Groton — Tyler Nelli was just taking what the defense gave him. It only turned the game around.

Nelli, Fitch’s sophomore quarterback, threw for a touchdown pass and ran for two more — just in the fourth quarter — as the Falcons beat East Lyme 35-29 on Friday night in an Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I game.

“It’s just his second game so, yes, you could say it was his best game,’’ said Fitch coach Mike Ellis.

Fitch (1-1, 1-0) led 14-10 after three quarters and won a game of last man standing in the last 12 minutes. The fourth quarter featured six touchdowns, all of the big-play variety.

Nelli threw a 28-yard TD pass to Isaiah Sebastian and scored on runs of 31 and 16 yards. And both running plays came on a play the Falcons call 70-71.

“I give it to the running back if the defense crashes, and they weren’t crashing,’’ said Nelli.

And while East Lyme never led in the fourth quarter, junior quarterback Dylan Hatajik led a furious effort to keep the Vikings (0-2, 0-2) in the game. He had an 18-yard scoring run and threw a 70-yard touchdown pass to Liam McCarthy in the fourth quarter.

The touchdown catch by McCarthy came with 1:54 left. But Fitch’s Pedro Mojica recovered the onside kick. Nelli ran for 31 yards on the next play then was able to end the game by taking a knee on the final two plays.

“We’re going to have to be better,’’ said Ellis, whose team lost five fumbles. “If we can cut down on the penalties and turnovers we could be much better.’’

Hollis Scott rushed for 160 yards on 17 carries to lead a Fitch running game that picked up 347 yards. Nelli, who passed for 56 yards, rushed for 133 on 16 carries. Sebastian opened the scoring with a 3-yard run and also threw an option pass 76 yards to Tony Figueroa for another score.

Hatajik was 9-for-20 passing for 163 yards with two interceptions and ran for 88 yards and a pair of touchdowns and Tyler Valdez rushed for 88 yards on nine carries, including a 49-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter.

But for East Lyme coach Rudy Bagos, it wasn’t a question of coming up short in the final quarter. It was missed opportunities earlier.

“I was happy with the kids, they fought,’’ said Bagos. “The defense gave us opportunity after opportunity in the first half. But every time we needed a big play from them in the second half, we didn’t get it. We could not get any push in the trenches either.’’

d.davis@theday.com