SARANAC LAKE – It’s the third weekend of the high school football season in the North Country, and so far it’s been two different tales for Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake.

Deep in numbers and experience, the Red Storm have gotten off to a 2-0 start and will be looking for their third straight win when they host Peru Saturday in a Section VII matchup at Ken Wilson Field with the opening kickoff slated for 1:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, the Lumberjacks are young and have struggled during lopsided losses in their first two games, and they hope to turn that around tonight in Potsdam when they face the Sandstoners in a Section X battle starting at 7:30 p.m.

With a sophomore quarterback at the helm followed by a cast of mainly inexperienced varsity football players, Tupper Lake has been outscored 99-7 in its first two games. The ‘Jacks however, have shown improvement since their season-opener, but head coach Dennis Klossner said they need to be better now with two starts under their belts.

Tonight’s contest pits a pair of teams against each other who are looking for their first win of the season.

“The good thing about last week is we weren’t nervous stepping out on the field,” Klossner said. “I think we were in our first game against Ogdensburg, but that was the first varsity football game for a lot of our kids. Last week, we had way too many penalties. We gave up too many big plays, we had a lot of yellow flags, and we have to shut that down. We are young, but we’re already well into the season, and we can’t use that as an excuse. We have to start performing better.”

This will be Tupper Lake’s first road game after it dropped a 55-0 decision to Ogdensburg and followed with a 44-7 loss to Malone at Frank Tice Field. Potsdam’s setbacks were quite a bit closer after it fell 20-6 to Gouverneur in week one and dropped a 10-0 contest last week against Massena. The ‘Jacks will look to make it three straight victories over the ‘Stoners after posting two wins in a pair of meetings a season ago.

The brightest spot a week ago for Tupper Lake was the running of senior Chase Bedore, who missed the season opener while still recovering from an injury. Paced by Bedore’s 178 rushing yards, the Lumberjacks piled up 244 yards on the ground on 43 carries. Klossner expects tonight’s matchup to be run oriented, with Brandon Buffham leading the way for the ‘Stoners. Now a junior, Buffam is a second-year starting running back who was a workhorse against Tupper Lake a season ago, as he rambled for 325 rushing yards on 69 carries in their two meetings in 2015.

“We’re facing a really good club,” Klossner said. “They are big and physical on both sides of the line, and Buffham didn’t have that type of support a year ago. Potsdam is explosive. A lot of this game will depend on who fires off the ball first. So far, I’ve been really pleased with the play of our line. We do have some experience there.”

Potsdam also returns its starting quarterback, Cameron Talcott, who is a junior, and is bolstered in the backfield by sophomore Jacques Kuno.

Tonight marks the third game Brennan McComber will lead the Lumberjacks offense, and if the running game isn’t working, the sophomore signal caller will need to help Tupper Lake get the passing attack going. The ‘Jacks will also need to turn in a stronger performance with their pass defense, an area that Klossner said has been the weakest part of his team to date. A week ago, Tupper Lake gave up four passing touchdowns against Malone, with three of the strikes going for 49, 50 and 57 yards. The Lumberjacks also allowed a special teams touchdown on a punt return.

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Saturday

Peru at Saranac Lake, 1:30 p.m.

Saranac Lake head coach Eric Bennett admitted that his club didn’t play the way it expected in last week’s 23-12 victory over Saranac Central, but the Red Storm were still strong enough to pull out their second win of the season. On Saturday, they’re hoping to perform a whole lot better on the way to a possible third consecutive victory in the Champlain Valley Athletic Conference.

And standing in the way are the Peru Indians, who are 1-1 and have beaten the Red Storm three straight times dating back to 2012.

Peru kicked off this season with a 34-13 victory over Moriah in a game that saw the Vikings take an early 13-0 edge before the Indians responded with 34 unanswered points. Peru, however, took a big stumble a week ago, turning the ball over seven times in a 28-7 loss to Beekmantown.

“We’re not counting on playing the same Peru team we saw on film last week,” Bennett said. “I’d bet my house that they won’t have seven turnovers this week. We’re facing a team that has some very skilled athletes. They have all kinds of receivers and some strong backs.”

Wide receiver Evan Palmer provides Peru with one of the most dangerous weapons in the Champlain Valley Athletic Conference. The speedy senior ran wild on the way to scoring four long touchdowns in the Indians victory over Moriah. He hauled in touchdown passes of 33 and 72 yards from sophomore quarterback Rylee O’Connell and also broke off runs of 54 and 64 yards to pay dirt. A week ago, he was held more in check by Beekmantown’s defense, but still managed to ramble for an 83-yard scoring run.

Saranac Lake took advantage of its versatility in defeating the Chiefs, although all three Red Storm touchdowns came on passes thrown by senior quarterback Will Coats, who finished the game with 15 completions for 202 yards. Two of his scoring strikes went to senior Joe Viscardo, who had four catches for 103 yards. After piling up 155 rushing yards in Saranac Lake’s 21-6 season-opening win over AuSable Valley, junior running back Jarrett Ashton followed the effort up with a team-high 70 yards on the ground against the Chiefs a week ago.

Bennett said he was impressed with Coats’ performance a week ago, as well as the special teams play of junior Emery Swanson, who had a 50-yard kickoff return against the Chiefs.

However, two things Bennett was not pleased to see was the amount of penalties his team has piled up.

“We’ve been talking about cutting down on penalties nonstop,” Bennett said. “They haven’t been cheap or flagrant fouls. We just have to keep our hands off the backs of the defenders when they’re running downfield. During the last two weeks, we’ve stopped ourselves from putting more points on the board because of a lack of discipline. We’ve been our own worst enemy.”

Over the years, Saranac Lake and Peru have turned into real rivals, and the Red Storm hasn’t beaten the Indians since 2012. Bennett said his team is excited to have the chance to put an end to that slide in front of the home fans.

“We really want to come out focused and be ready from the start,” Bennett said. “We have a group of kids who really like to compete and play football. I think they’re hungry to get out there on Saturday.”