Late touchdown lifts Springdale past Deer Lakes

By: George Guido
Saturday, August 24, 2019 | 12:18 AM

The first football game between Springdale and Deer Lakes in 26 years proved to be a memorable one.

A 27-yard touchdown pass from Legend Ausk to Demitri Fritch with 53 seconds to go lifted the Dynamos to a 29-27 victory over the neighboring Lancers.

The game truly went down to the final play.

With 2 seconds left, Deer Lakes lined up for a 49-yard field goal attempt. Christian Vokes blocked the kick, but Deer Lakes senior Jack Hollibaugh picked up the loose ball and ran to the Springdale 15 before he was finally stopped.

The home win at historic Veterans Memorial Field was the first Springdale victory over Deer Lakes since 1980.

“I told these guys I’ve been playing football since seventh grade, I played in college and I’ve been coaching five years and this is by far the best game I’ve ever been a part of,” Dynamos coach Seth Napierkowski said. “It was a hard-fought battle to the end. This shows what the heart and character that our guys have.”

Before the winning score, Deer Lakes quarterback Aris Hasley directed a 64-yard, 17-play drive — highlighted by three fourth-down conversions — to take a 27-22 lead with 3:14 to go.

On fourth-and-goal at the Dynamos 3, Hasley rolled out, was nearly caught from behind, and got the pass away.

“It’s tough,” Deer Lakes coach Tim Burk said of the loss. “But they’re gritty, they were smaller than us up front, but that’s a tough football team. This is why I like this (Week Zero) game, now we know where we’ve got to get to. If it’s a scrimmage, it’s controlled, and I don’t know if we get this.”

The Lancers appeared ready to go in for the score less than six minutes into the contest, but Logan Dexter recovered a fumble for the Dynamos.

Unfortunately, Dexter suffered a hip injury late in the first quarter and was taken from the field by an ambulance.

Deer Lakes held Springdale to a punt after the fumble recovery. On the first play from scrimmage, Hasley fired a 30-yard scoring pass to Trey Darrah to get the Lancers on the scoreboard.

Springdale answered, however, as Legend Ausk faked a handoff to the right and ran left on a misdirection untouched for a 48-yard scoring run to knot the score at 7-all.

Deer Lakes drove to the Springdale 17, but a field goal attempt by A.J. Dorman fell short.

Adam Rejniak intercepted an Ausk pass to set up the Lancers at the Dynamos 28. On the following play, Hasley again threw to Darrah, this time on a slant right, to give the Lancers the lead.

A pass interception by Demitri Fritch gave Springdale possession at the Deer Lakes 28. Cavin Kindler was inserted at quarterback for several plays to get the Dynamos to the Lancers’ 13, and Christian Vokes scored four plays later with 3:01 remaining in the half. The extra point attempt was wide and Deer Lakes led 14-13.

Deer Lakes hurriedly drove to the Dynamos’ 23 but a field goal attempt by Dorman fell short as the second quarter clock expired.

Hasley finished with 269 passing yards on 17 completions.

Vokes ran for 107 yards and two scores for the Dynamos.

The renewal of the rivalry took 3 hours and 17 minutes to complete.

Tags: Deer Lakes, Springdale