Groton — Fitch had clawed its way out of an early 13-point hole and was ahead by eight points with under a minute left in the first half on Friday night.

Things then began unraveling for the Falcons.

New Fairfield scored twice in the final minute of the half, the second off a Fitch interception, to take the lead and go on to win, 37-27, in a nonleague football game at Dorr Field.

The Rebels scored with 53.3 seconds left in the half to pull within 21-19.

Fitch (3-1) started its next drive at its own 29-yard line and threw on first down. New Fairfield Senior Matt Grauert intercepted Ben Perry’s pass to give the Rebels the ball at their own 42 with 43.2 seconds remaining and no timeouts.

It was more than enough time for the Rebels as they moved down to the Falcons' 25-yard line in three plays with seconds left.

On the final play of the half, New Fairfield senior Jack Lyden cut across the middle, caught a pass from junior Justin McCormack near the Fitch 5 and extended his arms over the goal line for a 25-yard touchdown as time expired to put the their team back ahead, 25-21.

New Fairfield’s conversion pass failed.

“It was my fault,” Fitch head coach Mike Ellis said. “I felt the offense was moving well. We had 53 seconds and had timeouts. I wanted to try to get another score in so I decided to throw the ball and instead it backfield on us. Picked, and then they drive down and scored and that was kind of a killer.”

McCormack completed 7-of-13 passes for 144 yards with three touchdowns and scored on a 2-yard run for New Fairfield (4-0).

Senior Jason Caswell was a workhorse for the Rebels as he ran 36 times for 207 yards and two touchdowns. He had 23 carries for 138 yards in the second half alone.

“You have to give New Fairfield a lot of credit,” Ellis said. “They did to us what we’ve been able to do to other teams and that’s just running the ball down the field on us. Moving our d-line back running the ball. (Caswell) keeps sliding, finding those spots.

“They did a good job. They were better tonight than we were.”

Perry completed 8 of 17 passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns and ran 11 times for 124 yards and a touchdown for the Falcons. Senior Aiden Greaves caught six passes for 133 yards and two scores

Junior Skylar Noland had two sacks and senior Calvin Kilgore had an interception for Fitch.

The game started 15 minutes late (6:45 p.m.) because it took the Rebels 3 hours and 15 minutes to get to Fitch (it rolled in on a coach bus a little after 5:30 p.m.) There’s 100 miles between the two schools.

There were four touchdowns in the first eight minutes of the game with New Fairfield scoring on the first play. Senior Ryan Fata caught a 59-yard touchdown from McCormack as New Fairfield took a 7-0 lead just 17 seconds into the game.

The Rebels caught Fitch off guard on the ensuing kickoff as the ball was kicked off a Falcons player and recovered by New Fairfield at the Fitch 46. It led to an 18-yard touchdown pass from McCormack to senior Vincent Sarro.

Kilgore blocked the extra point as the Rebels took a 13-0 lead with 9:33 left in the first quarter.

Fitch, on its first play of the game, had Perry hook up with Greaves for a 48-yard pass play down to the Rebels' 17-yard line.

Senior Shawn Beebe scored four plays later on a 3-yard run. Junior Charles Cabusao kicked the extra point to cut Fitch’s deficit to 13-7 with 7:17 left in the first quarter.

Kilgore intercepted a halfback option pass by Caswell at the Falcons 42 on New Fairfield’s second play of its next possession.

Perry threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Greaves four plays later. Cabusao’s extra point put Fitch ahead, 14-13, with 4:36 remaining in the first quarter.

The Falcons had a second-and-4 from its own 45 when Perry took the snap, opted not to pitch and weaved back-and-forth for a 55-yard touchdown. Cabusao’s extra point extended Fitch’s lead to 21-13 with 4:36 left in the first half.

Caswell scored on a 3-yard run with 53.3 seconds left in the first half. New Fairfield’s conversion pass failed so the Falcons still led, 21-19.

“I thought our kids fought like crazy,” Ellis said. “I could tell they were beat up. I could tell they were tired. ... They were still making plays at the end trying to do their thing.”

“I’m proud of them and the way we played. We just have to rebound and come back.”

n.griffen@theday.com