The Red Storm rallied from 17 points down in the second half to stun the host Beekmantown Eagles 28-24, in one of the team’s grittiest performances all season.

“Our kids certainly embodied that tonight,” Saranac Lake’s head coach Eric Bennett said. “They had great ideas to contribute to our halftime adjustments, in between our coaching adjustments and what the kids suggested. We put together a second half that you dream about.”

Trailing 24-7 midway through the third quarter, Saranac Lake scored touchdowns on three straight drives, while its defense caused havoc, limiting the Eagles to just 48 yards of offense from that point on.

Red Storm senior David Montroy ran for a go-ahead, 25-yard touchdown run with 7:44 left, while fellow senior Scottie Nicholas nailed the extra-point kick to push the lead to four.

Saranac Lake’s Braydon Harvey tries to find space in the Beekmantown defense during Friday’s road game. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

After trailing for the first time all evening, Beekmantown was on the verge of avoiding defeat as quarterback Hunter Porter led a six-play march to the Saranac Lake 20-yard line.

But just as quickly as the hosts reached the red zone, their hopes were dashed even faster as Nicholas laid a hard tackle, popping the ball loose from Porter’s hands. The Red Storm’s Tryon Haltigan was right there to land on top of it.

“I did that with correct form, and results happened,” Nicholas said, who noted hitting low was something his assistant coach and grandfather, John Muldowney, preached the team to do all week.

The Red Storm’s unlikely comeback marked the first time a Saranac Lake varsity football squad has overcome a double-digit second-half deficit since 2018.

“It could have been a much different story tonight,” Bennett said. (But) it’s not. We’re pretty excited for our kids, and hopefully we can just keep it going here.”

Saranac Lake’s Evan Harvey pushes off Beekmantown’s Lucas Beauregard during Friday’s game. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

Friday’s performance was a sharp contrast from its outing a week ago, when the Red Storm were shut out by Saranac Central and held to just 115 yards of offense. This time around, the squad used a balanced attack to churn up 434 total yards.

“We’re trying to bring a little more creativity to our offense and get the ball in the hands of our playmakers,” Bennett said. “It’s not rocket science. But, I think our kids are settling into the scheme and hopefully we can carry this forward.”

Quarterback Evan Harvey completed 20 of 29 passes for 237 yards and a touchdown. He connected with his cousin Braydon Harvey on 10 of those passes for 92 yards.

Meanwhile, Montroy turned in a monstrous outing, rushing for a career-high 174 yards while reaching the endzone three times on 18 carries.

“I knew I was going to have to have a big game if we wanted to get it done,” Montroy said. “They have some weapons. But at the end of the day, all it takes is a couple of plays to give our boys momentum.”

He wasn’t kidding.

After allowing the Eagles to march 77 yards on the opening drive of the second half, where Porter found former Tupper Laker Garrett Pelkey for a 16-yard touchdown strike, Saranac Lake’s Sam Duprey ripped through the Beekmantown offensive line to block the extra point kick.

And from that moment on, things started to change.

On the ensuing drive, the Red Storm seemingly marched with ease as Montroy reached paydirt on a 4-yard carry to help push the score to 24-14. After Saranac Lake’s defense forced a three-and-out punt, momentum really started to shift.

On the very first play of the drive, Evan Harvey found Nicholas near the sideline, who shed off a pair of Beekmantown defenders before running 78 yards to reach the endzone. Nicholas, who was filling in at kicker for the injured Owen Lawrence, sent the extra point through the uprights, making the score 24-21. The senior nailed all four of his point-after attempts.

“Scottie’s an electric player and for him to break it up the sideline like that, and take it to the house … What a momentum builder,” Bennett said. “I think our conditioning helped us in the second half, too. I think that we were able to sustain energy.”

The Red Storm took advantage of a drained Eagles defense, and shifted their focus toward the ground game as Montroy ran through sizeable holes and broke numerous tackles on the way to giving his team the lead.

“Every play our line, Alius (Martelle) and just everybody was blocking,” he said. “We were just executing, and we got it done.”

Montroy admitted that it might’ve been the most fun he’s ever had.

“I love football … And I love when my line just knows they’re going to get the blocks and I can just go free and have fun,” he said, with a big smile.

Saranac Lake’s win snapped a two-game losing skid to improve to 5-3 overall, with sectional playoffs kicking off next week. Its opponents, Beekmantown, had also entered Friday’s contest in a bit of a slump, having lost three of its last four games. But that wouldn’t have been as clear to those in attendance during the early stages.

The Eagles took a 6-0 lead on the opening drive after Porter found Blake Rock for a 28-yard touchdown. Porter then made the score 12-0 when he reached the endzone on a 4-yard scamper halfway through the second quarter.

Porter completed 15 of 21 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns. He also added 65 yards on the ground. Pelkey led his team with six catches for 78 yards and a score.

Saranac Lake managed to make it a one-score game, following a 5-yard touchdown run from Montroy with 1:21 left before halftime. However, Beekmantown’s Shamus Bibeau returned the ensuing kickoff 81 yards for a touchdown, pushing the score to 18-7 at the break.

While Pelkey scored on the Eagles’ first drive of the second half, it wasn’t quite enough to limit the Red Storm’s rally. Beekmantown wraps up the regular season with a 4-4 overall record. Next up for the Eagles is the Section VII, Class B championship game, where they will face the Champlain Valley Athletic Conference champion Peru Nighthawks.

Meanwhile, Saranac Lake will host the AuSable Valley Patriots in the Section VII, Class C semifinal game this week, with the date and time yet to be determined. Whoever emerges victorious will take on the winner of Saranac Central and Plattsburgh.

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Saranac Lake 28, Beekmantown 24

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Eagles 6 12 6 0 — 24

Red Storm 0 7 14 7 — 28

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SCORING

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First quarter

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B — Rock 28 pass from Porter (kick missed), 00:31

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Second quarter

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B — Porter 4 run (Run failed), 7:37

SL — Montroy 5 run (S. Nicholas kick), 1:21

B — Bibeau 81 kickoff return (Pass failed), 1:07

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Third quarter

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B — Pelkey 16 pass from Porter (Kick blocked), 8:32

SL — Montroy 4 run (S. Nicholas kick), 3:39

SL — S. Nicholas 74 pass from E. Harvey (S. Nicholas kick), 1:52

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Fourth quarter

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SL — Montroy 25 run (S. Nicholas kick), 7:44

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Individual statistics

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RUSHING

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SL — Montroy 18-174, 3TDs; Martelle 4-17; E. Harvey 2-6; S. Nicholas 4-6; Team 2-(-6). TOTALS: 30-197, 3TDs.

B — Porter 16-65.

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PASSING

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SL — E. Harvey 20-29-1-237, TD; Martelle 0-1-0-0. Totals: 20-30-1-237, TD.

B — Porter 15-21-0-195, 2TDs; Finley 0-1-0-0; Bibeau 0-1-0-0. TOTALS: 15-23-0-195, 2TDs.

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RECIEVING

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SL — B. Harvey 10-92; S. Nicholas 5-109, TD; Webb-Brown 3-17; Martelle 2-19. TOTALS: 20-237, TD.

B — Pelkey 6-78, TD; Bibeau 5-67; Brodi 3-22; Rock 1-28, TD. TOTALS: 15-195, 2TDs.

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INTERCEPTIONS

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B — Rock.