Defense doesn’t rest as Freeport blanks Deer Lakes to finish 2nd in Allegheny 7
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Friday, October 29, 2021 | 10:38 PM
Freeport’s Parker Lucas looks back as he returns a interception for a touchdown against Deer Lakes on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021, at Lancer Stadium.
Freeport’s Ben Lane breaks through the Deer Lakes defense for a touchdown on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021, at Lancer Stadium.
Deer Lakes’ Jake Thimons is forced out of bounds by Freeport’s Garrett King on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021, at Lancer Stadium.
Freeport’s Ben Lane tries to leap over Deer Lakes’ Conner Walker on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021, at Lancer Stadium.
Freeport’s Shane Jack cuts past Deer Lakes’ Jake Thimons on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021, at Lancer Stadium.
Deer Lakes’ Cody Scarentine gets past Freeport’s Jacksen Reiser on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021, at Lancer Stadium.
Freeport’s Parker Lucas picks off a pass intended for Deer Lakes’ Brandon Colledge and returns it for a touchdown on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021, at Lancer Stadium.
Freeport’s Zach Clark cuts past Deer Lakes’ Fletcher Hammond on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021, at Lancer Stadium.
Freeport’s Garrett King forces Deer Lakes’ Derek Burk out of bounds on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021, at Lancer Stadium.
Freeport’s Jackson Reiser stiff-arms Deer Lakes’ Cody Scarentine while returning an interception on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021, at Lancer Stadium.
Deer Lakes’ Austin Duddy grabs Freeport’s Garrett King on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021 at Lancer Stadium.
Freeport’s Garrett King defends on a pass intended for Deer Lakes’ Josh Jordan on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021 at Lancer Stadium.
In the 100 seasons of Freeport football, many nights have belonged to the defense.
Friday night was no different as the Yellowjackets returned two interceptions for touchdowns and Jacksen Reiser recovered two fumbles, one to set up another score, as Freeport secured second place in the Allegheny 7 Conference with a 35-0 victory over Deer Lakes.
Freeport (5-4, 4-1) anticipates a Class 3A home playoff game when the WPIAL issues its playoff pairings Saturday evening.
“Three huge plays (from) our defense, they’ve been stellar all year long,” Yellowjackets coach John Gaillot said. “It’s always been Freeport football when I grew up, defense has been top notch. Hats off to the job we did tonight.”
Sophomore outside linebacker Colton Otterman got the scoring underway late in the first quarter when he returned an interception 15 yards for a score for the second time in his career.
“That felt so good, as soon as I saw the ball above me, I tipped it to myself and when I crossed the goal line, it was great,” Otterman said. “I wasn’t thinking about picking it off. I saw his arm go up, it went high and I caught it.”
Freeport also held the Lancers to seven first downs, three on Freeport penalties. The Yellowjackets limited Deer Lakes quarterback Derek Burk, who had 1,045 passing yards coming into the game, to 38.
“I felt like we had a chance to make some plays early, but it was the wrong read,” Lancers coach Tim Burk said. “Those things happen. We have to overcome those things. I thought we were moving the ball well, we just couldn’t punch it in. We’d get bogged down.”
Deer Lakes started three drives in Freeport territory, but nothing materialized and the Lancers concluded the season at 4-6, 3-3.
It was a surreal sight on the field after the game. The Deer Lakes players hung around the sideline to see how the Burrell-Valley game turned out. Had Valley held on to the lead, Deer Lakes would have gotten the playoff nod. Instead, Burrell (3-3 in the conference), a 19-14 winner over Valley, will go to the playoffs by virtue of its 28-24 win over the Lancers earlier.
After a 9-yard Lancers punt gave Freeport the ball at the Deer Lakes 34, quarterback Ben Lane scored four plays later on a 20-yard keeper in which he found small gaps in the Lancers’ defense.
Then with 17 seconds left in the first half, Parker Lucas returned an interception 86 yards to make it 21-0.
The Freeport defense wouldn’t let up, forcing three-and-outs the first three times Deer Lakes had the ball in the second half.
The Yellowjackets accumulated only 144 offensive yards, but the defense kept setting up short drives. Jacksen Reiser recovered a fumble at the 44 and returned the ball to the Lancers 4, setting up a 9-yard run by Lane after a Freeport penalty.
Said Gaillot: “The defense was doing such a great job, we were on their side of the 50 so much. We tried to keep it on the ground and grind it out.”
Freeport committed 12 penalties for 115 yards.
Senior Code Scarentine, after missing last season with a broken leg, finished his comeback season for the Lancers with 58 net yards and 845 on the season.
Tags: Deer Lakes, Freeport
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