Deer Lakes cruises past Burrell, ties school record for most wins in a season

By: Ted Sarneso
Friday, October 25, 2024 | 10:27 PM

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Deer Lakes already had clinched a playoff berth before its game against Burrell began Friday. The only question that remained was where the Lancers would finish in the conference.

The Lancers’ victory, coupled with Imani Christian’s win over Freeport, gave them second place in the Class 3A Allegheny 7 Conference.

Deer Lakes’ offense was perfect, scoring on all nine possessions, and the Lancers (8-2, 5-1) ran away with a 56-0 win over Burrell (2-8, 2-5) at Lancer Stadium in West Deer.

“Our effort was good tonight,” Deer Lakes coach Tim Burk said. “Our guys came to work and are excited. They just tied the school record for most wins. I’m proud of those guys. They got the job done.”

It took one offensive play for Deer Lakes to get on the board.

Senior quarterback Jake Fleischer found senior wideout Zach Grant on a 35-yard post in the middle of the field. Grant shook a defender at the 20-yard line and cruised in for the touchdown.

“It a pretty common thing for us to throw a first-play touchdown. You get the ball to Zach Grant, he’s going to make plays,” said Fleischer, who threw for 166 yards and four touchdowns on 12-of-13 passing.

Added Burk: “We’ve seen Jake’s arm and what it can do the last couple of years, and now he gets to showcase it. He’s gotten better as the year’s gone on, and we’re excited for him. He’s got a good career ahead of him, and he did well tonight, throwing the ball where it needed to be.”

On their second possession, the Lancers marched 62 yards in nine plays, and Fleischer found Grant on a 4-yard shuffle pass for a 14-0 Deer Lakes lead.

The Lancers pulled out some trickery on their third possession. Tailback Zier Williams took the handoff and handed it to Grant on a reverse, and the receiver sped to a 57-yard touchdown.

“When we called the play, I knew it was coming my way,” Grant said. “I got the ball, and the hole opened up like we’ve practiced it.”

Added Fleischer: “Props to my offensive line. It starts with them. They gave me all the time in the world to complete the passes and throw touchdowns. It also helps to have playmakers like Zach and Zier.”

Williams finished with eight carries for 133 yards, including a 50-yard touchdown. He also caught a screen pass and went 25 yards for a score.

Not much went right for Burrell.

On their first play from scrimmage, the Bucs had a lineman jump, which set them back 5 yards. The Bucs also had trouble getting plays in and burned all three of their first-half timeouts halfway through the second quarter.

The only thing that Deer Lakes wasn’t clean on were a couple of unsportsmanlike penalties they incurred after their first two touchdowns.

“We did some undisciplined things, which I didn’t like,” Burk said. “We gotta act like we’ve been here before. We will get those penalties corrected. They were trying to keep control of the game, but we can’t act like that and we’ll handle that this week.”

On the Lancers’ final possession of the first half, Fleischer found sophomore tight end Sam Guthrie for a score to initiate the running clock with three minutes left in the first half.

For Burrell, it was another tough loss in a year filled with them. The Bucs didn’t manage much in the way of offense as the Deer Lakes defense held them to just 117 total yards. Deer Lakes amassed 346 yards.

“Deer Lakes is a good football team and are 8-2 for a reason,” Burrell coach Shawn Liotta said. “They’re going to host a home playoff game. They did a nice job and limited things we wanted to do. We didn’t make plays in critical situations, and they took advantage. Once you get a lead like they did, it swells from there.”

Said Burk: “When you play an offense like Burrell’s, it’s tough to prepare for stuff like that because you don’t see it all that often. They’re a good team and it was a good test. Now it’s time for us to get ready for next week.”

The Lancers added a touchdown late in the fourth quarter when backup quarterback Dante Mangieri found junior wide receiver William Bagley for a 48-yard strike.

Burrell, which misses the playoffs after getting there last season, will look to next season when it will be a more experienced group as 40 underclassmen are set to return.

After the game, Liotta spoke on the youth of his team and how proud he was of the way they prepared all season.

“They did the best they could all year,” he said. “I’ll be honest — and people might disagree — but I think we won two football games we shouldn’t have won because of our kids. To their credit, they got better, and I’m so proud of the effort they put in.”

Deer Lakes heads back to the playoffs and will learn their opponent Saturday, but regardless of who they play, Burk has one simple goal in mind.

“We’re looking to win,” he said. “It’s as simple as that. It’s win or go home, so let’s win. We’ve been here before, won our first game last year and that’s the standard. We have to continue to build this program, so let’s go win some more football games.”

Fleischer knows it’s going to be a tough road but said the team will be ready:

“It’s going to be a grind,” he said, “but we’re going to come ready to eat.”

Tags: Burrell, Deer Lakes