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Lumberjacks prep for playoffs

TUPPER LAKE – Head coach Dennis Klossner said his Tupper Lake football team was on a roller coaster ride during the Section X regular season.

With a postseason game looming in two weeks, Klossner hopes to see the Lumberjacks play consistent football from start to finish when they host winless Potsdam tonight at Frank Tice Field starting at 7 p.m.

The ‘Jacks picked up their lone victory of the season two weeks ago when they toppled the Sandstoners 36-8 when the two teams met for the first time. Tonight, Potsdam will be playing its final game of the season after finishing fifth among the five Class C teams in Section X and missing the playoffs.

Tupper Lake, meanwhile, is the lone Class D squad in Section X, and will wind up playing Section VII’s Class D champion, which will be either Moriah or Ticonderoga.

“We’re approaching this as a big game to get ready for the playoffs,” Klossner said of the matchup against Potsdam. “For us, playing a good game and winning will give us momentum for the playoffs. For Potsdam, it’s all about next year, and a win would give them momentum. They have a lot of young kids, they’re a good team, and they are only going to get better.”

After defeating Potsdam, Tupper Lake went on to give up the most points in a game this season during a 59-26 setback to Ogdensburg a week ago.

“We’ve been a roller-coaster team,” Klossner said. “Last week, we looked like we never played a down of defense. This year, we’ve had a trend of giving up the first one or two scores early, playing a good second quarter, not playing well in the third quarter and then finishing strong.

“We want to show quite a bit more consistency,” Klossner added. “In this game, it will be important for us to play good physical football, and play four quarters of football.”

Despite entering tonight’s game with an 0-7 mark, Potsdam is coming off its closest contest of the season, which was a 14-8 loss to Massena.

One player the Lumberjacks will look to contain is sophomore running back Brandon Buffham. Just a sophomore, Buffham was impressive as Potsdam’s workhorse against Tupper Lake two weeks ago when he amassed 153 rushing yards on 34 attempts.

Playing for the final time at Frank Tice Field, running back Brassen LaVassaur and quarterback Noah Santana lead Tupper Lake into action. In the past two games, LaVassaur has carried the ball 32 times for 222 yards and three touchdowns, and also returned a kickoff 69 yards to pay dirt against Potsdam. Last week against the Blue Devils, Santana scored on a 60-yard run and also completed an 80-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Becker.

Klossner said Tupper Lake expects the Sandstoners to come up with just about anything tonight in their season finale, and he doesn’t want to see any letdown from his postseason-bound team.

“Being their last game period, we’re preparing for everything,” Klossner said. “We’ve been telling our kids that they want for finish on a high note for next year.”

The Lumberjacks will be missing two seniors tonight as Alex Gagnier and Trent Martin are out of the lineup with injuries. Tupper Lake also brought up about 10 reinforcements from the junior varsity team who will dress for tonight’s game, as well as the team’s upcoming playoff battle.

Tupper Lake’s 13 seniors will be recognized before kickoff.

Saranac Lake is off this week, and will return to action Saturday, Oct. 31 against AuSable Valley.

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