CLINTONVILLE – The Class C football trophy is back in Saranac Lake.

After seeing their run of consecutive football titles end at five a year ago, the Red Storm reclaimed the Section VII crown, but just barely as they held on for a 19-16 victory Saturday over the upset-minded Saranac Chiefs at AuSable Valley.

Saranac Lake jumped out to 13-0 lead in the first quarter, held a 13-7 halftime edge, and then moved in front 19-7 after putting together a 68-yard scoring march on its first possession of the third period. The Chiefs however, mounted a furious rally in the fourth quarter that netted nine unanswered points, but ultimately came up short.

The Red Storm scored three rushing touchdowns, with Jarret Ashton reaching the end zone on a pair of 1-yard runs and senior quarterback Will Coats crossing the goal line on another ramble. The Chiefs, who knocked off defending champion AuSable Valley in overtime to reach Saturday’s final, got two touchdown passes from sophomore quarterback Luke Maye – one to Isaac Garman and another to Sean Ahern – and added two more points on a safety.

Saranac Lake now goes on to face Section X champion Ogdensburg in a Class C regional battle that will also be played at AuSable Valley on Friday starting at 7:30 p.m. The Blue Devils toppled previously unbeaten Gouverneur 36-6 in another playoff game Saturday.

Saranac Lake couldn’t have gotten off to a better start. On defense, the Red Storm forced the Chiefs to go three-and-out on their opening two possessions of the game, and Saranac Lake’s offense promptly put touchdowns on the board the first two times it got its hands on the ball. But with the exception of one more scoring march early in the third quarter that led to their game-winning points, the Red Storm struggled down the stretch.

“We were our own worst enemy today, and that’s not to take anything away from Saranac,” Saranac Lake head coach Eric Bennett said. “They played a tough game, they have a lot of nice young athletes, and they’re gritty. Physically we played hard but mentally we had a lot of lapses today discipline-wise, and that’s disappointing this late in the season.”

An 11-yard Chiefs punt gave Saranac Lake great field position for its first possession of the game, and the Red Storm responded. Starting at Saranac’s 46-yard line, Saranac Lake rattled off six straight running plays to reach the end zone, with Ashton capping off the drive on a 1-yard scoring run. The junior, who has been filling in for injured senior place kicker Drew Sturgeon, then booted the extra point for a 7-0 Red Storm edge 4:56 into the contest.

Saranac Lake followed with a 57-yard scoring march on its next possession, with Coats reaching the end zone on a 5-yard run. Ashton’s kick was off the mark, leaving the Red Storm on top 13-0 with 1:31 left in the first quarter.

The Chiefs put their first touchdown on the board late in the opening half, with Maye connecting on a 17-yard scoring strike to Garman with 46 seconds remaining before intermission. Freshman place kicker Garrett Adolfo notched the extra point to send the teams into halftime with Saranac Lake on top 13-7. The Chiefs converted a pair of fourth-down plays on the drive, which lasted 16 plays and covered 77 yards. Maye ran for 26 yards and also completed four passes for 37 yards during the advance.

Saranac Lake took to the air to set up its third touchdown of the game, which came on its second possession of the second half. The drive began at the Red Storm 34, and Coats started it off by completing four passes in a row for 64 yards. His final completion was the big gainer, a 37-yard catch by senior Joe Viscardo that put the ball on the 1-yard line. On the next play, Ashton burst through the line for the touchdown. Saranac Lake went for a 2-point conversion on a pass play that failed, leaving the score 19-7 with 4:54 gone in the third quarter.

Saranac cut its deficit to 19-9 when its defense sacked Coats in the end zone 3:09 into the fourth quarter, and when they got the ball back, the Chiefs marched in for another score, this time, on a six-play, 53-yard drive that ended on a 6-yard touchdown toss from Maye to Garman. Adolpho tacked on his second extra-point kick, leaving Saranac Lake clinging to a 19-16 advantage with 6:28 still remaining in the fourth quarter. The Chiefs benefited from an interference penalty and two personal-foul flags against the Red Storm on the way to the end zone.

