Norwich — Finally, after all the mistakes and are-you-kiddings — the encroachments, delays of game, one killer unsportsmanlike flag and an afternoon of general sideline aggravation — there was Thames River quarterback Jake Brenek in victory formation.

It was here that coach Craig Sylvester, either giving thanks or expressing abject relief, made the sign of the cross, indicating just how difficult the Crusaders had it on their home field at Norwich Tech on Saturday afternoon.

But then, all the exasperation would become a duller ache at the thought of this: Thames River hits its bye week tied for first in the Connecticut Technical Conference, following the 22-20 win over Northwest United, a fusion of Housatonic Regional of Falls Village, Gilbert of Winsted, Northwestern Regional of Winsted, Wamogo of Litchfield and Nonnewaug of Woodbury.

"A dogfight," Sylvester, sunburned and sweaty, said. "That's a good team over there. And we have a lot of work to do."

Seems there's no job too difficult for Seth Cunningham, though. Cunningham ran 35 times for 251 yards and two scores, the second of which gave the Crusaders (4-0) a 20-14 lead midway through the fourth period.

Thames River's Rocco Cinelli pounced on a loose ball with 8:34 left, giving his team the ball at the 21. Cunningham did the rest, before Dom Martinez bulldozed his way in for a two-point conversion his team needed more than a lung.

That's because Northwest United overcame a third and 28 with six minutes left and eventually scored with 4:01 remaining, moving within two. Quarterback Ben Conti hit Ben Roden with the conversion pass, but Roden was ruled out of bounds.

The Crusaders ran out the clock.

"I think we came in and thought we were going to roll them," Cunningham said. "That's obviously not what happened. We started slow, but the morale finally came up. Our defense was able to stop them, and the blocking was great. It made running easy."

Thames River overcame deficits of 8-0 (Cunningham went 55 yards for a touchdown) and 14-8 (Brenek hit Xavier Jackson with a 24-yard touchdown pass on fourth and 15) to tie it 14-14 at halftime.

"It's great to be where we are at the bye," Sylvester said. "We have new coaches and 75 percent of the roster is new as well. They're buying in. It hasn't been easy. But now we have some time to clean things up."

m.dimauro@theday.com