New London – Football coaches, who can turn the concepts of paranoia and myopia into Olympic sports, often preach “one rep at a time” and “one game at a time,” warning about the perils of looking too far ahead.

But then there was East Lyme’s Rudy Bagos, happily and optimistically addressing his team Saturday about the coming weeks. Win your remaining games, he said, and you are (Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I) champs and in the Class M state playoffs.

The Vikings have turned into one of the ECC’s best stories, doing the Lazarus thing after an 0-3 start. They won their fourth straight Saturday at Cannamela Field, rallying past and then holding off New London, 28-27.

“Coach does emphasize one game at a time,” tireless running back Aidan Patterson said. “But I think he told us those things to motivate us. It does help.”

East Lyme (4-3) has Norwich Free Academy, Fitch and Waterford remaining.

The Vikings trailed 19-14 at halftime and ran but five plays in the third period. Their fourth-quarter rally was mostly a Patterson production.

He ran for 204 yards, three rushing touchdowns and also took a punt back 45 yards for a score. Patterson’s modest stature belies his effectiveness.

“I think being small helps,” Patterson said. “Sometimes, they can’t see me and I slip right away.”

Patterson’s 47-yard gain set up his 9-yard touchdown run with 9:04 left that gave the Vikings a 21-19 lead. His 29-yard scoring run with 4:06 left made it 28-19.

“He’s a special back,” Bagos said. “And his stature lets him hide.”

But then as Bagos said after the game, his team rarely makes things easy. New London (2-5) responded under a minute later. Quarterback Christian Irizarry hit Jamel Hayslett for 45 yards deep into East Lyme territory and then threw his second touchdown pass of the game to Tyree Barnes, a 16-yarder, to make it 28-27.

East Lyme’s defense held from there in the final minute.

“We told the kids when we were 0-3 that this was going one of two ways,” Bagos said. “We’re going to bicker and things will fall apart or we’ll stay together. Kudos to these kids. In this day and age, falling apart happens a lot.”

Johnny Burns III led the Whalers with 97 rushing yards and Kyle Parkes had two sacks. Barnes’ other touchdown catch went for 89 yards with 6.2 seconds left in the first half, giving New London momentum into halftime.

“Every time you play New London, you know they have the ability to score in a hurry,” Bagos said. “But our kids are resilient.”

m.dimauro@theday.com