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November 6, 2009

Saranac Lake loses to OFA

By RYAN HAYNER



OGDENSBURG — The last time the two teams met, Ogdensburg Free Academy was kept off the scoreboard until the final 12 seconds of the game.

Thanks to a big-play offense, scoring wasn't a problem against Saranac Lake, but stopping the Blue Devils was the tricky part.

Jared Morrow connected on two long touchdown passes and Nevin Parish got a big fourth-down sack to preserve Ogdensburg's 25-14 victory over Saranac Lake Friday night in the Section VII/X Class C championship game.

"We got out to a little lead there and then we kept trying to hang on to it for dear life," Ogdensburg coach Matt Tessmer said. "We were able to make a play, they'd make a play and then we would make a play. We were lucky enough to stay on top."

Morrow passed for 236 yards while Joel King was the recipient of four passes that totaled 115 yards, including one score. Gene Bouyer caught two passes for 81 yards and also had an interception in the third quarter.

Trailing by 11 with a little more than a minute left in the game, Saranac Lake drove down to the Ogdensburg 2-yard line. The Blue Devils backed up the Red Storm with a stop in the backfield, and on fourth down Parish chased and took down Brandon Patraw to secure the Class C crown.

The top-seeded Blue Devils (8-1) got a little revenge on the Red Storm (6-2), who upset the Devils in last year's title game when Ogdensburg was also the No. 1 seed.

Now it's the Blue Devils turn to advance into the state playoffs. Ogdensburg will travel to Section II next weekend to play the regional game between the winner of Chatham and Hoosick Falls, who play tonight.

Ogdensburg jumped out to a 14-0 lead, but Saranac Lake cut into when it got the ball back with 37 seconds left in the half. Patraw marched the Red Storm down the field, connecting with Austin McDonough and Logan Ploof to get to the 8-yard line. Ploof snagged Patraw's next pass for the touchdown.

But the Red Storm couldn't put together back-to-back scores, and Ogdensburg responded each time Saranac Lake put points up.

The Blue Devils scored the first touchdown of the second half on a drive saved by one of the team's many big plays. Bouyer caught a dumpoff and shook off what looked like a sure tackle in the backfield, instead turning it into a 45-yard gain, adding another broken tackle along the way. Connor Ives eventually scored on a 2-yard burst.

And when Saranac Lake scored again, a direct snap that Morgan Forrest took 16 yards to paydirt, there was Ogdensburg. Morrow completed a 36-yard pass to Bouyer and two plays later scored an 8-yard keeper.

"Jared did a really good job of recognizing things at the line of scrimmage and he was able to take advantage," Tessmer said.

Neither team was able to generate much on the ground, but found success taking to the air, combining for 467 yards passing. In his last high school football game, Patraw passed for a season-high 203 yards and even caught a 28-yard pass on the final drive of the game.

When the two teams met during the regular season, Ogdensburg's offense piled up 252 yards of offense, the most given up by Saranac Lake all season, but scored just once.

It took the Blue Devils just two minutes to match that point total. Taking advantage of a Saranac Lake fumble, Morrow found Jordan Remi in the middle of the field for a 35-yard touchdown on the following play. It would be one of four pass plays that went for at least 35 yards.

Ogdensburg's next touchdown was a 78-yard catch-and-run to a wide open King.

"They made big plays, no doubt about it," Saranac Lake coach Mark Farmer said.

Ogdensburg 25, Saranac Lake 14

Ogdensburg76120—25

Sara Lake0770—14

First quarter

O- Remi 35 pass from Morrow (Bouyer kick), 2:10.

Second quarter

O- King 78 pass from Morrow (kick missed), 8:14.

SL- Ploof 8 pass from Patraw (Morgan kick), 11:57.

Third quarter

O- Ives 2 run (pass failed), 6:11.

SL- Morgan 16 run (Morgan kick), 7:35.

O- Morrow 8 run (pass failed), 9:32.

Individual statistics

Rushing

O- Ives 17-54, TD. Morrow 10-13, TD. Folsom 1-(-1). Totals: 28-66, 2 TD.

SL- Stewart 10-21. Patraw 13-20. McDonough 5-19. Quinn 2-13. Morgan 2-18, TD. Totals: 32-91, TD.

Passing

O- Morrow 9-13-0-236, 2 TD.

SL- Patraw 14-24-1-203, TD. McDonough 1-2-0-28. Totals: 15-26-1-231, TD.

Receiving

O- Remi 2-39, TD. King 4-115, TD. Bouyer 2-81. Luckie 1-11. Totals: 9-236, 2 TD.

SL- Ploof 6-98, TD. Ryan 1-5. Snyder 2-16. McDonough 3-46. Quinn 1-26. Stewart 1-12. Patraw 1-28. Totals: 15-231, TD.

Interceptions

O- Bouyer.

E-mail Ryan Hayner at: ryanhayner@pressrepublican.com

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