four yards out, and Arzuaga finished off a 13-play, 83-yard drive with a hard two-yard run.

g.keefe@theday.com

Twitter: @GavinKeefe