East Allegheny holds off Deer Lakes in 2nd half to preserve 17-13 win

By: Jerin Steele
Friday, October 13, 2023 | 10:48 PM

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Dom Pecora said when you turn on the film to watch his East Allegheny football team, it won’t be the prettiest footage, but it will show toughness.

The Wildcats defense certainly had grit when it mattered Friday night.

Deer Lakes got inside East Allegheny territory four times in the second half but came up empty each time, and the Wildcats held on for a 17-13 win in a Class 3A Allegheny 6 Conference game at Churchman Stadium.

“They are the toughest kids. … They just have heart man, and I wouldn’t trade them for anything,” Pecora said about his team. “We aren’t the prettiest team. It isn’t always technical or the soundest looking thing in the world, but I’ll take them every day of the week.”

With the win, East Allegheny improved to 6-2 overall and 3-0 in conference play and set up a showdown with undefeated Knoch next Friday. Deer Lakes fell to 5-3 and 1-2 in conference.

On two of the four times the Lancers got across midfield, they drove into the red zone only to be denied.

Pressure from Amir Rollins and Lorenzo Fancher forced Deer Lakes quarterback Derek Burk to throw an incompletion on fourth down to end one of the drives in the red zone.

Fancher and Rollins played a key role on the other Deer Lakes drive that reached end zone, both recording a sack to knock the Lancers so far back they decided to punt.

Steve Yusko batted down a fourth-down pass that ended another drive.

On the Lancers’ final opportunity in the last minute, Burk was intercepted by Solomon Buggs.

“Amir Rollins and Lorenzo Fancher were unbelievable coming off the edge,” Pecora said. “Steve Yusko made a play there in coverage. It was just a great effort all-around.”

Deer Lakes out gained East Allegheny by more than 100 yards and controlled time of possession but couldn’t turn it into points over the final two quarters.

“At times we had a lot of push up front and a lot of movement, but we didn’t capitalize,” Deer Lakes coach Tim Burk said. “When you get opportunities, you have to capitalize.”

All the scoring came in the first half.

East Allegheny started the night with some trickery.

On the first play from scrimmage, Cahill threw behind the line to Yusko, who pitched it to Eli Smirga. Then, Smirga threw the ball to Cahill, who had creeped out of the backfield and was wide open. Cahill ended up going the distance for a 62-yard touchdown.

Deejay Goods intercepted a pass on Deer Lakes’ next drive, giving the Wildcats good field position.

They turned it into points when Ryan Rupert connected on a 33-yard field goal to make it 10-0.

Deer Lakes responded with a methodical drive that featured runs from Aiden Fletcher and Zier Williams. Burk found Nathaniel Moore with a 2-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 10-7.

East Allegheny moved the ball again on its next drive, but Moore picked off Cahill, ending the threat.

The Lancers turned to their run game again to move the ball down the field, but Burk finished it off with a nice slant pass to Wayne Love for a 14-yard score. The extra point was missed, but Deer Lakes took the lead 13-10.

That lead was brief, however, as Cahill threw a 42-yard bomb to Brennan Rutledge for a touchdown just before halftime giving the Wildcats a 17-13 lead.

“We had opportunities,” Burk said. “They got us on a trick play and a Hail Mary. Those were the two touchdowns. We played sound football, but some things didn’t go our way. We’ll watch the film, evaluate it and go from there.”

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer

Tags: Deer Lakes, East Allegheny