Although Friday night’s matchup between Saranac Lake and AuSable Valley included just a single touchdown by each team, fans stayed on the edge of their seats from start to finish.

Playing at home for the third week in a row at their new Wilson-Raymond Field, the Red Storm notched all their points on special teams plays to come through with a 14-9 victory over the Patriots to improve to 2-1 overall and 1-1 in Champlain Valley Athletic Conference action.

Saranac Lake started with a bang when senior Scottie Nicholas took the opening kickoff 84 yards to the house. But the hosts didn’t get into the end zone the rest of the way, collecting the remainder of their points on a conversion pass and a pair of successful field goals, all from junior Owen Lawrence.

AuSable Valley outgained Saranac Lake on offense 259-162, but when it came to success in the red zone, the Patriots walked away with just three points on a trio of drives that ended inside Saranac Lake’s 20, including trips that reached the Red Storm’s 4- and 7-yard lines. The Red Storm was especially strong with its pass rush, sacking AuSable Valley quarterback Aiden Blaise five times.

Saranac Lake senior Scottie Nicholas finds room to run while returning the opening kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown in Friday’s high school football game against AuSable Valley at Wilson-Raymond Field. (Provided photo — Lou Reuter)

“Our defense continues to play tough,” Saranac Lake head coach Eric Bennett said. “It’s hard sometimes when you continue to give teams short fields, but we’ve definitely been a bend-but-don’t-break type of defense. We definitely have a ton of work to do, but a victory is a victory and we’ll take it.”

On the game’s first play, Nicholas hauled in the opening kickoff at the 16-yard line along the Patriots’ sideline. The senior then dashed across the field toward the Red Storm bench, cut upfield and followed a wall of blockers into the end zone. Quarterback Evan Harvey followed with a successful two-point conversion pass to Lawrence to give Saranac Lake an 8-0 edge just 12 seconds into the contest.

The teams then traded punts on three-and-out possessions, and the second time the Patriots had the ball, they marched from their own 31 to the Saranac Lake 15, but came up empty on a missed 38-yard field goal attempt by Lucas Dashnaw.

Saranac Lake’s offense again failed to gain a first down on its next possession, and a punt gave AuSable Valley the ball back at the Red Storm’s 48. The Patriots found room to move again and advanced all the way to Saranac Lake’s 4-yard line. But the Red Storm defense stiffened, forcing AuSable Valley to settle for a 25-yard field goal by Dashnaw, which moved the score to 8-3 with 3:25 gone in the second quarter.

Saranac Lake’s offense finally got into gear the third time it had the ball, and had to bounce back from a holding penalty to get things started. With a combination of runs and passes, the Red Storm marched from their 22 to AuSable Valley’s 6-yard line. This time, the Patriots’ defenders held strong with their backs to the goal line to send the Red Storm field goal unit onto the field. On what would be his first of three attempts in the game, Lawrence drilled a 20-yarder through the uprights with 3:05 left in the half, which ultimately sent Saranac Lake into intermission leading 11-3.

On the scoring drive, Red Storm sophomore quarterback Evan Harvey went 4-for-4 passing for 33 yards, while senior running back David Montroy rambled for 45 yards on three carries, including a 37-yard burst for a first down at the AuSable Valley 20.

The Patriots punted on their opening possession of the second half, and Saranac Lake took over with solid field position at its own 48. The Red Storm rattled off two big gains on a 12-yard run from sophomore Austin Webb-Brown, followed by a 22-yard pickup by Montroy, but the drive eventually came up empty on a missed 35-yard field goal attempt by Lawrence.

After keeping Saranac Lake off the board, AuSable Valley went a long way in a hurry, marching 80 yards in six plays for a touchdown, with junior Marco Amato capping the drive when he hauled in a screen pass from Blaise and sprinted 39 yards into the end zone.

Trailing 11-9 and looking for a deadlock, the Patriots turned to running back Deon Lawyer on the conversion run. After struggling to contain the junior for most of the game, Saranac Lake’s defense held him out of the end zone on a huge play that saw senior lineman Miles Frazier drop Lawyer short of the goal line with an open field tackle.

