Saranac becomes winningest team in school history after 43-12 victory

CLINTONVILLE | It's been a season of firsts for Saranac's football program. The Spartans clinched their first-ever Champlain Valley Athletic Conference title three weeks ago, and on Saturday, Nov. 4, they entered all-new territory once again. Saranac earned a 43-12 victory over Saranac Lake to win the Section VII Class C title and become the winningest team in school history at 8-1. The varsity program dates back to 1967. "This is a really, really special team," Spartans senior Alex Clancy said. "The work we put in. Just the motivation coming into the season, the motivation coming into playoffs. Just everything all came together." The Spartans, under the direction of head coach Dylan Everleth, had seven-win seasons in 2018 and 2022. "Just a special group, man," Everleth said. "These kids have been together since they were freshmen on varsity, and they've done all the right things and everything we've asked as coaches. Everything that they've had this year has been well deserved, and they've done everything they need to do to be there, so I'm just super proud of them." Saranac raced out to a 22-0 lead in the first quarter on rushing touchdowns from Zander Daniels and Nathan Hamel. In the second quarter, Caswell McCoy hauled in a 10-yard touchdown pass from Zack Lucia, and Clancy reached the end zone after an 18-yard run. The Spartans led by as much as 43-0. "We usually start the game pretty slow," Clancy said. "So we knew if we put up points in the first quarter, first half even, we'd get it done nice and early." Saranac rolled up 233 yards and five touchdowns on the ground, and Lucia completed 7-of-8 passes for 179 yards and a scoring toss. The Red Storm's Cedar Rivers snagged a 14-yard touchdown pass from Evan Willette with 1:20 left in the third quarter, and Willette added a 13-yard touchdown run with 3:49 to play. The Spartans held Saranac Lake to 102 yards. Saranac will meet Gouverneur, the Northern Athletic Conference and Section X Class C champion, in a NYSPHSAA sub-regional at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 10, at Plattsburgh High. The Wildcats won last year's contest, 14-3. Clancy indicated the loss to Moriah in the Spartans' regular-season finale has further motivated the team. "Toward the end of the season like that, a lot of people were like, 'Ah, sweet. We're gonna go undefeated,'" Clancy said. "But we kind of let that get the best of us, and we kind of got a little bit lazy. Moriah came to play football, and they beat us. "And after that, the whole team realized, especially that Monday practice right after, we can't take anybody lightly. We got to come in and play the best football we possibly can every single game no matter who we're playing." -- Saranac 43, Saranac Lake 12 Saranac Lake 0 0 6 6 – 12 Saranac 22 14 7 0 – 43 First quarter S- Daniels 24 run (Hamel kick), 9:47. S- Hamel 2 run (DeAngelo pass from Clancy), 3:55. S- Hamel 18 run (Hamel kick), 1:12. Second quarter S- McCoy 10 pass from Lucia (Hamel kick), 7:21. S- Clancy 8 run (Hamel kick), 3:44. Third quarter S- Lucia 6 run (Hamel kick), 7:35. SL- Rivers 14 pass from Willette (run failed), 1:20. Fourth quarter SL- Willette 13 run (pass failed), 3:49. Individual statistics Rushing SL- Muncil 12-74; Willette 11-17, TD; Coventry 1-(-4); Goetz 6-(-12); Montroy 3-(-5); Moffatt 2-18. Totals: 35-88, TD. S- Hamel 7-41, 2TD; Daniels 5-57, TD; Lucia 3-57, TD; Clancy 2-19, TD; Bouvia 8-46; Poulin 1-5; Duffield 2-8. Totals: 28-233, 5TD. Passing SL- Goetz 0-5-0-0; Willette 1-2-0-14, TD. Totals: 1-7-0-14, TD. S- Lucia 7-8-1-179, TD. Receiving SL- Rivers 1-14, TD. S- Clancy 4-76; DeAngelo 2-93; McCoy 1-10, TD. Interceptions SL- Goetz.

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Saranac becomes winningest team in school history after 43-12 victory

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