MINEVILLE — Saranac is adding another wrinkle to its ground-and-pound game.
“I think just involving everyone in our offense works well with us,” Spartan quarterback Corbin Duffield said. “Gets the defense on their toes, not knowing what to expect.”
Known primarily for passing, Saranac (1-2, 1-1 CVAC) used its passing game on the way to defeat Moriah (0-3, 0-2 CVAC), 32-14, Friday at Linney Field.
Coming off its loss to Beekmantown the week prior, the Spartans have momentum that carried into Friday’s game. Saranac could have more points but had three drives stall in the redzone, including one Viking interception by Austin Mandy.
“Penalties can kill drives,” Spartan head coach Dylan Everleth said. “We had a holding penalty, on a touchdown that got called back, for example. I definitely think, you know, we were capable of putting more up there.
“We didn’t punt today, which is always a great day for the offense…. And I really think we’re taking a step in the right direction, and we’re a better football team than we were last week, which is the goal.”
Saranac took control early after Caleb Champagne intercepted a pass from Joey Kazlo giving the Spartans a short field to work with. Just a few plays later, Skyler Walker dashed down the left sideline 20 yards out for a touchdown.
Moriah cut into the lead when Jaydin Hughes scored from 22 yards out after the Vikings recovered a fumble.
After the score was 8-6, Saranac would go on to score 24 unanswered points to put the game away and grab its first wins of the season.
“Consistency has got to be our thing this year,” Everleth said. “We’ve got to show up each week, and we’ve got to have four good quarters. It’s very hard to win football games, if we’re stalling in a quarter, whether it’s in the beginning of the game or late in the game.
“We’re going to take this and show up a better team next week. And you know, the goal is to win every week. I think we’re in a good spot.”
After Hughes’ touchdown, Saranac marched down the field and capped the drive when Duffield found Branigan Boulds for a five yard touchdown in the closing seconds of the first half.
Walker added a touchdown on a five yard blast to start the third quarter, and shift Moriah into passing the ball more.
This culminated with Zander Daniels intercepting Kazlo near midfield and returning it for a touchdown. The interception by Daniels was the fourth one of the night.
“We came in here with pretty good intensity,” Walker said. “I’d say we felt pretty good. We felt like we’re gonna win this game tonight. I feel like we played hard for the fans, for our coaches and everyone that showed up tonight.”
But, Moriah didn’t quit. With seconds remaining on the clock, Kazlo threw a 33 yard touchdown pass to Bo McGinness and added a two point connection to Kohin Sargent.
“We have to work out the kinks,” Everleth said. We got our run game going a little bit today.we followed up some passes and the goal is always to try to split it 5050 or really, whatever the defense is giving us.
“As Corbin settles in – he’s a first year varsity quarterback – he can make some great reads and throws a good ball. We’ve got good receivers that can make plays. So, we’re going to take what the defense gives us and put points on the board the best way we can.”
Saranac returns home for its third game in four weeks in the friendly confines to host AuSable Valley, Saturday at 1 p.m. Moriah remains home to host Plattsburgh, Friday at 7 p.m.
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Saranac 32, Moriah 14
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MCS;0;6;0;8;-;14
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
S- Walker 20 run (Walker run) 8:41
Second Quarter
M- Hughes 22 run (XP failed) 3:10
S- Boulds 5 pass from Duffield (Boulds from Duffield) :28
Third Quarter
S- Walker 5 run (Walker run) 9:13
Fourth Quarter
S- Daniels 45 interception (Boulds from Duffield) 4:38
M- McGinness 33 pass from Kazlo (Sargent from Kazlo) :04
Individual Statistics
Rushing
S- Walker, 15-84, 2 TD. Daniels 6-41, Duffield 7-25, Bould 1-19. TOTAL: 29-169, 2 TD
M- J. Hughes, 15-51, 1 TD. Bobbie, 5-6. Kazlo, 3-(-4), Holbrook, 2-6. TOTALS: 25-59, 1 TD
Passing
S- Duffield 9-16-1-122, TD
M- Kazlo 4-12-4-85, TD
Receiving
S- Boulds 7-84, 1 TD. Bingham 1-32. Scovil 1-6
M- Sargent 2-22, Mandy 1-30, McGinness 1-33
Interceptions
S- Champagne, Duffield, Richards, Daniels
M- Mandy
