TUPPER LAKE — The Tupper Lake football team finished its season with its best record since 2011, and the Lumberjacks had many players recognized for their efforts by the Northern Athletic Conference.
Tupper Lake finished the year with a record of 5-2, including three wins against Ticonderoga, one win against St. Lawrence and a forfeit win against Livingston Manor. The team’s only two losses came in the first and last games of the season against Thousand Islands and Waterville, respectively.
Juniors Luke Robillard and Kyler McClain were selected to the first team, and fellow junior Braden Shannon was selected to the second team. Fourth-year student Tyler LaPlante was selected for the Section
Playing in six games this season, Robillard had 1,003 yards on the ground, becoming the eighth Tupper Lake football player to reach 1,000 yards in a season. Robillard had a game-high 265 yards, nine touchdowns and four extra point conversion runs. Defensively, he led the Lumberjacks with 70 tackles and eight sacks.
McClain was also dominant defensively, recording 49 tackles and two sacks. McClain also had two interceptions for 101 yards, both of which he returned for touchdowns against Ticonderoga on September 22. He finished the season with three total touchdowns.
Shannon proved to be a pivotal player for Tupper Lake in all three phases of the game: offense, defense and special teams, racking up 889 all-purpose yards, 37 tackles, two sacks and one fumble recovery. Shannon scored four touchdowns in four different ways. He scored his first touchdown on an 80-yard kickoff return and had two scores on offense with 41 yards receiving and a 4-yard run. Shannon also scored a touchdown on a 36-yard fumble return.
LaPlante was the Lumberjacks’ top receiver. He completed 13 passes for 148 yards, including one touchdown. Defensively, LaPlante had 31 tackles, one fumble recovery and one sack.