Deer Lakes makes lone TD count in win vs. Valley

By: William Whalen
Friday, September 24, 2021 | 10:20 PM

It was a game that had more twists and turns than Crawford Run Road and offered more turnovers than a fall bake sale, but the Lancers pulled it off.

Backed by senior running back Cody Scarentine’s 122-yard, one-touchdown performance, Deer Lakes pulled out a 6-0 win over Valley on Friday night at Lancers Stadium in a WPIAL Class 3A Allegheny Seven matchup.

“A win is a win,” Deer Lakes coach Tim Burk said. “They’re gonna come dirty. They’re going to come ugly, but you find a way to do it and you find a way to overcome the turnovers, the blunders and the officiating.”

Deer Lakes (2-3, 2-0) took the opening drive of the second half and started at midfield.

Two plays later, Scarentine was stripped by Jeremy Hughley at the Valley 40-yard line.

On Valley’s first play of the drive, a low snap to quarterback Tristin Goodwin was recovered by the Lancers’ Jake Thimons to give the ball back to the Deer Lakes offense.

Quarterback Derek Burk connected with Ryan Cochran for a 42-yard pass play. Scarentine scored on the next play, but the Lancers missed the 2-point conversion.

“I just took my took my time and waited for the holes to open,” Scarentine said. “It started out slow in the first half, but we just picked it up and fixed our mistakes in the second half and started rolling.”

Valley (0-5, 0-2) fumbled it away on the ensuing drive, giving the Lancers the ball on the Valley 40-yard line.

The Lancers drove the ball all the way down to the Viking’s 1-yard line before Colton Bach fumbled into the end zone. It was was recovered by the Vikings.

“We couldn’t find a way to punch it in,” Burk said.

“But we kept battling.”

Three plays later, the Lancers picked off Goodwin and gave the ball back to Deer Lakes at the Valley 43-yard line.

On the very next play, Burk was picked off by a Valley defender.

“We had six fumbles (in the shotgun formation),” Valley coach Muzzy Colosimo said.

“They were all big fumbles. As you can see, this is the first game we all played together as a complete team.”

Goodwin paced the Valley offense completing 12 of 17 passes for 145 yards and one interception.

Both teams moved the ball between the 20s in the first half but stalled when they got deep inside the red zone.

The Lancers put together an 11-play, 70-yard drive in the first quarter that stalled at the Valley 4. The Valley defense played well with its back up against the wall.

“We’re learning how to win,” Burk said. “It’s some big steps. We’re still young, but we’re figuring it out. I’m so proud of these guys, and they deserve it.”

William Whalen is a freelance writer.

Tags: Deer Lakes, Valley