After notching a pair tight triumphs in nailbiters to kick off their campaign, the Red Storm cruised to a 37-16 victory over AuSable Valley Saturday at Wilson-Raymond Field on homecoming day.

Saranac Lake’s impressive beginning this fall is a far cry from a year ago, when the team struggled to a 1-8 record while being outscored by a 317-104 margin.

“We just wanted to get back to playing hard-nosed physical football,” Red Storm head coach Eric Bennett said. “It’s all about accountablilty throughout our program. The kids, the coaches, from modified, JV and varsity are being held accountable every day and have the goal of improving every day. We are heading in the right direction.”

Saranac Lake rolled out to a 30-0 lead against the winless Patriots, and after allowing a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns, the hosts rounded out the scoring when senior Zack Goetz returned an interception 36 yards for a touchdown with less than two minutes remaining on the game clock.

Red Storm defensive lineman Andrew Gay (71) celebrates a successful goal-line stand that kept the Patriots off the scoreboad during the first quarter of Saturday’s game at Wilson-Raymond Field. (Provided photo — Lou Reuter)

Junior running back David Montroy paced a balanced Red Storm offensive charge, scoring two touchdowns while piling up 79 rushing yards on 11 carries. Nine runners combined for 220 yards on the ground for Saranac Lake.

Goetz, Saranac Lake’s starting quarterback, added another touchdown on a 1-yard scamper, and Scottie Nicholas was also credited with a Red Storm touchdown when he scooped up a loose ball in the end zone for the first points of the afternoon on the hosts’ opening possession. Nicholas, a junior, also connected on a 30-yard field goal late in second quarter that sent his team into halftime with a 10-0 edge.

Saranac Lake tacked on touchdowns on three straight possessions after intermission to put the game out of reach.

AuSable Valley, which lost its first two games by a combined 100-0 score, started with the ball and went three-and-out and punted, giving Saranac Lake the ball at its own 22. The Red Storm then strung together a nine-play march to get on the board.

On the touchdown play, Montroy ran up the middle from the 11-yard line but fumbled just shy of the goal line. Fortunately for the Red Storm, the ball went in the end zone and Nicholas made the recovery for a 6-0 lead, with the following point-after kick sailing through the uprights.

Saranac Lake’s Chayse Delosh (74) and Zane Ragsdale combine to drop AuSable Valley ball carrier Hayden Bombard during Saturday’s game at Wilson-Raymond Field. (Provided photo — Lou Reuter)

The Patriots mounted a march of their own, driving from their 28 all the way to Saranac Lake’s 2-yard line before the Red Storm defense came up with a key goal-line stand to get the ball back while preserving their lead.

Nicholas added the only other points of the opening half, drilling a 30-yard field goal to up Saranac Lake’s edge to 10-0 with 2:18 left in the second quarter.

The Red Storm marched 58 yards for a touchdown on the first possession of the second half, with Montroy reaching the end zone on a 27-yard burst. Montroy crossed the goal line again from the three on Saranac Lake’s next series, with Nicholas booting the conversion kick to up the lead to 23-0 midway through the third quarter.

Saranac Lake’s next touchdown came on the first play of the fourth quarter when Goetz sprinted around the left side of his line into the corner of the end zone on a 1-yard keeper.

After failing to score in their first 11 quarters of the season, the Patriots picked up their first points of 2024 when sophomore quarterback Aiden Blaise hooked up with Hayden Bombard on a 54-yard touchdown pass 45 seconds into the final quarter. Blaise then completed the conversion pass to Jonathan Fletcher to move the score to 30-8. The Patriots scored again on a five-play, 45-yard drive capped off by an 11-yard touchdown run by Dylan Bombard. The score was followed by a successful conversion pass from Blaise to Isaiah Lawrence, which cut AuSable Valley’s deficit to 30-16 with 8:13 still remaining in the game.

As it turned out, that’s all the points the Patriots could muster the rest of the way. With the clock winding down, Goetz gave Saranac Lake’s homecoming fans a final thrill, picking off a Blaise pass and returning it 36 yards for a score with 1:21 left in the matchup.

Owen Lawrence, a talented sophomore who is one of two Lake Placid student-athletes playing football for the Red Storm varsity squad, finished with 59 rushing yards on 11 carries.

“Coming over from Lake Placid, the guys on this team really welcomed me,” he said. “I played JV here last season, and we’re all brothers. I’m having so much fun. Our line, they played great today. They opened all kinds of holes.”

A son of former Saranac Lake line coach Wade Montroy, David Montroy grew up on the Red Storm’s side lines, running water and footballs into games ever since he was a youngster.

“I started doing that when I was in first or second grade, and I’ve always dreamed of being out there playing,” he said. “It’s great. I’m living the dream.”

Three games into the season, Bennett said all the hard work his players and staff have put in have really paid off so far.

“The kids worked incredibly hard preparing for this season,” Bennett said. “We ran the ball well, we played physical defense, and we’re doing the little things right, which is something we are really putting an emphasis on. That field goal that gave us an important two-score lead before halftime is one example. And that early goal-line stand, that was just huge for us.”

Deon Lawyer, a sophomore, paced the Patriots with 38 rushing yards on 13 attempts and Dylan Bombard added 36 yards on six carries. Blaise finished with eight completions and 127 yards passing on 18 attempts in the loss.

Saranac Lake, the only unbeaten team remaining in Section VII, now has a bye and will put its unblemished record on the line in its next game when it hosts an explosive Beekmantown opponent at Wilson-Raymond Field starting at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 5.

AuSable Valley next plays Saturday when it hosts Saranac Central with the opening kickoff slated for 1 p.m.

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Saranac Lake 37, AuSable Valley 16

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Patriots 0 0 0 16 — 16

Red Storm 7 3 13 14 — 37

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SCORING

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First Quarter

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SL — Nicholas fumble recovery in end zone (Nicholas kick), 7:11

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Second Quarter

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SL — Nicholas 30 field goal, 9:42

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Third Quarter

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SL — Montroy 27 run (Kick missed), 2:29

SL — Montroy 3 run (Nicholas kick), 5:18

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Fourth Quarter

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SL — Goetz 1 run (Nicholas kick), 00:07

AV — Hayden Bombard 54 pass from Aiden Blaise (Fletcher pass from Blaise), 00:45

AV — Dylan Bombard 11 run (I. Lawrence pass from Blaise), 8:13

SL — Goetz 36 interception return (Lawrence kick), 10:39

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Individual Statistics

RUSHING

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AV — Lawyer 13-38; Fletcher 3-8; Pray 1-0; Brown 1-3; D. Bombard 6-36, TD; Blaise 1-(-11); H. Bombard 1-19. Totals: 36-93, TD.

SL — Lawrence 11-59; Martelle 5-16; Montroy 11-79, 2TDs; Nicholas 4-55; Goetz 3-10, TD; Cleator 3-(-2); Drinkwine 2-(-1); Coventry 1-4. Totals: 40-220, 3TDs.

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PASSING

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AV — Blaise 8-18-1-127, TD.

SL — Goetz 3-6-0-46.

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RECEIVING

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AV — H. Bombard 4-88, TD; Brown 2-20; Fletcher 1-6; Lawrence 1-13. Totals: 8-127, TD.

SL — B. Harvey 2-40; Nicholas 1-6. Totals: 3-46.

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INTERCEPTIONS

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SL — Goetz