The Lumberjacks, whose roster includes a bunch of first-time varsity players, suffered a 36-12 loss to the Thousand Islands Vikings at home, but head coach Dennis Klossner said he was happy with how his squad played.

“Of course, not with the score and the big plays — they hurt us — but we were very physical,” he said. “We had some hitting. The pads were hitting. It was nice. You could hear the pads out there. I was very happy with the improvement.”

Tupper Lake’s Liam McClain turned in a solid effort, rushing for a team-high 97 yards and a touchdown. The Lumberjacks finished with 173 yards of offense.

Meanwhile, Thousand Islands churned up 388 yards of offense, most of which came from its quarterback, Thomas Bernhardt. The sophomore signal caller was lights out on the ground, rushing for a game-high 136 yards, while scoring two touchdowns. But that was expected heading into the contest.

Tupper Lake’s Knaullyn Durfee looks to make a play downfield during Friday’s game against Thousand Islands. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

What wasn’t — or at least not to this extent — was his passing game. Bernhardt completed 14 passes for 211 yards.

“(Bernhardt) runs the ball constantly,” Klossner said. “But they saw we were vulnerable to the pass. We got a lot of linebacker-tight guys in coverage, but they’re getting better at it. I mean, we had a lot of knockdowns. The guys are in a good position. I know there were some flights for pass interference (calls), but I thought — on my side — I’ll call them good plays defensively. So, I was still happy with our pass coverage, even though they threw it on us. But we got better at that, too.”

Bernhardt connected on a pair of touchdown strikes in the first half to give his team a 14-0 lead. Bernhardt first connected with Cayden Spies for a 64-yard score in the first quarter, before finding Cole Bryant for a 5-yard touchdown in the second.

The Vikings extended their lead to 22-0 when Seth Fulton reached paydirt on a 12-yard carry in the second quarter. Thousand Islands converted on three of their six 2-point attempts.

After giving up the score, McClain took the ensuing kickoff all the way to the 50-yard line before reaching the endzone on the next play on a handoff.

“That play opened up for Liam McClain because Colin Bencze had a great seal on the end,” Klossner said. “And Cohen (Gerstenberger) kicked out (Bernhardt) their big guy, and they just opened it up and (McClain) took off down sideline, which was nice.”

Despite gaining a little bit of momentum prior to halftime, the Lumberjacks fumbled on their opening second-half drive, giving the Vikings the ball on the Tupper Lake 31. It only took Bernhardt a few plays before scoring on the ground — this time on a 3-yard run.

After that score, however, the Tupper Lake defense held strong, holding Thousand Islands to just one touchdown — a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter — the remainder of the way, while forcing two turnovers on downs.

“We made some adjustments on the fly, which now we’re getting to be able to do,” Klossner said. “Earlier in the season, we weren’t able to because we’re so young and inexperienced. But I was happy (with their effort). The tackling got a lot better.”

While trailing 30-6, the Lumberjacks faced a third and long, as quarterback Knaullyn Durfee connected with a wide-open Gerstenberger, who ran 75 yards for Tupper Lake’s second touchdown.

“We saw that they weren’t really covering the tight; they were trying to hold the tight up,” Klossner said. “So we went with the double-tight and with Colin Bencze at tight, they held him first, and they just went after him because they hadn’t seen Cohen at tight, and Cohen was able to release. That was the plan just to get him out there. So it opened it up, and of course, it didn’t matter what kind of pass it was; it just had to get there. That’s all we wanted. Just get there and let them go. Then, with Cohen being a track runner, he just opened him up and went.”

Klossner said he was happy that his team was able to move the ball a lot better in the second half.

“Gerstenberger had a great game on both sides of the ball,” he said. “I mean, he’s just all over the place. And Liam did a good job offensively. That’s just a good defensive team.”

The Lumberjacks, which dropped to 0-4, will hit the road for their next two contests. They’ll take on the Clinton Comets at 7 p.m. on Friday, before facing the South Lewis Falcons at 6 p.m. on Oct. 17.

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Thousand Islands 36, Tupper Lake 12

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Vikings 6 16 8 6 — 36

Lumberjacks 0 6 6 0 — 12

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First Quarter

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TI — Spies 64 pass from Bernhardt (2-point failed), 1:14

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Second Quarter

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TI — Bryant 5 pass from Bernhardt (Bernhardt run), 10:55

TI — Fulton 12 run (Spies from Bernhardt), 4:02

TL — McClain 50 run (Run failed), 3:51

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Third Quarter

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TI — Bernhardt 3 run (Bernhardt run), 9:53

TL — Gerstenberger 75 pass from Durfee (Run failed), 00:54

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Fourth Quarter

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TI — Bernhardt 1 run (Pass failed), 4:30

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Individual Statistics

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RUSHING

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TL — McClain 14-93, TD; McDonald 3-(-4); Durfee 2-(-1); Fleishman 1-7; Gerstenberger 1-2. Totals: 21-97, TD.

TI — Bernhardt 21-136, 2TDs; Spies 10-29; Fulton 7-22, TD; Team 1-(-10). Totals: 38-177, 3TDs.

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PASSING

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TL — Durfee 2-4-0-70, TD; Fleishman 1-2-0-6. Totals: 3-6-0-76, TD

TI — Bernhardt 14-29-1-211, 2TDs.

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RECIEVING

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TL — Gerstenberger 1-75, TD; Dukett 1-6; McClain 1-(-5). Totals: 3-76, TD.

TI — Bryant 9-88, TD; Spies 4-116, TD; Rios 1-7. Totals: 14-221, 2TDs.

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INTERCEPTIONS

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TL — McClain.