SARANAC LAKE – By packing its defense in tight in an effort to stop the run, Peru dared Saranac Lake to throw the ball when the two teams clashed in Saturday’s Champlain Valley Athletic Conference football game.

Peru’s plan worked great when it came to shutting down Saranac Lake’s ground game, but the Red Storm more than made up for it with an aerial assault that couldn’t be stopped.

At Ken Wilson Field, Saranac Lake took to the air to chalk up its third win of the year as quarterback Will Coats tossed three touchdown passes to Joe Viscardo in a 21-7 victory over the Indians.

Coats and Viscardo both had career days, and a host of other receivers got in on the act as Saranac Lake improved to 3-0 to set up a showdown of unbeatens this week as the Red Storm tangles with Ticonderoga.

Viscardo turned in a highlight reel performance with 11 receptions for 236 yards, and Coats finished with the second-best passing performance in CVAC history. The senior quarterback, who transferred from AuSable Valley, completed 21-of-29 pass attempts for 359 yards. Saranac Lake also came up with two huge defensive stands when it stopped the Indians inside the 10-yard line, once in both halves.

The Red Storm offense was only able to muster 38 yards rushing, but got the job done as Coats completed passes to six different receivers. Senior Isaak Herd, who had another outstanding performance on both sides of the line, grabbed four passes for the Red Storm worth 74 yards. Two of his catches came on the game’s first scoring drive, which came in the middle of the second quarter to put Saranac Lake on top 7-0.

“Peru loaded the box and dared us to throw, and eventually, that’s what we went to, and thankfully it worked out,” Red Storm head coach Eric Bennett said. “They were certainly committed to taking away our run game. They played a 4-3 against us and took away every gap. We were having trouble making plays there, but we had a nice air game to turn to.

“Coats put the ball where it needed to be,” Bennett added. “He had an incredible game and our receivers really showed up for him as well.”

Saranac Lake started with the ball and immediately got on a roll, as Drew Sturgeon and Brandon Meyer each had 12-yard gains on passing plays to move into Indians territory. But the possession ended when the ball was stripped from Coats on a run and recovered by Peru’s Noah Schlitt.

Peru mounted the first threatening march of the game, which started at its own 30 late in the first quarter. With a combination of runs and passes the Indians advanced to Saranac Lake’s 5-yard line, where they had a first-down-and-goal, but the Red Storm defense stiffened and got the ball back on downs.

The Red Storm offense then went the distance on the ensuing possession on a nine-play, 94 yard drive capped off by a 21-yard touchdown throw by Coats that Viscardo grabbed in the right corner of the end zone. Herd made two key grabs on the advance for gains of 31 and 29 yards.

Saranac Lake held a 7-0 halftime edge in the hard-fought contest, and upped the lead to 14-0 with 2:05 left in the third quarter on Viscardo’s second scoring catch of the game, a 20-yard completion that capped off a 67-yard, 11-play march. Viscardo had four receptions on the possession, including a 32-yard grab that moved the ball to Peru’s 29.

Peru then answered with its only score of the game, going 57 yards with senior Luke Carpenter reaching the end zone on a 23-yard catch-and-run touchdown on a pass from sophomore quarterback Ryley O’Connell. Carpenter followed with a successful conversion kick to make it a 14-7 contest with 10 seconds gone in the fourth quarter.

Red Storm defensive back Brett Dawson was badly injured on the play and taken away in an ambulance after sustaining a hit on a blind-sided block, and as it turned out, the Red Storm rallied around their fallen teammate, who is a junior.

After making it a one-score contest, the Indians could have gained some momentum when they recovered the Red Storm’s second fumble of the afternoon and were set up at their own 43 to start a possible drive for a game-tying touchdown. Instead, Peru coughed the ball up on first down on a botched hook-and-ladder play, with Drew Sturgeon making the recovery at the Indians’ 42. Failing to move the ball on the first two snaps, Saranac Lake was in the end zone again on the next play on a 42-yard Coats-to-Viscardo touchdown pass. Drew Sturgeon followed with his third successful conversion kick to give Saranac Lake a commanding 21-7 edge with 3:28 gone in the fourth quarter.

In a last-gasp attempt to get back in the game, Peru marched to Saranac Lake’s 8-yard line on the next possession, but the Red Storm defense made another stand and got the ball back on downs.

“The goal line stand in the first half was critical to the outcome of the game, and then our guys really just buckled down,” Bennett said. “Right now, our defense is playing great. They’re rallying to the ball.”

The Indians, who committed seven turnovers the week before in a 28-7 loss to Beekmantown, fell to 1-2. They finished with 280 yards on offense. O’Connell finished with 172 passing yards on 14 completions. Evan Palmer, who scored five touchdowns heading into Saturday’s game, finished with 109 receiving yards on six catches. Saranac Lake’s defense, however, never let the speedy senior break free.

“We played a very good football team,” Bennett said. “I knew the week before they had too many turnovers, I didn’t expect that to happen today, and they proved that right. They gave us all we could handle. They had some dynamic players who made some big gains, but they never broke away from us.”

Peru head coach Ryon O’Connell said he was proud of how his players battled, but in the end, Viscardo and Saranac Lake’s passing attack was too much too handle.

“Our defenders were there, he just made outstanding catches time and time again,” O’Connell said. “It’s very hard to defend an athlete with that much talent. If you over-prepare and you move your defense around, coach Bennett will hit you somewhere else. We did our best.”

“Peru was tough,” Herd said. “I think we held our composure, and we stayed strong. After Dawson got hit and taken off in the ambulance, we just tried to stay calm and win the game for him – Just keep our heads, don’t be chippy, do everything right and win the game for Dawson.”

Saranac Lake now finds itself in a situation similar to a season ago when it met up with Ticonderoga in week No. 4 with two unbeaten records on the line. This time, the game will be held Saturday at Linney Field, the home turf of the Moriah Vikings, due to the construction of a new field for the Sentinels. The opening kickoff is slated for 1:30 p.m.

“I’m not pleased we couldn’t run the ball, but I have to credit Peru’s scheme and their willingness to stop the run at all costs,” Bennett said. “We have to look at scheming it up and coming up with some solid plans to take advantage of angles and numbers, but at the same time, if teams want to force us to the air, I think we have a good answer there. We just have to be versatile.”

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Saranac Lake 21, Peru 7

[TABULATED_DATA]

Scoring

Second Quarter

SL – Viscardo 21 pass from Coats (D. Sturgeon kick), 5:26

Third Quarter

SL – Viscardo 20 pass from Coats (D. Sturgeon kick), 9:55

Fourth Quarter

P – Carpenter 23 pass from O’Connell (Carpenter kick), :10

SL – Viscardo 42 pass from Coats (D. Sturgeon kick), 3:28

Individual Statistics

RUSHING

P – Arquette 12-43, Hayes 9-54, Gallo 2-(-1), Palmer 2-11, O’Connell 1-(-7), Bridgeman 1-8. Totals: 27-108.

SL – D. Sturgeon 7-8, Coats 9-10, Ashton 16-41, Herd 2-(-7), Meyer 2-(-1). Totals: 36-51.

PASSING

P – O’Connell 14-23-0-172 TD.

SL – Coats 21-29-0-359 3TDs.

RECEIVING

P – Bridgeman 2-5, Gallo 2-23, Carpenter 4-40 TD, Palmer 6-109.

SL – D. Sturgeon 1-12, Meyer 3-14, Viscardo 11-236 3TDs, Herd 4-72, Walton 1-23, Swanson 1-2.