Saranac outlasts Beekmantown, 17-14

Oct. 4—SARANAC — One play can change everything. It can swing momentum in your favor and it could be the deciding factor in a game.

The Chiefs had this moment early in the second half.

Trailing 7-3, Saranac lined up on defense preparing to stop the attack led by Beekmantown's Nathan Parliament.

When the play began, Isaiah Lopez burst through the line caused an Eagle fumble giving the Chiefs a short field to work with.

Starting at the 12 yard line, it took three straight runs by Saranac's Nathan Hamel to give the team a 10-7 lead they would not relinquish.

"Big turnover, Isaiah Lopez on the strip," Chiefs head coach Dylan Everleth said. "He got us the ball in our field position and we're able to punch one in and get another three-and-out. We're able to get another touchdown and momentum back we needed to ride the rest of the game."

Before that happened, it had been tough going for Saranac. The first half was filled with miscues and drive stalls. There was even a timeout spent to get the offense on the same page, which had to shake the cobwebs out.

After making adjustments in the second half the Chiefs looked like a different team. A team that leaned on their workhorse to get the job done.

Hamel led all rushers with 136 yards on 21 carries. His longest one was a 57 scamper that gave him his second touchdown of the day.

Hamel said the goal was to come out and gain momentum and simply run it down the Eagles' throat.

"I trust my o-line, my team and I knew they would get the job done," he said. "I just put my head down, ran for the hole and I knew it would be there."

Beekmantown fought tooth and nail to try to regain the lead. With their last drive of the game, the Eagles pushed to the Saranac 40 yard line. On fourth down, Parliament threw towards the end zone, only for the ball to drop off the fingertips of Parker Broughton.

"We talked all week that they're a big play team," Everleth said. "They stay in games and have a quarterback that can buy himself some time and make big plays down field."

Saranac would take over one downs, and run the last two minutes off the clock to secure the victory.

Scoring started early in the second quarter as the Chiefs controlled the ball for 15 plays before settling on a field goal from Hamel.

Beekmantown answered quickly when Parliament used his arms and legs to complete a 41-yard pass to Josh Sand to give the Eagles their only lead of the game.

After a quick three-and-out by Saranac gave Beekmantown a chance to extend their lead before halftime.

It could be argued that the momentum swing began with the last pass of the half when Parliament threw towards the end zone, only to have his pass intercepted by Sebastian Dandrow-Pellerin.

"We can't be perfect for 120 plays a game," Everleth said. "The biggest thing we've been preaching all week is when something goes bad, we have to move on to the next play and do whatever we can to get ourselves out of that hole and get momentum back on our side. I thought we did that well today."

Lopez would answer that call, and set the tone for the remainder of the game. When the final whistle blew the Chiefs were already looking towards their next opponent, Plattsburgh.

Hamel said the team is confident that they can hit the road and get the job done.

"Plattsburgh is a similar team, in that they have a mobile quarterback and they like to run," Everleth said. "They have a good running back. We just have to do our stuff well and if we can execute, and play our type of football, I like our odds."

Beekmantown looks to right the ship when they host AuSable Valley for a 7:30 kickoff, Friday. The Hornets and Chiefs clash is set for Saturday at 2:00 p.m.

—

Saranac 17, Beekmantown 14

SCS 0 3 14 0 — 17

BCS 0 7 7 0 — 14

Scoring

Second Quarter

SCS- Hamel kick, 4:50

BCS- Sand 41 pass from Parliament (Hagadorn kick), 2:44.

Third Quarter

SCS- Hamel 57 run (Hamel Kick), 6:57.

BCS- Parliament 5 run (Hagadorn kick), 3:31

Individual Statistics

Rushing

BCS- Broughton 6-22. Parliament 12-(-16)-1. Sweenor 6-8. TOTAL: 24-14-1

SCS- Hamel 21-136-2. Bouvia 6-33. Smith 6-7. Clancy 5-6. TOTAL: 38-182-2

Passing

BCS- Parliament 8-17-1-169, 1 TD

SCS- Smith 2-3-6

Receiving

BCS- Hagadorn 2-52. Sand 1-41, 1 TD. Sweenor 2-37. Willette 2-24. Dixon 1-15

SCS- Clancy 2-6

Interceptions

SCS- Clancy

Fumbles

SCS- Lopez