George Guido: Deer Lakes football picks up steam on offense

By: George Guido
Tuesday, September 17, 2019 | 5:14 PM

Purchase Photo Options

Deer Lakes gave coach Tim Burk a great birthday present last Friday.

Not only did the Lancers defeat Yough, 61-30, but Deer Lakes set a single-game scoring record with the 61 points.

The old record was 55 in 2005 when Deer Lakes defeated West Shamokin.

“Our kids did a lot of heartening things that night,” Burk said. “But we missed two point-after conversions and a 2-point conversion, or we would have scored more.”

Senior quarterback Aris Hasley continued his air assault with 386 yards against the Cougars, completing 19 passes in 27 attempts. That gives him 1,235 yards on the season, an average of 309 per game.

“He’s done a heck of a job,” Burk said of Hasley. “He’s taken control of our offense. He’s very enjoyable to coach, and he’s got a great football mind.”

Hasley threw three scoring passes Friday and ran for two others, accounting for seven touchdowns.

At this pace, Hasley could come close to 3,000 yards on the season, the new gold standard for WPIAL quarterbacks.

He also soon could surpass the 1,622 yards he threw for last season.

Deer Lakes will host much-improved Mt. Pleasant on Friday.

Blumer’s big night

Leechburg’s Jake Blumer scored six touchdowns Friday as the Blue Devils lost in triple overtime to Greensburg Central Catholic, 42-41.

It was one short of the school record for touchdowns in a game, held by Dick Hunter, who scored seven against Tarentum on Oct. 16, 1953.

The senior running back opened the scoring against the Centurions with a 2-yard run in the first period.

Greensburg Central was cruising along with a 21-7 lead late in the game until the Centurions punter’s knee hit the ground at his 19 with 2 minutes, 55 seconds remaining. The Blue Devils advanced to the GCC 1 in three plays.

But a 15-yard penalty and a sack gave Leechburg a third down at the 23. Blumer caught a pass from quarterback Dylan Cook on the following play. A 2-point conversion run failed, and the Blue Devils trailed 21-13.

Leechburg kicker Alex Stramaski’s pooch kick was recovered by Ivan Guo, and the Blue Devils had the ball at the Centurions 32 with 1:58 to go. Four plays later, Blumer caught a pass on his fingertips running a slant from the right side. Cook’s 2-point conversion try was good to tie the score 21-21, giving Leechburg two touchdowns in 46 seconds.

Leechburg started three possessions in Greensburg Central territory in the first half, converting once.

“We lost our focus for a while there,” Blumer said. “We didn’t use our opportunities we worked hard to create. We got back, but we didn’t get the outcome we wanted.”

Blumer then ran for all three overtime touchdowns for the Blue Devils.

The game lasted 3 hours and 18 minutes and was emotionally draining, especially on the coaches.

“I think we just had our adrenaline pumping,” Blumer said from a player’s perspective. “We wanted to pull it off with a win, and we didn’t think about getting tired.”

But back to Hunter, whom Blumer’s grandmother taught while at Leechburg: He scored four extra points that night against Tarentum, giving him 46 for the game.

It was an Alle-Kiski Valley record for individual scoring in a game until Duane Brown of Apollo-Ridge scored eight touchdowns, 48 points, in 2016.

Also playing well in the marathon contest was GCC freshman quarterback Nate Dlugos, subbing for the injured David Altimore.

Cavaliers go for 300

Kiski Area’s 36-17 win over Fox Chapel Friday gave the school 299 football victories.

Searching for 300, Kiski Area has a tough task Friday against Penn Hills (3-1) the defending WPIAL and PIAA champion.

But don’t sell the Cavaliers short.

After all, Kiski Area defeated Penn Hills for victory No. 100 in 1975 and for victory No. 200 in 1990.

Tags: Deer Lakes, Kiski Area, Leechburg