Potsdam Beats Gouverneur 30-8 in Battle of Unbeatens

Potsdam’s Oden Robertson carries the ball in the first
quarter of Friday’s game against Gouverneur. Robertson
raced 22 yards to paydirt to get the
Sandstoners on the scoreboard twice for a 16-0 lead. In
a game of the last unbeaten, the Sandstoners dominated
the first half 22-0, en route to a 30-8 victory and
their sixth win of the season. (John
LaRue photo)
Game Gallery

Gouverneur’s Mark Horne (12) jets the the outside, seeking a hole in the
Potsdam defense, while eluding Jacob Bryant (7) of
Potsdam. (John LaRue photo)
Game Gallery
POTSDAM 30, GOUVERNEUR 8
Finally after the sixth week of the season, one team
stands alone atop the Northern Athletic
Conference-Section X Football League. In a game of
unbeatens on Friday night, the Potsdam Sandstoners
carried their first two drives to the end zone through
running back O’den Robertson – both on 20-yard touchdown
runs – and never looked back in being the first team to
take down the Gouverneur Wildcats 30-8. The win seals
first place in the regular season for the Sandstoners
(6-0). Quarterback Will Coleman rolled right and tossed
a 25-yard TD pass to Garrett Kilgore, then carbon-copied
the same play on the ensuring two-point conversion.
Potsdam led 22-0 at the half. Gouverneur had been living
the season on the edge, winning three of the last four
games by a total of five points, but always found a way
to bounce back. And even against the Sandstoners, they
found a away to bounce back with an 8-8 second half –
just too little, too late. Robertson (14 carries, 101
yards) scored Potsdam’s lone touchdown of the second
half on a 19-yard carry to open a 30-0 lead. Gouverneur
quarterback Mark Horne rushed 17 times for 65 yards and
tossed the lone Wildcat score on a 15-yard completion to
Adrian McShane with just 48.2 seconds remaining. Coleman
rushed for 54 yards and went to the air for 108 yards,
including an 83-yard catch-and-run to Jake Woods.
Gouverneur’s Levi Love-Tupper rushed 10 times for 56
yards.
MALONE 53, MASSENA 21
The Franklin Academy quarterback Mitch Gallagher was
virtually an unstoppable force against the Massena Red
Raiders on Saturday, racking up a monstrous 411
all-purpose yards, tossing for four touchdowns and
rambling for two more scores, as the Huskies rocked to a
53-21 home win. Gallagher fired off 11 successful
aerials for 249 yards and carried 13 times for 162
yards. Malone’s quick score offense reared up against
the Raiders with six scoring drives that used just five
plays or less. The Huskies also scored on a kick return.
The Huskies opened the scoring with a 15-play, 65-yard
drive, culminating with a four-yard Gallagher run.
Jeremiah Reagan, who led Massena with 16 carries for 120
yards, took the ensuring kickoff 65 yards, but the
Raiders’s drive fizzled and the 27-yard field-goal
attempt drifted wide. Subsequently, Gallagher led the
march upfield and lasered John Paul King with a 69-yard
touchdown pass over the middle. Reagan (142 yards
rushing) scored two touchdowns for the Red Raiders. His
biggest was a 39-yard romp in the fourth quarter. He
also had a 51-yard run that set up a six-yard TD strike
from the six-yard line in the second quarter. However,
before the half, Gallagher bolted 65 yards to score,
tossed a 36-yarder to Jordan Yando for a score and a
three-yard pass to Harvey Smith for a third TD. Malone
opened the margin to 40-7 in the third quarter when
Smith broke free on a 63-yard score. Smith also had a
79-yard kickoff for six points. John Picaro also caught
a 20-yard TD pass. For Massena, Jeremy Malone also
scored a five-yard touchdown.
OGDENSBURG 45, TUPPER LAKE 20
The Ogdensburg Blue Devils locked up the fourth-seed
position for the Section X upper tier playoffs and can
use next week’s road trip to Potsdam as a warmup for
their playoff semifinal in two weeks that will also take
place against the first-place Sandstoners. The Blue
Devils improved to 4-2 with a 45-20 win over the
injury-plagued Tupper Lake Lumberjacks. The Jacks opened
with a 33-yard touchdown pass Mitch Keniston (eight
passes, 109 yards) to Cody LaPierre. But the 7-0 lead
was short-lived. Ogdensburg quarterback Nate Angel
called his own number 12 times and racked up his
personal best 228 yards and three touchdowns (14, 13 and
four yards). Jordan McCormick, who carried eight times
for 79 yards, dashed to paydirt from 16 yards and five
yards to put Ogdensburg in charge 19-7 after the opening
quarter. Angel and Zach Sharpe (7 carries, 71 yards)
added scores in the second quarter to build a 39-7
intermission advantage. The Blue Devils’ 385 rushing
yards on the night helped overcome five fumbles. Tupper
Lake attached two touchdowns to their resumé in the
fourth quarter on Keniston’s 26-yard aerial to Brock
Tarbox, then Tanner Charland’s one-yard dive. Hunter
Planty put the final touches on the Blue Devils’ score
sheet with a five-yard dash.