MASSENA — The lights failed at Mike Nicholas Field with 20 seconds to play in regulation in Friday night’s showdown between Northern Athletic Conference football rivals Massena and OFA, forcing the game to be called early, and OFA quarterback Nate Angel to answer reporter’s questions in the dark.

But before the lights went out, Angel was a huge bright spot for OFA, rushing for three touchdowns and passing for one more as the Blue Devils rolled to a 38-13 victory.

OFA (1-1) bounced back from an opening-day loss to Gouverneur while Massena (1-1) could not match its previous superior rushing proficiency in a season-opening victory over Tupper Lake.

“We’ve been rivals from way back when and it’s an honor and a privilege to come here and win as a senior,” said Angel whose team denied a Massena Raider contingent looking for its first victory over OFA since 2005.

“Last week, I felt I did not do the things I was supposed to do,” he added. “I came back and worked hard in practice this week, I busted my butt. I just love it.”

Angel and Zach Sharpe scored on runs of 11 and 35 yards in the first and second quarters, respectively, for a 12-0 halftime lead and OFA took control in the third quarter with 14 more unanswered points. Angel scored on a two-yard run and then combined with Alex Farrell for a nifty 59-yard pass and run, the two also connecting through the air for the two-point conversion and a 26-0 OFA lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Angel scored on another two-yard run while Jordan McCormick returned a kickoff 64 yards for a touchdown to close out the OFA scoring. Massena scored twice in the final minutes as backup running back Jon-Paul Reagan was impressive in scoring on bursts of 54 and 69 yards.

Angel finished 5 of 6 passing for 100 yards, all five completions to Farrell, and the senior signal-caller also rushed for 102 yards and three scores for OFA coach Matt Tessmer.

“Nate concentrated on making improvements this week and it showed tonight,” Tessmer said. “After we got beat last week we had a lot things to correct. The guys did an outstanding job in practice and really cut down on mistakes tonight. The defense played great against a Massena team which has good running backs and linemen. Our guys all swamped to the ball.”

POTSDAM 52, TUPPER LAKE 20

Oden Robertson rushed for 154 yards on 13 carries and Adam Lewis gained 100 on 13 carries as Potsdam (2-0) defeated the Lumberjacks (0-2) in a Northern Athletic Conference game at Tupper Lake.

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