Late East Allegheny touchdown sinks Deer Lakes

By: Henry O'Brien
Friday, September 19, 2025 | 12:01 AM

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With 49 seconds to go, East Allegheny finally got its break against Deer Lakes, and it came on a dump-off pass. Quarterback Cedric Mack Jr. threw a blooper to receiver Ronte Lawrence, who scrambled his way up the left side of the field. Even as he faced contact from three defenders, Lawrence pounded his way in for the game-winning score.

It was sweet relief as the Wildcats (1-4, 1-1 Allegheny 7) picked up their first win of the season in their 14-7 victory over the Lancers. The final score belied an ugly offensive game with missed opportunities aplenty. But, in the end, East Allegheny got the last laugh off of Mack Jr.’s 239 yards and two passing touchdowns.

The Class 3A clash between the two teams would’ve made Pat McAfee shed a tear. There were a combined five punts in the first half and an additional three in the second half.

The matchup started as a field position competition before the Lancers were set up at their own 47-yard line after a weak punt from East Allegheny. This is where the Deer Lakes ground game took over. Ryan Love and Roman Smith combined for 63 yards on the first scoring drive of the game. Smith got the biggest chunks, with a 22-yard rush the Lancers got up to the 9-yard line. From there, the offense leaned on Love to finish the job with a 1-yard score.

The Wildcats needed a big play following so much stagnation on offense, especially as penalties kept them on their side of the field. But Mack threw a high pass to wideout Demarjae Warren, who leaped on the right sidelines for the catch. But as he faced defenders almost immediately when he landed on the ground, the senior receiver made two cut-backs to the middle of the field and dodged all of the Lancer defenders. Now with blockers in front of him, Warren darted into the left side of the endzone, silencing the crowd. A missed extra point from East Allegheny’s Tymere Coulverson kept Deer Lakes ahead.

“If you throw the ball in his area, in his general area, he’s coming down with it. He’s got amazing hands,” East Allegheny coach Frank Cortozzo said.

Warren continued to be the focal point for East Allegheny. The Wildcats relied heavily on passing to Warren and letting the wide receiver take direct snaps. But this strategy came back to bite them at the start of the second half. Three straight snaps to Warren led to a turnover on downs, placing the Lancers on the 27-yard line. From there, Deer Lakes pushed down to the 10-yard line but couldn’t convert on a 4th-and-8.

“We got to learn how to win close football games, and we have yet to do that,” Deer Lakes coach Tim Burk said.

On the game-winning drive, Mack Jr. went into quick, short passes. Deer Lakes did the same on its 45-second drill drive, but it was too little too late.

“We knew this was going to be a four-quarter fight,” Cortozzo said. “We just knew that we had to limit the mistakes in that first half, and we had to make it the whole way.”

Tags: Deer Lakes, East Allegheny