The Red Storm responded with another advance that reached the Patriots’ 12 and was capped off on Lawrence’s second successful field goal, a 29-yarder with one second remaining in the third quarter that upped Saranac Lake’s lead to 14-9.

AuSable Valley got a big return on the ensuing kickoff, with its offense taking the field at the Red Storm’s 45. The Patriots again drove deep into Saranac Lake’s end of the field, but came away empty and turned the ball over on downs 9 yards short of the end zone.

AuSable Valley’s defense came up with one last stop, forcing Saranac Lake into a three-and-out and a punt, giving the Patriots the ball at the Red Storm 43 with 2:59 left on the clock. The hosts, however, clamped down on defense, giving up just 15 yards while forcing AuSable Valley to turn the ball over on downs as the clock expired.

Despite struggling on offense, Saranac Lake was able to come up with a solid enough effort in all three phases to claim the win.

“When we really needed it, the kids made plays,” Bennett said. “I give a lot of credit to AuSable. They played hard. They gave us all we could handle, and we have a lot of tape to watch from this one.

“We have a lot of work to do technique-wise and just figuring out what to do when we are a little outmatched,” continued Bennett. “We have to stay on our blocks, we have to figure out what double teams to give us advantages, and we have to be able to run between the tackles. You can’t win football games if you can’t do that.”

In his third varsity start, Evan Harvey finished with an 8-for-9 passing performance for 73 yards.

“I think we played alright. On pass plays, I had a lot of protection, I felt great back there,” Harvey said. “Our run game could have been a little better, but there is always room for improvement anyway. I think we have a lot of grit and determination. We want to be successful, and I think it shows. We show up for practice every day and work hard.”

For the Patriots, Blaise completed 12 passes on 22 attempts for 142 yards. Neither team turned the ball over in the contest. Lawyer was the game’s top ground gainer, finishing with 80 yards on 15 carries. Montroy led the way for Saranac Lake, picking up 78 yards on a dozen rushes.

“I think both teams were pretty good moving the ball,” Montroy said. “Defensively, I thought we played pretty good in the red zone, knowing what was at stake. We just had heart, and every play we brought it. We didn’t take a play off.”

“It was just a gritty game. Both teams fought really hard, and it was a close one,” Lawrence said. “We definitely came through on special teams. We returned a kick for a touchdown and had a couple of nice field goals. Special teams really won us the game.”

AuSable Valley, which fell to 1-2, next plays on the road against Saranac Central on Saturday, starting at 1 p.m.

After shutting out Moriah 35-0 at home a week ago for its first triumph of the season, Saranac Lake will look to notch its third win in a row when it hosts Ticonderoga under the lights Friday, with the opening kickoff slated for 7 p.m.

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Saranac Lake 14, AuSable Valley 9

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Red Storm 8 3 3 0 — 14

Patriots 0 3 6 0 — 9

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Scoring

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First Quarter

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SL — S. Nicholas 84 kickoff return (Lawrence pass from E. Harvey), 00:12

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Second Quarter

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AV — Lucas Dashnaw 25 field goal, 3:25

SL — Lawrence 20 field goal, 8:55

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Third Quarter

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AV — Marco Amato 39 pass from Aiden Blaise (run failed), 8:19

SL — Lawrence 29 field goal, 11:50

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Individual Statistics

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RUSHING

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AV — Blaise 7-(-11); Lawyer 15-80; Pray 6-15; Dashnaw 3-27; Amaro 3-6. Totals: 34-117.

SL — Montroy 12-78; S. Nicholas 2-13; E. Harvey 3-(-10); Martelle 2-(-6); Webb-Brown 2-14. Totals: 21-89.

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PASSING

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AV — Blaise 12-22-0-142 TD.

SL — E. Harvey 8-9-0-73.

RECEIVING

AV — Lawyer 2-18; Amato 4-56, TD; Pray 4-42; Leclair-Kennedy 1-1; Dashnaw 1-25. Totals: 12-142, TD.

SL — Martelle 2-6; B. Harvey 1-15; S. Nicholas 2-4; Webb-Brown 1-29; Lawrence 2-19. Totals: 8-73.