In a battle between the top two teams in the league with 4-1 records, Beekmantown rolled out to a 14-0 lead and then pulled away late to claim a 42-21 victory. The Red Storm entered the game with a banged up lineup, and despite putting up a battle, they struggled to keep up with a Beekmantown opponent with more than 30 players on the roster.

Dropped passes and blown coverages also helped spell doom for a Saranac Lake team that is now looking to finish the regular season with a 5-2 record and earn a first-round bye for the Class C playoffs when it concludes its schedule Friday at Peru.

Saranac Lake played solid run defense in the game, but was unable to stop an Eagles’ play-action passing attack led by junior quarterback Nate Finley, who threw for five touchdowns. Finley’s first two touchdown passes were strikes in the first quarter to Matthew Dion that allowed Beekmantown to jump out to a 14-0 lead.

Dion, a senior, was wide open in the Red Storm secondary on both scores. Finley found Dion along the Beekmantown sidelines for the game’s first touchdown on a 45-yard scoring play 5:26 into the game, and Brennen Lamora tacked on the extra-point kick for a 7-0 Eagles’ edge. Dion then blew past three Saranac Lake defensive backs on Beekmantown’s next possession to haul in a 30-yard touchdown catch from Finley.

Saranac Lake senior Ben Munn sends Beekmantown’s Andrew Vannatten to the ground while picking 11 yards on a pass reception in an October 2019 football game. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

Saranac Lake took advantage of great field position for its first touchdown, starting with the ball at the Eagles’ 32-yard line with less than two minutes left in the first half. Junior quarterback Rhett Darrah completed a 25-yard pass to Kenny Dashnaw on first down, and on the next play, Logan Brown rambled into the end zone from the 7-yard line for the score.

The Red Storm trailed 14-7 at halftime, and opened the third quarter with the ball. Any momentum Saranac Lake may have carried into intermission after its late score in the second quarter fizzled quickly. On the second play of the Red Storm’s opening possession in the second half, Darrah was intercepted and Beekmantown was in business at Saranac Lake’s 27-yard line. Five plays later, the Eagles scored on Finley’s 9-yard toss to Connor McGinnis.

Leading 20-7, the Eagles added another two points when Saranac Lake backup quarterback Carter Sturgeon was sacked in the end zone by Jonah Phaneuf. It looked like the rout was on when Beekmantown returned the free kick to Saranac Lake’s 14, and on the next play, Kaden Myers burst into the end zone and Lamora notched another conversion kick to put the Eagles on top 29-7 with 10 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Saranac Lake, however, began to battle back. The Red Storm scored two unanswered touchdowns, starting on a 3-yard run by Brown that capped off a seven-play, 63-yard march. Saranac Lake then recovered the onside kick and drove again, with Darrah tossing a 23-yard touchdown pass to David Warner to make it a 29-21 contest and leave the Red Storm within striking distance.

But Beekmantown took control down the stretch, as Finley threw two more touchdowns passes, a 45-yarder to McGinnis and a 17-yard toss to Carson Lapier with 46 seconds remaining in the game.

Sam Donaldson carries the ball while Red Storm teammates Braden Ryan (1) and Logan Brown (13) look to block. Pictured defending for Beekmantown is Kaden Myers (2). (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

“It was a rough day,” Saranac Lake head coach Eric Bennett said. “We knew the play action was coming, we had a plan and we just didn’t execute. We had broken coverages. They didn’t do their job, simple as that. Our front played great. We were keyed into their pulls and their traps. We just had two blown coverages early on, that put us in a hole, and we didn’t have enough bullets to overcome that.

“We’re thin, and when you have a couple injuries on top of that, it becomes really tough to put together a full-team effort against a real quality opponent,” Bennett continued. “Beekmantown, they earned everything they got.”

Heading into Saturday’s game, Beekmantown had been very successful running the football, but ran into a strong Red Storm defense that has been able to shut down opponent’s ground games. The Eagles could only pick up 104 yards rushing on 34 carries, with most of that coming later in the game, so they turned to the pass.

“Our goal was to run the ball. We had a tough time,” Beekmantown head coach Jamie Lozier said. “They knew we wanted to run, their backers just kept shooting the gaps. They gave us a lot of fits and that opened up the play action.”

The Eagles also captured the CVAC regular-season title last fall and next play at Moriah.

Jon Kratts, who moved up from the junior varsity, returns a kickoff for Saranac Lake in the second half Saturday. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

Saranac Lake has a lot riding on its final regular-season match Friday in Peru. With a win, the Red Storm can lock up second place in the CVAC, but more importantly, clinch a bye for the first round of the Section VII, Class C playoffs and force Saranac Central and AuSable Valley to battle it out in the semifinal game.

The opening kickoff at the Apple Bowl is slated for 7:30 p.m.

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Beekmantown 42, Saranac Lake 21

Beekmantown 14 0 8 20 — 42

Saranac Lake 0 7 0 14 — 21

First quarter

B- Dion 45 pass from Finley (LaMora kick), 6:34.

B- Dion 30 pass from Finley (LaMora kick), 3:24.

Second quarter

SL- Brown 7 run (Darrah kick), 1:20.

Third quarter

B- C. McGinnis 9 pass from Finley (kick blocked), 8:47.

B- Phaneuf tackles Sturgeon for safety, 0:36.

Fourth quarter

B- Myers 14 run (LaMora kick), 11:50.

SL- Brown 3 run (Darrah kick), 8:55.

SL- Warner 23 pass from Darrah (Darrah kick), 6:57.

B- C. McGinnis 45 pass from Finley (LaMora kick), 5:23.

B- LaPier 17 pass from Finley (kick missed), 0:45.

Individual statistics

Rushing

B- Myers 17-68, TD; Stevens 6-43; Finley 3-11; C. McGinnis 7-6; Team 1-(-24). Totals: 34-104, TD.

SL- Darrah 14-76; Brown 8-27, 2TD; Donaldson 4-3; Sturgeon 1-(-10). Totals: 27-96, 2TD.

Passing

B- Finley 8-16-1-164, 5TD.

SL- Darrah 13-25-1-134, TD.

Receiving

B- Dion 2-75, 2TD; C. McGinnis 3-53, 2TD; LaPier 2-30, TD; Ferigno 1-6.

SL- Dashnaw 3-60; Warner 2-31, TD; LaVair 2-15; Donaldson 4-15; Munn 1-11; Rascoe 1-2.

Interceptions

B- Myers.

SL- Donaldson.