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Miscues doom Lumberjacks

Lumberjacks defenders Chad Charland (78) and Drew Denis sandwich St. Lawrence running back Luke Plante during the first half of Friday’s game. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

TUPPER LAKE — Tupper Lake really needed to play mistake-free football if it was going to have a shot at staying close to St. Lawrence in Friday’s Section X matchup at Frank Tice Field.

Instead, three fumbles, two snaps that sailed over the punter’s head, an interception and giving up a punt return for a touchdown doomed the Lumberjacks in a 41-6 loss to the Larries.

St. Lawrence got off to a fast start thanks to a botched punt on Tupper Lake’s first offensive possession and a fumbled kickoff that the Larries converted into a 15-0 lead with just 2:19 gone in the game. St. Lawrence added two more touchdowns in the second quarter to own a 29-0 edge at halftime and then scored two more times after intermission to improve to 2-0.

“We gave them two touchdowns right off the bat,” Tupper Lake head coach Dennis Klossner said. “We didn’t handle the ball very well. We shot ourselves in the foot quick and early and they capitalized on that.”

The Lumberjacks, who dropped to 0-2, got their only touchdown on long run by Skyler Pickering late in the third quarter after the game was well out of reach. The Larries picked up four rushing touchdowns and piled up 260 yards on the ground on 27 carries.

Tupper Lake junior running back Brennen McComber finds some room to move while picking up yardage early in Friday’s game in Tupper Lake. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

The Larries only needed to advance 22 yards for their first two touchdowns, and couldn’t have been set up any better for the game’s first score. Tupper Lake went three-and-out on the opening possession and was forced to punt, but the snap on the play went over the head of Pickering, who fell on the ball at his team’s 6 yard line as St. Lawrence took over. On the Larries first snap of the game, Cole Coughlin dashed into the end zone and Keith Felix followed with a successful 2-point conversion run for an 8-0 Larries lead.

The Lumberjacks then fumbled away the ensuing kickoff, and Luke Plante scooped up the ball and returned it 16 yards for another touchdown. Felix converted on the point-after kick for a 15-0 edge.

Quarterback Isaiah Lyon scored the third St. Lawrence touchdown on a 1-yard run on the opening play of the second period. Tupper Lake then went three-and-out for the third time in the game on its next possession, Pickering punted, and Luke Plante hauled in the kick and dashed 45 yards for the score.

Leading 29-0 at the start of the second half, the Larries increased their advantage to 35-0 on Plante’s second touchdown, a 7-yard run with 7:25 gone in the third quarter.

Pickering, a sophomore, actually turned another unsuccessful punt attempt late in the third quarter into the Lumberjacks lone points of the evening. On the play, Pickering was under a heavy rush with no chance of getting off a punt, so he tucked away the ball and scrambled 64 yards for a touchdown while outracing the Larries’ defense to make the score 35-6.

Tupper Lake defensive back Christian Johnson and St. Lawrence receiver Luke Plante leap for a pass thrown by Larries’ quarterback Isaiah Lyon. Johnson came up with the ball to record an interception on the play. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

St. Lawrence put the final points on the board when Lyon broke through Tupper Lake’s defenders on a 53-yard touchdown run on the last play of the third quarter.

“We took advantage of some great opportunities early, and our defense played really tough,” St. Lawrence head coach Bruce Truax said. “Overall, we played a pretty good game. We have to work on our offensive line, but our backs were running really, really hard. They got hit one, two times before they were able to take off.”

Felix, a senior, led St. Lawrence on the ground with 103 yard on 13 carries. Pickering was Tupper Lake’s top rusher with 99 yards on 17 attempts.

During the course of the game, two other Lumberjack running backs — Brennen McComber and Aiden Amell — left the field with injuries. Klossner praised the performances of Josh Smith and Ryan Picerno, and also said his team’s pass blocking and the play of junior quarterback Noah Cordes were solid.

“We just couldn’t seem to execute on offense. We’re struggling with the offense, but I think it’s going to come,” Klossner said. “We had some guys out and we dealt with more injuries tonight. With all the bang ups, we had kids stepping into roles and they did a good job for us.

“We just have to start with our foot to the pedal,” Klossner added. “We can’t wait until the second quarter or even the mid first quarter. As the game wore on, we were stepping up and hitting. We just have to find out a way to get our kids a little more aggressive.”

Tupper Lake next plays at Massena Saturday, Sept. 16 with the opening kickoff slated for 1:30 p.m.

St. Lawrence 41, Tupper Lake 6

Larries 15 14 12 0 — 41

Lumberjacks 0 0 6 0 — 6

Scoring

First Quarter

SL — Coughlin 6 run (Felix run), 2:09

SL — Plante 16 fumble recovery (Felix kick), 2:19

Second Quarter

SL — Lyon 1 run (Run failed), :04

SL — Plante 45 punt return (Felix run), 2:25

Third Quarter

SL — Plante 7 run (Run failed), 7:25

T — Pickering 64 run (Kick failed), 10:04

SL — Lyon 53 run (Kick blocked), 12:00

Individual Statistics

RUSHING

SL — Coughlin 3-30 TD, Lyon 4-74 2TDs, Felix 13-103, Plante 3-(-9) TD, Ramsdell 2-23, Parker 2-49. Totals: 27-260 4TDs.

TL — Pickering 17-99 TD, McComber 5-2, Amell 6-1, Cordes 2-0, Pioli 3-(-4). Totals: 33-98 TD.

PASSING

SL — Lyon 1-4-1-(-3).

TL — Cordes 2-4-1-25.

RECEIVING

SL — Coughlin 1-(-3).

TL — McLear 1-14, Picerno 1-11.

INTERCEPTIONS

SL — Bush.

TL — Johnson.

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