STONINGTON - Co-champions.

It has a pretty good ring to it, and most of the time it's an accomplishment that teams can feel very good about.

This is not one of those times. Not for Stonington High's football team.

The Bears let an error-plagued Griswold squad stay in the game for too long and it came back to bite them.

The Wolverines scored a touchdown with 33 seconds remaining Friday and then ran for a two-point conversion to beat the Bears 15-14 and earn a share of the ECC Small Division title.

Griswold's winning touchdown came on the heels of a 71-yard drive that put Stonington back in front, 14-7, with just 2:19 remaining.

"It's very, very disappointing," said Stonington coach A.J. Massengale. "We couldn't take advantage of the turnovers and we couldn't finish the game."

Griswold (5-2, 4-1 ECC-Small) fumbled the ball away twice and Stonington picked off four passes. Dylan Robinson had two interceptions. Chad Green and Shane Balestracci had one.

Three of Griswold's six turnovers came in the first half, which ended with Stonington leading 6-0.

Griswold also made some penalties that contributed to its failure to score in the first half.

The defenses of both teams had their way in the third quarter.

The Bears (5-3, 4-1 ECC-Small) went three-and-out on their first three series of the second half, and Griswold's first three possessions ended with interceptions.

Just when it appeared as though the game would limp to a dull conclusion, things got exciting.

After a 34-yard punt by Mark Wingfield, Griswold began its fourth series of the second half at the Stonington 49-yard line with 1:11 left in the third period.

The Wolverines ran for two first downs, then were faced with a third-and-12 after a five-yard penalty.

Sophomore quarterback Derek Ward completed a short pass to Jordan Robillard and with a block by Kevin Zils the play went for 14 yards to the Stonington 11.

Massengale cried out for a holding call, claiming that Zils had tackled the Stonington defender. His plea fell on deaf ears.

Stonington lineman Pete Sieczkiewicz stuffed the next play for no gain, but Rob Foisey went nine to the 1-yard line.

Tony Velasquez got the ball next and he went left. Balestracci made the tackle, but he hit Velasquez low and the Griswold back was able to fall forward across the goal line.

Conner Frizzell then booted the extra point and Griswold took a 7-6 lead with 7:39 remaining in the game.

With their backs suddenly against the wall, the Bears responded by going 71 yards in 11 plays to reclaim the lead.

Those 71 yards represent nearly half of Stonington's total offense (166) for the night.

Quarterback Sam Dipollino completed two passes in the series that looked like it was going to lock up the division title.

Fullback Josh Branesky had runs of 9 and 14 yards. Balestracci had gains of 7 and 4, and Jimmy Connelly had an 8-yard reception on third down.

Josh Whitford capped the series with a 5-yard sweep of his right end, going into the end zone standing.

Whitford went in standing again on the ensuing two-point conversion run that gave the Bears a 14-7 lead with 2:19 to go.

Stonington then made a mistake. Connelly's kickoff was short and fielded by one of Griswold's up backs at the Wolverine 46-yard line.

"(The plan was) to squib it and it didn't get kicked the way we wanted it to go," Massengale said. "We wanted to get it deeper."

Connelly threw Ward for a 6-yard loss on the next play and when Green deflected a sideline pass, the Wolverines were facing third-and-16.

Ward then completed a sideline pass to Foisey, who got away from Green and ended up with a 15-yard gain.

Still a yard short, Griswold gave the ball to fullback Ken Slonski and he ran for 2 yards and a huge first down at the Bears' 43 with 1:04 remaining.

Two more completions moved the ball to the 25, and after a failed pass, Ward hit an open Foisey in the left corner of the end zone for a shocking touchdown that pulled the visitors within 14-13.

Massengale said it was a blown coverage.

Griswold coach Glenn LaBossiere called timeout, but not to discuss whether to kick a PAT or go for a two-point conversion. He made that decision as soon as the Wolverines got the ball back. The time was used to determine what play to run.

The Wolverines came out in a formation they hadn't shown all night and ran a play they hadn't run all season.

Velasquez lined up as a tailback with two blockers in front of him and ran the ball into the end zone with little difficulty.

Stonington took its 6-0 lead on a 10-yard run by Branesky with 8:46 left in the first quarter following the second Griswold fumble of the first half.

Green's PAT kick was a little low and hit a wall of defenders.

"They did a great job of stopping us," said Massengale. "They just blew us up up front. We couldn't handle it."

Stonington's next game is Friday at East Lyme, at 6:30 p.m.