Saranac Lake reaches Class C final

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October 31, 2009

By NICK ST. DENIS The Press Republican Sun Nov 01, 2009, 01:16 AM EDT

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SARANAC LAKE — Saranac Lake scored four second-half touchdowns Saturday after a 14-14 knot with Saranac at halftime, pulling away to a 41-20 victory in the Class C Northern Football Conference semifinals.

Saranac scored twice in the last three minutes of the second quarter, but a battle against turnovers and field position took a toll on the Chiefs in the second half.

"We just did not play inspired football in the first half, so I was very concerned," Saranac Lake coach Mark Farmer said. "Had we not gotten a few short fields and some breaks in the second half, it could've been an entirely different game."

Still, the Red Storm found a way to win. Brandon Patraw hit David Snyder and Logan Ploof in the end zone for first-half passing scores. The team then went to a ground-and-pound offense in a rainy and muddy second half behind running back CJ Stewart, who rushed for 100 yards and a touchdown.

Forrest Morgan and Ryan Farmer added short rushing scores of their own, and Josh Quinn scored on an 85-yard run late in the fourth quarter. Quinn totaled 101 yards on the ground.

"I thought our offensive line played pretty well today, and CJ Stewart had a monster day," Farmer said. "We have a few hard runners but a couple guys were nicked up or sick. CJ was the one healthy guy and he stepped up for us."

Saranac's Ben Weightman threw a touchdown score to Kyle Rascoe late in the first half to cut into the Saranac Lake lead. That play finished a drive that saw Weightman slip his way through the Saranac Lake defense and into the end zone on a 48-yard run, only to have the run called back on an illegal block.

Saranac forced the Red Storm to punt on the ensuing possession, and Rascoe picked up the low punt at his own two-yard line and ran it all the way back for the tying score.

"I told him (Rascoe) after that it was the best game of his career," Saranac coach Mark Burrell said. "I thought we had some momentum after we tied it up, but Saranac Lake is one heck of a football team and we knew they would come out fighting in the second half."

Rascoe also caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Weightman at the end of the fourth quarter.

Weightman finished completing 20-of-31 passes for 162 yards while rushing for 71 yards.

"Their quarterback is a pretty shifty runner — we missed some sacks while he was running for his life out there," Farmer said. They were an inspired opponent and can take a lot out of this game. They can be proud of what they did this year."

Burrell said his team set two goals going into the year.

"First we wanted to make the playoffs, and second we wanted to finish the regular season with a winning record," he said. "And we did both of those things.

"To say I'm proud of this team is an understatement."

Saranac Lake is slated to face Ogdensburg in the Class C championship game Friday night in Ogdensburg.

"It should be a great high school football game," Farmer said.

—

Saranac Lake 41, Saranac Central 20

Saranac Lake681314—41

Saranac01406—20

First quarter

SL- Snyder 37 pass from Patraw (kick missed), 11:48.

Second quarter

SL- Ploof 27 pass from Patraw (Ploof pass from Patraw), 3:40.

SCS- Rascoe 4 pass from Weightman (Everleth kick), 9:38.

SCS- Rascoe 98 punt return (Everleth kick), 11:19.

Third quarter

SL- Stewart 9 run (McDougall kick), 5:30.

SL- Morgan 3 run (kick missed), 8:17.

Fourth quarter

SL- Farmer 1 run (kick missed), :03.

SL- Quinn 85 run (Quinn run), 8:52.

SCS- Rascoe 15 pass from Weightman (time expired), 12:00.

Individual statistics

Rushing

SL- Stewart 12-100, TD. Morgan 3-7, TD. McDonough 4-29. Quinn 3-101, TD. Patraw 2-(-4). Farmer 3-10, TD. Totals: 27-243, 4 TD.

SCS- Everleth 5-18. Rascoe 3-(-3). Mullady 3-1. Weightman 14-71. Totals: 25-87.

Passing

SL- Patraw 5-8-0-77, 2 TD.

SCS- Weightman 20-31-1-162, 2 TD.

Receiving

SL- McDonough 1-6. Snyder 2-40, TD. Ploof 2-31, TD. Totals: 5-77, 2 TD.

SCS- Rascoe 10-71, 2 TD. Everleth 4-43. St. Clair 5-39. Vaughan 1-9. Totals: 20-162, 2 TDs.

Interceptions

SL- E. Gillette.