SARANAC LAKE — After seeing injuries take their toll this season, Saranac Lake head football coach Eric Bennett said earlier this week that he was taking a team of 17 strong into Linney Field Friday night to battle with a Moriah squad that’s always tough on home turf.

In a game that went back and forth all night, Bennett’s gritty Red Storm came through with a 29-22 victory over the Vikings.

Saranac Lake broke a 22-22 tie in the fourth quarter when junior quarterback Rhett Darrah tossed a 41-yard touchdown pass to Sam Donaldson for the winning points. Darrah then connected on the conversion kick to make it a 29-22 game, and the Red Storm defense then came through against a Vikings team led by the top running back in the league, Maddox Blaise.

Blaise did pile up his fair share of real estate in the contest, picking up 178 yards on 32 carries, but the Red Storm contained the junior well enough to prevail in the end.

Saranac Lake quarterback Rhett Darrah gains yards on a running play on Friday night in Moriah.

Saranac Lake improved to 4-1 and stayed tied at the top of the Champlain Valley Athletic Conference standings with Beekmantown, which also won its game played under the lights Friday.

Darrah had his best performance of the season, completing 10-of-16 passes for 211 yards and two touchdowns, and he also ran for 135 yards and one touchdown on eight carries.

The teams each scored a touchdown in the first quarter. The Red Storm took a 6-0 lead on its first offensive possession when Logan Brown scored on a 3-yard run less than three minutes into the game. The Vikings then jumped on top when quarterback Todd Malborn tossed a 37-yard scoring strike to Braden Swan, and then connected with Swan again on the 2-point conversion pass.

Saranac Lake scored two touchdowns in the second quarter to take a 22-16 lead into halftime. The first came on a 35-yard Darrah pass to Braden Ryan, and Darrah then completed a 2-point conversion pass to Brown for a 14-8 Red Storm advantage with 7:45 left in the period. Moriah answered on its next possession when Malborn threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Matt Diehl and followed with another conversion pass score to Swan.

Trailing for the second time in the game, Saranac Lake jumped back into the lead when Darrah ran 13-yards for a touchdown with 1:16 left in the half.

Sam Donaldson beats Moriah Todd Malborn to haul in a 41-yard pass from Rhett Darrah for the game winning points in the fourth quarter of Friday’s matchup at Linney Field.

The Vikings came out trailing 22-16 in the third quarter and recovered an onside kick to start the second half. Starting at Saranac Lake’s 47, Moriah marched the length of the field and scored on a 9-yard run by Swan. After not stopping the Vikings on their first pair of 2-point conversion plays, Saranac Lake came through this time, stonewalling a run to keep the game tied at 22-22.

And after the big stop, the Red Storm came through with the final touchdown of the game to drop the Vikings to 2-3 in the CVAC.

With Darrah leading the way, the Red Storm offense had its best rushing output of the season, picking up 212 yards on 27 attempts. Ryan, a senior, had another big night receiving, finishing with three catches for 83 yards. After being injured the past two games, Donaldson finished with a pair of receptions for 65 yards, and David Warner also had a pair of grabs for 46 yards.

The wins by Saranac Lake and Beekmantown set up a showdown between two 4-1 teams for first place in the league. They will clash Saturday, Oct. 12 in the Red Storm’s final regular season game at home at Wilson Raymond Field.

The opening kick off is slated for 1:30 p.m.