The teams renewed their rivalry again on Friday in Tupper Lake at Frank Tice Field, and although the score was a little closer this time around, the Red Storm came out on top again 38-22 during a Fall II season in which both squads were scheduled to play two games.

It was the first contest for Saranac Lake while Tupper Lake wrapped its short run up with a pair of losses after it fell 34-28 in a thriller a week ago in Malone against Franklin Academy.

Senior Rhett Darrah and David Warner accounted for four of Saranac Lake’s touchdowns. Warner caught a pair of Darrah scoring strikes that went for 37 and 20 yards and also reached the end zone on 19-yard run. Darrah scampered for a 5-yard touchdown, and Carter Hewitt tacked on the Red Storm’s other touchdown on a 14-yard run.

Playing his final football game for Tupper Lake, senior Noah Varden paced the Lumberjacks with 155 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns on runs of 3 and 18 yards. Junior Grant Godin picked up the ‘Jacks other score on a 17-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Jayden Farnsworth.

Carter Hewitt takes a handoff from Red Storm quarterback Rhett Darrah in Friday's contest. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

Saranac Lake started the game with the ball and found room to move right off the bat, advancing from its own 25 to Tupper Lake’s 14-yard line. A fumble, however, ended the march, and the Lumberjacks took over at their own 20. They put together a 14-play scoring drive capped off by Varden’s 3-yard run into the end zone, and Godin followed on the conversion play, grabbing a Farnsworth pass to give Tupper Lake an 8-0 edge with 1:12 left in the first quarter.

But the host’s lead didn’t last long as the Red Storm put touchdowns on the board during their next three possessions. Warner scored the first one, snagging a 37-yard Darrah pass 1:05 into the second quarter. Darrah completed the 2-point conversion throw to Jon Kratz to tie the game at 8-8.

Tupper Lake was then plagued by turnovers. The Lumberjacks coughed up the ball three plays into their second possession, and lineman Sawyer Trudeau recovered for Saranac Lake at the Tupper Lake 28. Three plays later, Darrah was in the end zone on his 5-yard run. Hewitt tacked on two points on the conversion run to put the Red Storm on top 16-8 with 8:45 left in the second quarter.

Tupper Lake fumbled again on its next march, and Saranac Lake took over at its own 34. The Red Storm then went five plays with Warner capping off the march with a 20-yard touchdown catch. Darrah connected with Kratz again on a conversion pass to send the Red Storm into halftime on top 24-8.

Saranac Lake scored two more times in a span of 70 seconds early in the third quarter to take control with Hewitt running for a 14-yard touchdown and Warner reaching the end zone on a 19-yard run.

Junior receiver Grant Godin hauls in a touchdown pass for Tupper Lake in front of Red Storm defender Zyler Strack during the second half of Friday's game. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

The Lumberjacks tacked on the final two touchdowns of the game to close the gap on the scoreboard a bit. Godin hauled in his 18-yard pass in the corner of the end zone with 1:36 remaining in the third and Varden rounded out the scoring on an 18-yard run with 6:02 remaining in the game.

Varden finished his two-game senior season with a whopping 476 rushing yards and six touchdowns. A week ago, he ran for a school record 321 yards and scored four times in the loss to the Huskies.

Saranac Lake will play its second and final game of the season Friday at Beekmantown.

Saranac Lake 38, Tupper Lake 22

SL 0 24 14 0 — 28

Playing his final high school football game, Tupper Lake's Noah Varden finds room to run against Saranac Lake on Friday. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

TL 8 0 8 6 — 22

First Quarter

TL — Varden 3 run (Godin pass from Farnsworth), 1:12

Second Quarter

SL — Warner 37 pass from Darrah (Kratz pass from Darrah), 10:55

SL — Darrah 5 run (Hewitt run), 8:45

SL — Warner 20 pass from Darrah (Kratz pass from Darrah), :40

Third Quarter

SL — Hewitt 14 run (Yando pass from Darrah), 9:29

SL — Warner 19 run (Pass failed), 8:19

TL — Godin 18 pass from Farnsworth (Varden run), 1:36

Fourth Quarter

TL — Varden 18 run (Pass failed), 6:02

Individual Statistics

RUSHING

SL — Darrah 8-17 TD, Hewitt 10-72 TD, Warner 4-68 TD, Kratz 2-21, Roberts 1-(-4), Hathaway 1-4, Santiago 1-(-21), Isabella 2-21. Totals: 29-197 3TDs.

TL — Gonyea 11-48, Varden 37-155 2TDs, Farnsworth 4-3, Hill 1-2, Dattoma 1-(-1). Totals: 54-207 2TDs.

PASSING

SL — Darrah 6-12-0-131 2TDs, Roberts 0-1-0-0. Totals: 6-13-0-131 2TDs.

TL — Farnsworth 5-8-0-52 TD.