Alle-Kiski Valley high school football notebook: Deer Lakes’ rebound culminates in playoff spot

By: Michael Love
Saturday, October 19, 2024 | 9:13 PM

Deer Lakes bounced back in a big way from a pair of tough shutout losses to roll past Valley, 44-13, on Friday and solidify its automatic WPIAL Class 3A playoff berth from the Allegheny 7 Conference.

It marks the third year in a row the Lancers have qualified for the postseason, extending the program record for consecutive playoff trips.

Deer Lakes (7-2, 4-1) suffered a 42-0 nonconference defeat at the hands of Beaver on Oct. 4 and was dealt a 48-0 setback last week at Imani Christian.

Senior Zier Williams helped Deer Lakes’ cause against the Vikings with 10 carries for 85 yards and two touchdowns. He eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the second straight season.

Senior quarterback Jake Fleisher completed 5 of 7 passes for 133 yards and a touchdown to fellow senior Zach Grant.

Grant and freshman Roman Smith added rushing TDs in the victory.

A return to the postseason

With its 42-15 win at East Allegheny on Friday, Freeport completed its comeback to the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs.

The Yellowjackets improved to 7-2 overall with their fifth straight win and also upped their Allegheny Conference mark to 4-1.

Freeport’s only loss in conference play came to Deer Lakes, 28-21, in Week 3. A Yellowjackets rally from 21 points down in that game fell short in the final minute of play.

Danny King returned a kickoff 90 yards to open the scoring against East Allegheny. Drew Ross, Dawson Gaillot and Amos Glenn recorded rushing touchdowns and Sean Selinger hauled in a TD pass from Ross as Freeport surpassed 40 points in a win for the fourth time this season.

Blue Devils clinch

Leechburg didn’t let its loss to Clairton last week derail its goal of wrapping up a Class A playoff berth Friday against Brentwood in Eastern Conference play.

The Blue Devils (8-1, 5-1) punched their ticket to a program-record fourth straight WPIAL tournament with a 57-34 triumph over the Spartans.

Leechburg was consistent in its scoring as it tallied 14 points in the first quarter, 14 in the second, 15 in the third and 14 in the fourth.

Senior quarterback Jayden Floyd finished 16 of 19 for 174 yards and three touchdowns, and junior Tim Andrasy rushed 19 times for 190 yards and two scores.

Senior Jake Cummings impacted the game with 12 catches for 107 yards. He added a 1-yard TD run.

Rivalry renewed

Plum and Penn Hills last played in 2017 when the Indians topped the Mustangs, 26-0, to open the season.

Before that, Plum scored an emotional 17-6 victory at Penn Hills in the first round of the 2014 WPIAL Class 4A playoffs.

The teams will be on the same field again this Friday as the Mustangs (2-7, 2-2) and Indians (5-4, 3-1) meet to close out Northeast Conference play.

A win for Plum would create a three-way tie with Penn Hills and North Hills behind conference leader Pine-Richland (7-1, 4-0). Tiebreakers would come into effect to determine the second and third automatic bids from the conference to the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs. If Plum wins by nine points, via the WPIAL tiebreaker points, the Mustangs will finish third. If they win by 10 or more, they move into second place. If they lose or win by eight points or less, they will have to hope for a wild-card selection.

Plum played North Hills down to the wire Oct. 4 before the Indians scored a 21-14 victory. The Mustangs bounced back in the conference last week, rolling past Fox Chapel, 49-10.

Plum has lost three games this season by a touchdown or less. The latest such result came Friday at Kiski Area when the Mustangs led 14-6 at halftime before the Cavaliers rallied for a 15-14 nonconference victory.

Cavaliers still breathing

Kiski Area’s 15-14 home nonconference win Friday over Plum was its third in a row after five consecutive losses.

While the Cavaliers, 4-5 overall and 2-3 in the Big East Conference, are not able to grab one of the three automatic bids from the conference, they are still in the picture for one of the three available Class 5A wild cards that will be handed out by the WPIAL selection committee.

Kiski, which owns conference wins over Latrobe and Armstrong, can bolster its case significantly this Friday with a win in its regular season and conference finale at Woodland Hills (7-2, 5-0).

Landon Kucic scored on touchdown runs of 9 and 52 yards, and junior Austin Beck booted a 31-yard field goal with 18 seconds left as the Cavaliers rallied to beat the Mustangs.

Seeking positive finishes

There’s one final chance for victory for Springdale, Valley and Apollo-Ridge.

Something will have to give as Springdale, 0-8 overall and 0-6 in the Eastern Conference, will pay a visit to Frazier (1-7, 0-5) at 7 p.m. Friday.

Frazier school officials called off its conference game Friday with Greensburg Central Catholic because of a rising number of injuries. There is hope the Commodores will be able to play Friday.

Valley (0-9, 0-5) will host Highlands (4-4, 2-3) in the Allegheny 7 Conference finale for both teams. The Golden Rams are out of contention for an automatic WPIAL berth from the conference, but a wild-card spot is within reach.

Apollo-Ridge (0-8, 0-5) visits Ligonier Valley (3-6, 1-4) in the Allegheny Conference to close out its season. The Vikings hoped for an upset Friday at home against South Park, but the Eagles (8-1, 5-0) had other ideas and posted a 34-10 victory.

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: Apollo-Ridge, Deer Lakes, Freeport, Kiski Area, Leechburg, Plum, Springdale, Valley