By NICK ST. DENIS
CLINTONVILLE — Brad Belanger ran for two touchdowns and threw for another Friday night as AuSable Valley finished its season with a 41-0 victory over St. Lawrence.
Josh Ashline caught Belanger's touchdown pass and added a rushing score of his own in the Patriots' first victory of the season.
"Hopefully the younger guys can build off of this win for the future, and it gives the seniors a good feeling to leave on," AuSable coach Heith Ford said.
The Patriots played a near-perfect game on both offense and defense. They didn't turn the ball over and kept St. Lawrence's offense in check for most of the game. The only long drive the Larries had ended at AuSable Valley's 10-yard line when the Patriot defense scooped up a fumble.
"We didn't make a lot of the small errors tonight that had been hurting us in games this season," Ford said. "We did the little things well."
AuSable Valley totaled 281 yards on the ground.
Ben Prentiss scored on a 42-yard run in the second quarter and Josh Ashline found the end zone on an 80-yard scamper.
Belanger's last rushing score was a 52-yarder, and his connection through the air to Ashline went 66 yards.
"The blocking really opened up tonight, and that's what we've been trying to do because we have some very fast players," Ford said. "The blocking from our wide receivers was great, especially Josh Ashline."
James Montefusco made an interception for AuSable Valley late in the second quarter and the Patriots held the Larries to 125 yards rushing.
Jack Keenan led St. Lawrence on the ground with 77 yards and teammate Camden Durant added 41.
"Our defense was outstanding tonight," Ford said. "Justin Hart played a great game — he was in on so many tackles."
—
AuSable Valley 41, St. Lawrence 0
St. Lawrence0000—0
AuSable Valley014720—41
Scoring summary
First quarter
No scoring.
Second quarter
AV- Prentiss 42 run (PAT missed), 2:50.
AV- Belanger 66 pass to Ashline (Case run), 11:05.
Third quarter
AV- Belanger 1 run (Montefusco kick), 6:01.
Fourth quarter
AV- Ashline 80 run (PAT missed), :16.
AV- Case 1 run (Montefusco kick), 3:34.
AV- Belanger 52 run (Montefusco kick), 9:01.
Individual statistics
Rushing
AV- Prentiss 3-46 TD. Sawyer 4-4. Ashline 3-95 TD. Case 8-36 TD. Belanger 7-100 2 TDs. Totals: 25-281 5 TDs.
SL- Durant 12-41. Keenan 23-77. Fregoe 1-24. Tower 6-5. Q. Patraw 4-(-22). Totals: 46-125.
Passing
AV- Belanger 2-4-0-75 TD. Totals: 2-4-0-75 TD.
SL- Q. Patraw- 2-7-1-9. Totals: 2-7-1-9.
Receiving
AV- Ashline 1-66 TD. Bezio 1-9. 2-75 TD.
SL- Tower 1-8. Lincoln 1-1. Totals: 2-9.
Interceptions
AV- Montefusco.
