A-K Valley high school football players to watch for 2024 Week 10

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, October 30, 2024 | 7:17 PM

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Player of the week

Jake Fleischer

Deer Lakes, sr., QB

After making his varsity starting debut in Week Zero and helping lead the Lancers to a tie for the most wins — eight — in a single season in program history, Fleischer will get his first chance to perform in a playoff setting. Deer Lakes hosts North Catholic in a first-round game at 7 p.m. Friday. Fleischer completed 13 of 14 passes for 166 yards and five touchdowns in last week’s 56-0 rout of Burrell to wrap up Allegheny 7 Conference play. The Lancers finished second in the conference (5-1) behind undefeated Imani Christian. For the season, Fleischer is 95 of 158 for 1,244 yards and 16 touchdowns. He has thrown only three interceptions. He also has 366 rushing yards and four scores.

Players to watch

Jake Cummings

Leechburg, sr., TE/LB

The veteran leader can hurt opponents no matter where he lines up on offense. Last week against Greensburg Central Catholic, he carried the ball six times for 29 yards, and his 3-yard TD run in the second quarter got Leechburg on the board. Cummings added 30 yards on a team-best six catches as the Blue Devils (8-2) came up just short against GCC, 20-16, in the Eastern Conference finale. He hopes to again make an impact Friday as Leechburg hosts Cornell in the WPIAL Class A first round.

Menage Lucas

Highlands, sr., QB/CB

With his performance last Friday in the Golden Rams’ 45-20 victory over Valley in the Allegheny 7 Conference finale — 148 yards passing and 168 yards rushing — Lucas finished the regular season with 1,293 yards on the ground and 1,288 yards in the air. He now is a part of an exclusive group of 18 quarterbacks in WPIAL history to have thrown for 1,000 yards and rushed for 1,000 in a single season. He also is Highlands’ new all-time total-yardage leader for a single season with 2,581 in nine games. The Golden Rams’ game with New Castle in Week 2 was wiped out because of bad weather.

Drew Ross

Freeport, jr., QB/DB

It wasn’t the way Freeport hoped to end the regular season, but coach John Gaillot said junior quarterback Drew Ross and his Yellowjackets teammates didn’t back down from heavyweight Imani Christian last week. Ross completed 16 of 27 passes for 159 yards and both Freeport scores in the 44-14 loss to the Saints. Ross went over 1,000 passing yards for the season (1,126), and he’s tossed 10 TDs. He also owns 459 rushing yards on 68 carries with an additional 10 scores.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Deer Lakes, Freeport, Highlands, Leechburg