OFA overpowers Saranac Lake for title
OGDENSBURG — In its regular season victory over Saranac Lake, Ogdensburg Free Academy scored on its final play of the game to claim a dramatic football win.
On Friday night, the Blue Devils (9-1) scored on their first snap from center with a 35-yard touchdown pass from Jared Morrow to Jordan Remi, which proved to be an omen for the flow of a 25-14 victory that gave OFA the Section 10/7 Class C Championship and a trip to the Albany area to play the Section 2 champion. Hoosic Falls and Chatham face off for the Section 2 title tonight.
One play after linebacker Nevin Parish recovered a fumbled Saranac Lake option play, Morrow hit Remi perfectly in stride on a post pattern and Gene Bouyer followed with OFA's only PAT of the night.
Morrow, who was later honored as the Northern Conference Offensive Player of the Year, would go on to throw for 242 yards and two touchdowns on just nine completions and score on an eight-yard run on a night when the Devil defense bent but didn't break and the offense kept breaking away.
OFA eventually broke the collective stout heart of the Red Storm (7-2), who would finish with a 340-323 margin in total offense after running off 36 offensive plays to OFA's 16 in the first half.
"Tonight it was all about our defense," said OFA coach Matt Tessmer after the team's first intersectional title since a 27-7 Class B victory over Peru in 1997. "Saranac Lake is an outstanding team and they moved the ball well but we were able to stop them and keep the lead."
"Jared Morrow made some outstanding reads, throws and adjustments, and Gene Bouyer made two spectacular plays in the second half."
Late in the second quarter, the Devils defense stopped quarterback Brandon Patraw one centimeter short on a fourth-and-two play at the OFA 2-yard-line. Three plays later, Morrow found Joel King breaking free behind the Saranac Lake zone coverage and the junior slotback outran the safeties 78 yards to the right corner of the endzone for a 13-0 lead with 3:45 to play.
"Joel King had just great night. When Eric Barr couldn't play because of the flu, Joel stepped into his halfback and linebacker positions and had a great game," said tackle Cam Allison, who shared the NAC Lineman of the Year Award with Gouverneur's Alex Bush and received the 2009 Don Petty Memorial Award as the Outstanding Player in the NAC.
"The O-line knows that if we give Jared Morrow time, he can pick any defense apart. And Jared did it again tonight," he added.
The Storm showed its resilency with an uptemo drive that culminated 3.1 seconds before the half when Patraw found wideout Logan Ploof for a leaping eight-yard touchdown pass. The first of Forrest Morgan two PAT kicks cut the difference to 13-7.
Saranac Lake forced OFA into a third-and-15 play on the Devils' first possession of the second half and eagerly looked forward at a chance to drive for the lead. But the opportunity dissolved when Bouyer took a wide receiver slip screen pass on the right flank, broke a tackle behind the line of scrimmage, and zig-zagged across the field and down the left sideline for a 50-yard gain to the Saranac Lake 12. The broken-field gem set up a two-yard scoring run by Conor Ives with 5:48 remaining in the quarter.
Saranac Lake sustained its hopes again with quick drive culminating with Morgan breaking two tackles and scoring on a 21-yard run out of the wildcat formation just 1:23 later.
The Devils again had a quick strike response and it was immediate.
Morrow hurled a 43-yard bomb to Bouyer at the Saranac Lake 14 and then took a QB keeper eight yards to the end zone with 3:28 remaining in the quarter for the final points of the game.
"Our guys played hard but OFA made those two big plays in the second half which made the difference," said Saranac Lake coach Mark Farmer.
