After taking medicine last season, Deer Lakes ready to reap rewards

By: George Guido
Sunday, August 15, 2021 | 6:01 AM

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Previous Next

The Deer Lakes Lancers knew they’d be taking their lumps in 2020, going with a young and inexperienced team.

But now with an 0-7 season in the rearview mirror, the team can focus on the next step.

“We knew going into last year it was going to be tough,” said Lancers third-year coach Tim Burk. “Last year’s done and gone. It’s time to move forward. Those kids have matured a little bit. They’re getting better, but they’re still a young core. We’re looking at mostly sophomores and juniors.”

One person to build around is Lancers quarterback Derek Burk, the coach’s son.

As a freshman last season, he threw for 537 yards, completing 42 of 118 passes.

Over the summer, the younger Burk made his mark in 7-on-7 competitions.

“We had a nice 7-on-7 summer,” Tim Burk said. “We went up against some good competition and got some good experience. But there’s still a lot of work to do.”

The young Lancers were hampered by the starts and stops of the 2020 season, not being able to engage in offseason workouts — lacking the savvy of experienced teams — because of the covid-19 situation.

Said Tim Burk: “We had, at times, four freshmen on the field at once last year, all in skill positions. They’d never played 7-on-7s and, literally, were thrown to the wolves. It’s good to have that out of the way, and we should be better.”

The coach, also a West Deer police sergeant, sees a sense of a return to normalcy already with the players spending time together on the field and in the locker room without masks and temperature checks.

Cody Scarantine, whose season ended prematurely with a broken leg, is expected to receive the bulk of the carries at running back.

Senior wide receiver Fletcher Hammond is being counted on in the Lancers air game.

“I’m really excited about what we can do this year,” Hammond said. “I feel like we’ve improved a lot since last year. We’ve bonded way more as a team.”

Hammond, also a cornerback, takes a philosophical approach to last year’s covid-related stops and starts.

“It was hard,” the senior said. “It was the type of adversity I needed to provide confidence, and it really helped me in the long run.”

On defense, Kameryn Trim will be a down lineman and Nick Cristillo returns at linebacker. Junior Connor Walker, an all-conference honorable mention, will be at cornerback.

While many of the WPIAL conferences consist of far-flung schools, Deer Lakes is happy to have maintained local rivalries with Freeport, Burrell, Valley and North Catholic in the Allegheny Seven Conference. Derry and East Allegheny round out the conference alignment.

Deer Lakes will face Springdale in a Week Zero game.

Deer Lakes

Coach: Tim Burk

2020 record: 0-7, 0-6 in CLass 3A Allegheny Seven Conference

All-time record: 171-315-9

SCHEDULE

Date, Opponent, Time

8.27 Springdale, 7

9.3 at Armstrong, 7

9.10 Knoch, 7

9.17 at Derry*, 7

9.24 Valley*, 7

10.1 at East Allegheny*, 7

10.8 Burrell*, 7:30

10.15 at North Catholic*, 7

10.22 at South Allegheny, 7

10.29 Freeport*, 7

*Conference game

STATISTICAL LEADERS

Passing: Derek Burk

42-118, 537 yards, 3 TDs

Rushing: Bruce Allman*

29-188

Receiving: Seth Sciubba

11-183 yards

*Graduated

FAST FACTS

• This marks the 75th anniversary of a Deer Lakes predecessor school — East Deer — winning the 1946 Class A title over Bethel Park, 14-7, at Etna High School field. Yes, Bethel Park was a Class A-sized school at the time.

• Deer Lakes and Springdale will play in a Week Zero game. The Dynamos defeated the Lancers, 29-27, in 2019 in what was the first game between the two schools in 36 years.

• Reminiscent of the old AIC (Allegheny Interscholastic Conference) days, all five Lancers home opponents are within 16 miles of the school.

ROSTER

Player, Pos., Ht./Wt., Yr.

Dustin Affinito, WR/DB, 5-9/160, Jr.

Colton Bach, RB/DB, 5-9/165, Sr.

Chris Blatnik, RB/DB, 5-9/160, Jr.

Jacob Borowski, OL/DL, 5-11/210, Sr.

Kasey Bowser, OL/DL, 6-0/230, Jr.

Derek Burk, QB/DB, 6-1/190, So.

Ryan Cochran, WR/DB, 6-1/180, So.

Brandon College, WR/DB, 5-10/175, Jr.

Nick Cristillo, TE/LB, 6-0/175, Jr.

Aiden Detman, RB/LB, 5-9/175, Jr.

Westin Dickey, WR/DB, 5-11/180, Sr.

Austin Duddy, TE/DE, 6-2/245, Sr.

Logan Emerick, QB/DB, 5-9/160, So.

DJ Eversole, OL/DL, 6-3/285, Sr.

Jake Fleischer, QB/DB, 5-10/150, Fr.

Aiden Fletcher, WR/DB, 5-11/170, So.

Zach Grant, WR/DB, 5-8/145, Fr.

Sam Guthrie, TE/LB, 5-9/180, Fr.

Sawyer Hadlum, OL/DL, 5-11/210, Jr.

Fletcher Hammond, WR/S, 6-1/180, Sr.

Lee Henglesberg, OL/DL, 5-9/200, Fr.

Josh Jordan, WR/S, 5-9/175, Sr.

Gunner Joswiak, RB/LB, 5-9/185, Sr.

John Lissoto, OL/DL, 6-3/310, Sr.

Wayne Love, WR/DB, 6-2/180, So.

Dylan Moore, OL/LB, 5-9/220, Jr.

Nathaniel Moore, WR/DB, 6-1/180, Fr.

Brendon Pomaybo, WR/DB, 5-9/170, Jr.

Dustin Rape, TE/DE, 5-10/170, Fr.

Nick Rossi, TE/DE, 6-2/205, So.

Nate Ryan, QB/LB, 6-3/175, Jr.

Ryan Sandor, OL/DL, 6-3/270, Jr.

Joey Scanga, OL/DL, 5-11/180, Jr.

Cody Scarentine, RB/CB, 5-11/170, Sr.

Seth Scuibba, WR/S, 5-10/170, Sr.

Justin Siford, WR/LB, 5-10/170, Jr.

Anthony Smith, RB/DB, 5-10/175, Fr.

Jake Thimmons, TE/LB, 5-11/190, Sr.

Kamryn Trim, OL/DL, 6-1/210, Sr.

Conner Walker, WR/DB, 5-8/165, Jr.

Camarius Whitman, OL/DL, 5-10/190, Fr.

Brandon William, WR/DB, 6-1/160, Jr.

Zier Williams, RB/LB, 5-10/185, Fr.

Noah Wright, RB/LB, 5-9/165, Jr.

Jaden Zier, OL/DL, 5-9/215, Jr.

Tags: Deer Lakes