×

Tupper Lake stunned by South Lewis

Tupper Lake’s Jack Demarais runs with the football during Friday’s matchup against South Lewis. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

TUPPER LAKE — Down four points on the goal line with 19 seconds left in the game, Tupper Lake’s Jayden Farnsworth dove for the end zone but came up just short. Referees picked up the football to re spot it, and Tupper Lake ran out of time.

The Tupper Lake Lumberjacks football team lost 40-36 to the South Lewis Falcons on Friday. The loss was the second of the season; the team fell to Bishop Grimes 20-6 last weekend.

“Overall, I’m proud of the kids, they played hard, they played right down to the very last second,” Tupper Lake head coach Dennis Klossner said. “The kids did a real good job. We had few mental mistakes here and there, but other than that, we stayed in the game. It’s a big team we played. They are a strong team. I’m real proud.”

After the Lumberjacks traveled around 300 miles combined for the previous games, the team finally got to play at home.

“It felt good to be back in our black and to be home, having a great crowd like we did with a lot of support with everybody. It was very nice,” Klossner said.

At left, Tupper Lake’s Brayden Shannon attempts to sack South Lewis’ Cody Spann during Friday’s game. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

Tupper Lake’s Beckett Savage got the home opener rolling. He opened the scoring with a 23 yard rushing touchdown. Savage followed up the score with a successful two point conversion. He finished the night rushing for an astonishing 216 yards on 35 carries.

“Beckett Savage, he has a keen eye out there. Once he gets through the hole, he moves well,” Klossner said.

With the Lumberjacks holding the lead through the first quarter, Cody Spann ran from 20 yards back for the first score for the Falcons. Spann was a nightmare for the Tupper Lake defense – he finished the game with five total touchdowns. Parker Kristoff ran in for the two point conversion to make the game 8-8.

Spann followed up his touchdown by running from even further back for a 40 yard touchdown.

Savage then muscled his way through for a 1 yard score, before Spann completed a 44 yard pass to Clayton Kreager for the score.

Tupper Lake’s Jayden Farnsworth throws the football down the field during Friday’s game against South Lewis. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

Needing some momentum before halftime, Farnsworth found Grant Godin, who was wide open in the back of the end zone for a 13 yard passing touchdown to go in to halftime down only four points.

“Our line did a real good job blocking,” Klossner said. “Jayden Farnsworth did a great job of putting the ball out there. We had our receivers Grant Godin and Jack Desmarais, we were hitting different guys. I think we were keeping them pretty honest with the different recievers. I’m just proud of the way we threw it and caught.”

After a scoreless third quarter, Farnsworth scored his first rushing touchdown of the game, followed by a 55 yard pass from Spann to Dan Ortlieb, making the score 32-28.

With little time left in the game, Tupper Lake’s Farnsworth rushed in for the go ahead score. Farnsworth capped off the touchdown with a successful two point conversion to make the game 36-28.

With right around two minutes left in the game, South Lewis was given the chance to win the game. On the first play, Falcons’ Spann threw a short pass to Ortileb, who ran past everyone for the 55 yard score.

“That was a call that the kids have been telling me works all game,” South Lewis head coach Mike Absolom said. “We ran it three or four different times and scored. That’s our senior leaders, quarterback Cody Spann and Dan Ortileb, they have been together. They are like brothers.”

On the final drive of the game, Tupper Lake faced a crucial fourth down. Farnsworth threw a 24 yard pass from in to the hands of Desmarais to set up the potential game winner.

The Lumberjacks fought hard, but without a spike, the time ran out.

“We play Tupper Lake great,” Absolom said. “They come and they always play us hard. Every time we play them it’s heart attack city. For our team we needed this – we have been down for a couple weeks. This is the team, I know we can be. This is the way South Lewis plays.”

With the loss, the Lumberjacks fall to 1-2 on the season. The team will travel to take on a 0-4 Weedsport Central team on Friday.

South Lewis 40, Tupper Lake 36

SL 0 24 0 16

TL 8 12 0 16

Scoring

First Quarter

TL – Savage 24 run (Savage run)

Second Quarter

SL – Spann 20 run (Kristoff run)

SL – Spann 40 run (Ortlieb pass from Spann)

TL – Savage 1 run (2 pt conversion failed)

SL- Kreager 40 pass from Spann (Spann run)

TL – Godin 13 pass from Farnsworth (2 pt conversion failed)

Fourth Quarter

TL – Farnsworth 3 run (Desmarais pass from Farnsworth)

SL – Ortlieb 55 pass from Spann (Kristoff run)

TL- Farnsworth 1 run (Farnsworth run)

SL – Ortlieb 49 pass from Spann (Spann run)

Individual Statistics

Rushing

TL – Savage 35-216 2 TDs, Farnsworth 9-39 2TDS, Robillard 1-4, Desmarais 1-6

SL – Ortlieb 14-50, Spann 12-168 2 TDs, Kristoff 11-90

Passing

TL – Farnsworth 8-16-0- 154 1 TD

SL – Spann 4-6-0- 227 3 TDs

Receiving

TL – Godin 4-94 TD, Desmarais 4-60

SL – Kreager 1-40 1 TD, Ortlieb 3-187 2 TDs

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.75/week.

Subscribe Today