By RYAN HAYNER
TICONDEROGA — Robert Kearns sat out last week's game, recovering from a concussion suffered in practice.
After being cleared to play Thursday, the senior made up for lost time.
Kearns sparked the Sentinels with an 85-yard punt return touchdown and picked off two passes to help lead Ticonderoga past Tupper Lake, 22-2, in the Section VII-X Class D semifinal game Friday night.
Now Kearns has a shot at achieving something that has been painfully eluding him — a victory over Moriah. Ticonderoga will square off against the Vikings next weekend for the Class D title, a rematch of last year's championship showdown.
Since moving to Ticonderoga in seventh grade, it has been nothing but losses against the Vikings for Kearns.
"My dad asked me what I wanted for Christmas last year and I said to beat Moriah for the Section VII championship, so hopefully I can do it," Kearns said.
"I know not a lot of people believe in us — we believe we didn't play as well as we should have last time we played them — and we do have all the confidence."
Last time the Sentinels and Lumberjacks squared off, it took a Kearns go-ahead touchdown pass to Dan Morrison with two seconds left to win. Thanks to Ticonderoga's defense and Tupper Lake's magnetic ability to draw flags, the game wasn't nearly as close.
Ticonderoga scored all of its points in the first half. Todd Carr directed the offense on the first scoring drive, taking seven direct snaps for 51 yards, scoring from 16-yards out.
Kearns fielded a punt in the second quarter at the 15-yard line and raced up the left sideline before cutting across midfield at the Lumberjacks' 35-yard line, taking a diagonal route to the end zone.
"Once we get going, we're hard to stop," Kearns said. "Once that one play happens, we're deadly because we get very pumped up."
On Tupper Lake's first play of its next possession, Kearns jumped in front of a short out-pass for the first of his two interceptions. Three plays later, Morrison bulled his way into the end zone from the 2-yard line, putting Ticonderoga comfortably ahead 22-0.
Morrison led the Sentinels with 97 yards rushing, while Carr chipped in 52. After the first series, Carr, who appeared to be limping at times, played mostly on defense and special teams.
Tupper Lake's running game was held in check, limited to just 91 yards. Josh Facteau, who carried the ball 41 times for 272 yards in the previous two games, was held to 37.
When the Lumberjacks passed, just as many footballs found their way into the hands of the Ticonderoga secondary as Lumberjack receivers. Along with Kearns' two picks, Morrison and Miles Genier also had an interception apiece.
The Lumberjacks offense also continuously hurt itself, drawing nine flags that cost 70 yards. One unsportsmanlike conduct penalty was off-set by the same call on a Sentinel player — and that was on top of an illegal procedure call on the Lumberjacks.
Tupper Lake avoided the shutout when a high snap went over the head of Carr, Ticonderoga's punter, and he fell on it in the end zone for a safety.
Moriah had the week off with the first-round bye, extra time to rest up some injured players like leading rusher Ron Schofield, who didn't play in the Vikings' last two games. The Vikings shutout the Sentinels in their regular season meeting, 20-0. Last year, Moriah defeated the Sentinels, 15-14, in the Class D championship game.
"That's a big game and we know they're going to be ready," Ticonderoga coach Bob Sutphen said. "We will be, too. A lot of our kids have been in that environment and they kind of grew up with it at this point."
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Ticonderoga 22, Tupper Lake 2
Ticonderoga81400—22
Tupper Lake0020—2
First quarter
Ti- Carr 16 run (Carr run), 6:26.
Second quarter
Ti- Kearns 85 punt return (run failed), 3:59.
Ti- Morrison 2 run (Moser pass from Kearns), 5:24.
Third quarter
TL- Safety, 11:32.
Individual statistics
Rushing
Ti- Carr 8-52, TD. Morrison 19-97, TD. Borho 2-2. Kearns 6-24. Team 2-(-25). Totals: 37-150, 2 TD.
TL- Baldwin 9-32. Facteau 13-37. Meade 1-0. Clark 4-20. Christmas 1-2. Team 1-0. Totals: 29-91.
Passing
Ti- Kearns 2-9-1-36.
TL- Meade 4-15-4-41.
Receiving
Ti- Overbeek 1-32. Genier 1-4. Totals: 2-36.
TL- Klossner 1-10. Facteau 2-18. LaMere 1-13. Totals: 4-41.
Interceptions
Ti- Kearns 2, Morrison, Genier.
TL- Klossner.
E-mail Ryan Hayner at: rhayner@pressrepublican.com
