SARANAC LAKE — Bright lights, a packed house and a brand new turf field.
In what may have been the Saranac Lake football team’s first-ever home Friday night football game, the evening had the makings of something special.
However, the Massena Raiders spoiled the night, securing a 20-7 win over the Red Storm in the first gridiron contest on the new Wilson-Raymond field.
Saranac Lake led by 7-6 at halftime, but after coughing up four second-half turnovers, which the Raiders capitalized on a couple of, any chance at a victory slipped away.
The Red Storm held strong on their first turnover — an interception on their second drive in the second half — but the same couldn’t be said about the third. Saranac Lake coughed up a fumble on its own 22-yard line, and Massena used just four plays before Mason Deshane reached paydirt on an 11-yard carry to claim a 12-7 lead.
“When we try to run a toss sweep and put the ball on the turf in our end, and they recover it, giving them a short field, it’s a really tough ask,” Saranac Lake head coach Eric Bennett said. “I thought our defense played pretty well tonight. And you get a short field, it’s tough to maintain that intensity or the ability to stop them over time.”
The offensive mistakes continued on the Red Storm’s ensuing drive as Massena’s Drake Love intercepted a pass at midfield and took it the distance for the score, essentially sealing the game with a successful 2-point conversion run by Deshane.
“No one’s gonna win a ball game with minus two (turnovers), let alone minus four (turnovers), right?We’ve got a young squad and some positions and they’re just going to keep getting better and better,” Bennett said. “Our kids are resilient. They’re going to keep working. We’ve got a whole season to improve, and that’s our goal.”
After finishing 4-4 last season, Saranac Lake has some work to do with its young squad, but the talent is definitely there. The Red Storm has 15 underclassmen, including Evan Harvey, a sophomore quarterback who was starting for the first time in his young career on Friday.
Harvey completed eight of 18 passes in the game, while hooking up with junior Owen Lawrence on a 2-yard touchdown pass with 11 seconds left in the opening half. The Red Storm claimed the 7-6 lead, following a successful extra point kick from Scottie Nicholas.
The play was set up after Evan Harvey launched a deep pass to cousin Braydon Harvey, who burnt the Massena secondary for a 36-yard gain. The Red Storm reached the endzone for the first time on the new turf four plays later.
Lawrence led Saranac Lake with 47 yards of offense — 37 through the air on six catches and 10 on the ground on three runs. The Lake Placid student-athlete also had more than 50 returning yards.
“Owen Lawrence is a warrior,” Bennett said. “I mean, from punt returns to kicking off to tough runs, I mean, just having kids like that, it’s great, it’s incredible and we’re fortunate to have him, just like a lot of other kids.”
Saranac Lake did, however, have an off night when it came to its ground game. The team was limited to just 23 rushing yards on 21 carries.
“I mean, obviously, we’ve got to figure out some things up front,” Bennett said. “It’s tough to win ball games if we can’t run the ball. Everybody knows that.”
Deshane led the Raiders with 93 rushing yards on 20 carries, while Hunter Smith added 23 yards on the ground. Massena’s signal caller, Vincent Monacelli, completed nine of his 16 passes for 101 yards.
Monacelli converted on some deep shots, including a 46-yard throw to Lucas Regan on the Raiders’ second drive of the contest. After a near interception by Saranac Lake — and a few penalties — Monacelli completed a 6-yard pass to Regan for the go-ahead touchdown. Saranac Lake’s Miles Frazier blocked the extra-point kick, keeping the score to just six.
Despite some early woes, the Red Storm’s defense shone, as seniors Nicholas, Frazier and David Montroy were among those recording sacks and tackles for losses. Bennett thought his team’s defense played pretty stout.
“We gave him a lot of different looks, and we’re able to get some good penetration,” he said. “I think our kids have a good handle on what they’re doing there, and we knew that would be a strength of ours this year and hopefully it continues to be.”
Bennett said the outcome of Friday’s game was unfortunate, but added that it’s a long season and his team is going to get better. But as for the atmosphere in the first game at the new stadium, it couldn’t have been better.
The bleachers were packed and students, parents and community members decked out in the good ole Red and White, as Saranac Lake enters a new chapter in its athletics.
“It was great, we’re really thankful to have the fans that we have and the support that we have,” Bennett said. “It’s incredible that our community put together a jewel like this, and I’m glad our kids have a modern place to play. “I played on the old Wilson-Raymond field as so many other people did here, and have fond memories of it. This is a new era, and I’m glad our kids have something that is special.”
The Red Storm will return back the new Wilson-Raymond Field at 1 p.m. on Saturday, when the team hosts the Moriah Vikings. In their Week 0 matchup, the Vikings lost 34-0 to the Greenwich Witches in a non-league match.
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Massena 20, Saranac Lake 7
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SCORING
Second quarter
M — Regan 6 pass from Monacelli (kick blocked), 10:00
SL – Lawrence 2 pass from E. Harvey (Nicholas kick), 0:10
Fourth quarter
M — Deshane 11 run (pass failed), 10:48
M — Love 50 interception return (Deshane run), 8:48
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
M – Deshane 20-93, TD; Smith 8-23; Monacelli 5-2; Page 2-(-5); Francis 1-(-1); Team 3-(-54). Totals: 39-58, TD.
SL — Montroy 9-12; Nicholas 3-13; Lawrence 3-10; Martelle 1-1; E. Harvey 5-(-13). Totals: 21-23.
Passing
M — Monacelli 9-16-0-101, TD.
SL — E. Harvey 8-18-2-83, TD; Willett 0-1-1-0. Totals: 8-19-3-83, TD.
Receiving
M — Bentley 5-36; Regan 2-50, TD; Smith 1-8; Barcomb 1-7.
SL — Lawrence 6-37, TD; B. Harvey 1-36; Martelle 1-10.
Interceptions
M — Francis; Love; Smith.