Saranac Lake looked good early and grabbed leads of 6-0 and 14-7, but the Blue Devils then really came to life and scored three touchdowns during the final 4:53 of the second quarter to take the lead for good.

Facing a 27-14 deficit at halftime, Saranac Lake briefly made a game of it again by scoring the only touchdown of the third to trail by six points. But Ogdensburg answered with the next two touchdowns of the contest to pull away. The Red Storm put the final points on the board on a 46-yard halfback option pass that Joe Viscardo completed to Brandon Meyer with 2:09 left in the game.

Ogdensburg quarterback Joe Dalton proved to be the sharpest thorn that pieced Saranac Lake. Red Storm defense had a tough time stopping the senior on the ground, as he ran for 101 yards on 16 attempts, and he also tossed touchdown passes for the Blue Devils first three scores of the game.

Both teams took advantage of turnovers, with Saranac Lake striking first after senior defensive back Brandon Meyer picked off Dalton on the opening possession of the game. Meyer returned the interception to the Blue Devils 38, and three plays later, the Red Storm reached the end zone with a 19-yard run by Jarret Ashton. The junior, who has also been Saranac Lake’s place kicker, missed the conversion attempt, leaving Saranac Lake on top 6-0 with 3:52 gone in the game.

Red Storm senior Brandon Meyer returns an interception into Ogdensburg’s end of the field early in the first quarter of Friday’s game. The turnover led the Saranac Lake’s first touchdown of the contest. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

The two teams then traded scores. The Blue Devils immediately answered Ashton’s score the next time they had the ball, driving 86 yards 11 plays, with Dalton capping off the march on an 11-yard touchdown pass to Jackson Troiano. Brandon Stewart tacked on a point on the conversion kick for a 7-6 Ogdensburg lead.

Saranac Lake utilized a little trickery to score next when Joe Viscardo sprinted for a 24-yard touchdown run when he took off with a pitch on a double reverse. Meyer followed with a successful run for two points, putting the Red Storm back in front 14-7 with 1:27 gone in the second quarter. But Viscardo’s touchdown marked the last time Saranac Lake would own an advantage, as the Blue Devils began to roll. They tied the game on a 13-yard scoring catch by Anthoni Pope 7:07 into the quarter, and then jumped ahead on their next possession, with Andrew Woodward hauling in a 22-yard touchdown pass from Dalton.

Woodward’s score came with 54 seconds remaining in the opening half, but the Blue Devils were not done before intermission. They recovered the ensuing kickoff when the ball slipped between the first and second row of Saranac Lake’s kickoff team. With the ball at the Red Storm 30, and after Dalton tossed two straight incomplete passes, junior running back Jared Barr broke through Saranac Lake’s defense on a 29-yard run for a first down at the 1-yard line. Dalton then banged into the end zone on the next play, and Ogdensburg headed into intermission with a 27-14 edge.

A 3-yard touchdown run by Ashton late in the third quarter got Saranac Lake right back in the game, but Barr and the Blue Devils quickly ended any Red Storm chances of rallying for a win. Barr, a junior, scored on runs of 25 and 4 yards on the Blue Devils first two possessions of the final quarter to put the game out of reach. Barr finished with a game-high 146 yards rushing on 25 carries.

“Things turned in our favor when we got the ball on the kickoff near the end of the first half,” Ogdensburg head coach Matt Tessmer said. “That kind of gave us the upper hand, but it didn’t mean that much because Saranac Lake was going to get the ball to start the second half. They got right back into it, but I liked how our kids played in the fourth quarter. When we really needed to move the ball, we did. We got in the end zone a couple times, and grabbed the momentum back after Saranac Lake grabbed it in the third quarter.

Saranac Lake defenders drag down Ogdensburg running back Jared Barr during first half action in Friday’s Class C playoff game at AuSable Valley. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

“Our team has scored a lot of points this year, and it’s been a lot of different guys doing the scoring,” Tessmer added. “Our quarterback is excellent, but the ball gets every where.”

The Blue Devils finished with 397 total yards on offense, including 267 rushing yards. Saranac Lake ended the day with 135 yards on the ground. Senior quarterback Will Coats, who transferred from AuSable Valley to play his final high school season at Saranac Lake, completed 13-of-17 attempts for 76 yards.

The Section VII champion Red Storm finished with a 7-3 record.

“After they went ahead late in the second quarter, we weren’t going to back down,” Coats said. We came out in the second half and just kept fighting. Ogdensburg just executed their plays, we weren’t able to stop them at time, and they made some big plays for touchdowns. In the end, they just put up too many points.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better season going 7-3,” Coats continued. “We all wanted more who wouldn’t. It stings but it’s been great being with these guys since June and July. Playing hard all season long with these guys has been amazing. We were good all around. We just came up a little short today.”

“Their quarterback is a tremendous athlete,” Bennett said of Dalton. “It’s no wonder he was the MVP in their league up there in Section X. We have him in the grasp and he just found ways to wiggle and get good yards and first downs. That and two big plays on special teams that we just could not come back from made the difference.

“My hat’s off too our seniors,” Bennett added. “They gave us everything they had. You couldn’t ask for a better group of kids and we’re privileged and lucky to coach kids like that.”

With the win, Ogdensburg advanced into the state Class C quarterfinal round and will take on Section II champion Greenwich.

—

Ogdensburg 42, Saranac Lake 28

OFA    7    20    0    14    —    41

SL    6    8    7    7    —    28

Scoring

First Quarter

SL — Ashton 19 run (Kick failed), 3:52.

OFA — Troiano 11 pass from Dalton (Stewart kick), 8:38

Second Quarter

SL — Viscardo 24 run (Meyer run), 1:27.

OFA — Pope 13 pass from Dalton (Stewart kick), 7:07

OFA Woodward 22 pass from Dalton (Stewart kick), 11:04

OFA — Dalton 1 run (Kick failed), 11:46

Third Quarter

SL — Ashton 3 run (Ashton kick), 8:38

Fourth Quarter

OFA — Barr 25 run (Run failed), 2:14

OFA — Barr 4 run (Dalton run), 7:22

SL — Meyer 46 pass from Viscardo (Ashton kick), 9:41

Individual Statistics

RUSHING

SL — Ashton 10-55 2TDs, Coats 7-24, Meyer 1-6, Viscardo 2-50 TD. Totals: 20-135 3TDs.

OFA — Barr 25-146 2TDs, Love 9-17, Dalton 16-101 TD, Joanette 1-3. Totals: 51-267 3TDs.

PASSING

SL — Coats 13-17-0-76, Meyer 0-1-1-0, Viscardo 1-1-0-46 TD. Totals: 14-19-1-122 TD.

OFA — Dalton 13-23-2-130 3TDs.

RECEIVING

SL — Callahan 3-44, Viscardo 5-33, Swanson 1-(-5), Walton 2-9, Ashton 1-(-1), Meyer 2-48 TD.

OFA — Troiano 2-20 TD, Love 3-31, Pope 3-22 TD, Barr 4-36, Woodward 1-22 TD.