Fortunately for the Red Storm, their defense was able to stop Saranac’s last attempt at what would have been an incredible, unlikely comeback for a team that until a week ago, had lost 16 straight football games and didn’t even have a varsity team a season ago.

With the game on the line, the Chiefs started what turned out to be their final possession of the year on their own 30-yard line. They picked up 24 yards in two plays to move into Red Storm territory, but were pushed back on on the third play when Maye was flagged for intentional grounding, leaving his team facing a second-and-24 situation, which in the end, proved to be to big of a hole to escape from. Saranac Lake’s defense secured the win when Ashton, a linebacker, dropped Maye for no gain on a fourth-and-five running play with 2:23 remaining. Saranac Lake went on to run out the clock to claim its sixth Section VII, Class C title in the past seven years.

“Our kids played really well,” said Saranac Central head coach Joe Fish, whose Chiefs finished at 1-8. “Coming back from a 13-point deficit against Saranac Lake is a tough thing to do. Our kids really battled and I’m really proud of them. We went from not having a team last year to being in the sectional final. I think that’s a huge statement and we have the team heading in the right direction.

“We’re going to lose 10 seniors, and we’re going to miss them, but most of the team is coming back,” Fish added. “We’re going to starting preparing on Monday. We’re going to be ready next year. We have a lot of big plans for these kids.”

Although Saranac Lake wasn’t at its best Saturday, the performance was still good enough to add another banner to the school’s gymnasium and send the Red Storm into the first round of the state playoffs.

“When we got to 13-0, it was like, ‘Ok. We have control of this game.’ But then penalties started coming out of nowhere,” Red Storm lineman and captain David Sullivan said. “To be getting penalties like this is going to kill us. Their second touchdown drive, about 50 yards of that was due to penalties against us.

“For me, it was a great win, but we have a lot to work on,” Sullivan added. “We cannot come out next time and play the way we did today, because our coaches keep telling us these are the games where good teams are going to take your weaknesses and get you with them. I’m just happy we survived today.”

“I’m happy for the kids because there’s a whole group of seniors right now that have won their first championship,” Bennett said. “We got to a point for awhile when it was you got one when you are a junior, and you got one when you were a senior. To credit the coaches around the league, there’s a lot more competition, there’s a lot more talent now doing things the right way and championships are harder to get now. A banner is a banner and we’re happy to have it. I’m just disappointed we almost beat ourselves.”

Saranac Lake and Ogdensburg both head into Friday’s tilt with 7-2 records. The winner of that game will advance into state quarterfinal action in two weeks against the Section II champion, which will be either Mechanicville or Greenwich.

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Saranac Lake 19, Saranac Central 16

[TABULATED_DATA]

Scoring

First Quarter

SL – Ashton 1 run (Ashton kick), 4:56

SL Coats 5 run (Kick blocked), 10:29

Second Quarter

S – Garman 17 pass from Maye (Adolfo kick), :45

Third Quarter

SL – Ashton 1 run (pass failed), 4:54

Fourth Quarter

S – Safety end zone sack, 3:07

S – Ahern 6 pass from Maye (Adolfo kick), 5:32

Individual Statistics

RUSHING

Saranac – Devins 10-27, Maye 18-46, Nolan 3-7, Ahern 4-10. Totals: 35-90.

Saranac Lake – Meyer 2-(-8), Ashton 18-66 2TDs, Coats 13-70 TD, Viscardo 1-1. Totals: 34-123 3TDs.

PASSING

Saranac – Maye 18-32-0-172 2TDs, Nolan 1-1-0-7. Totals: 19-33-0179.

RECEIVING

Saranac – Nolan 3-45, Garman 6-67 TD, Matthews 1-7, Devins 4-40, Ahern 4-13 TD, Maye 1-7.

Saranac Lake – Meyer 2-26, Callahan 1-7, Viscardo 4-61.

INTERCEPTIONS

Saranac – Matthews