A-K Valley rivals Deer Lakes, Freeport expect competitive Allegheny 7 opener

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, September 10, 2025 | 5:16 PM

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For the first three weeks of the season, the Deer Lakes and Freeport football teams faced schools in nonconference play that are not traditional area rivals.

The Yellowjackets (3-0) matched up with, and defeated soundly, Indiana in Week Zero, Derry in Week 1 and Quaker Valley last Friday.

The Lancers (1-2) took down Keystone Oaks in Week Zero, lost to South Park in Week 1 and dropped a close, last-minute heartbreaker to Derry last week.

Now, Freeport and Deer Lakes ramp things up with the start of WPIAL Class 3A Allegheny 7 Conference play, and the drive to the WPIAL playoffs begins in earnest Friday.

The Lancers will visit Freeport Area Athletic Stadium for a 7 p.m. kickoff.

“We are fortunate with our conference to have a group of teams where there are a lot of classic A-K Valley matchups each week,” Deer Lakes coach Tim Burk said.

“Last year, we were blessed with having all of those games at home. Now, this year, we play Freeport, Burrell, Valley and Highlands on the road. It’s not going to be easy, but the guys are excited and ready for those challenges starting Friday against a very good Freeport team. The guys know each other so well. It should be a packed house.”

Deer Lakes will go after a third straight win over Freeport for the second time in the teams’ series.

The Lancers won three in a row against the Yellowjackets from 1993 to 1995.

Last year, Deer Lakes held off a Freeport rally for a 28-21 win. The Lancers scored a 35-0 victory in the 2023 regular-season finale that solidified their WPIAL playoff standings.

But Freeport has dominated the series by a 45-8 margin since it began in 1969.

The Yellowjackets also are 4-0 at home against Deer Lakes since opening their home stadium in Buffalo Township in 2016. Freeport rolled 42-10 at home in 2022 en route to the Allegheny 6 Conference title.

“It is nice to start to not have to travel long distances,” said Freeport coach John Gaillot, whose team began last week’s 42-7 win at Quaker Valley with an 85-yard kickoff return from senior Amos Glenn.

“We’re excited to begin conference play. We just have to continue what we are doing. It’s not going to be easy on Friday. Deer Lakes has had a couple of tough outcomes, but they played very well in both of those games. They had a couple deep balls go against them against South Park, but they hung right in there. Last week was very close against Derry. They could easily be 3-0 just like us. They got us the past two years. I know both teams will be fired up.”

Deer Lakes hoped to get back in the win column after the loss to South Park in Week 1. The Lancers battled Derry down to the wire last Friday, but the Trojans rallied to take the lead twice in the fourth quarter and came away with the three-point victory.

“The emphasis has been to use the nonconference games to learn from our mistakes, get better and continue to grind as we prepare ourselves for the start of conference play,” Burk said.

“Our conference is a juggernaut. It’s tough, and we have to be ready. It starts this week with Freeport. We have to be resilient. We can’t look back at any of the results from the past two weeks because we can’t get those games back. We just have to continue to move forward, and the guys are doing a good job of that. We had a really good energy to start the week.”

Despite the close loss to Derry, Burk said he saw a number of positives. The Lancers defense made a pair of red-zone stops. Junior Colby Borowski intercepted a pair of passes.

The Deer Lakes passing game was strong as junior Dante Mangieri connected with his brother, senior Luca Mangieri, on a trio of long touchdown passes. Luca Mangieri finished with five catches for 172 yards. Dante Mangieri threw for 234 yards.

“The first half was a little sluggish without much flow,” Burk said. “We were then put in a spot with our backs up against the wall. We could’ve folded, but the guys kept fighting back. That was the biggest thing. We just didn’t make a play when we needed it to win the game. But at the end of the day, I liked our fight. They are gaining the experience needed to make those plays when they are in position again to do that.”

Freeport is 3-0 for the second time in four seasons and will shoot for 4-0 for the first time since 2015.

In addition to the Glenn kickoff return, senior quarterback Drew Ross scored on a 7-yard run against the Quakers, and the Yellowjackets had all the points they would need after just the first quarter.

Glenn added TD runs of 6, 7 and 1 yard, giving him seven rushing scores through three games.

Ross also connected on an 8-yard scoring pass to Bryson Paga and finished 13 of 20 for 134 yards.

“I am really proud of the boys,” Gaillot said. “They’ve been playing extremely hard. We’re still making some mistakes here and there, and there have been a couple of hiccups, but they are working to clean those up and build on the good things we’ve seen. They are really focused with what they are doing in practice. I am happy with what is going on, but there is still a lot where we can improve.”

Burk said it will be a big challenge for his team to claim a third win in a row against the Yellowjackets.

“Freeport is playing with a lot of confidence and energy,” Burk said.

“They are flying around and making huge plays at big moments in all three phases with many dynamic weapons. They are doing all the right things right now. That is what is winning them football games by a wide margin. That is what we have to get back to. We won a lot of football games the past three years with that.”

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