Alle-Kiski Valley high school football notebook: Springdale, Deer Lakes renew rivalry

By: Michael Love
Saturday, August 28, 2021 | 7:02 PM

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A number of high school football rivalries were put on hold last year as the covid pandemic delayed, shortened and toyed with players, coaches and fans from August to early December.

Springdale and Deer Lakes were not immune to the changes as their Week Zero matchup, scheduled for Deer Lakes’ Lancers Stadium, was canceled.

But Friday, the Dynamos and Lancers celebrated the rivalry’s return at Lancers Stadium in front of a spirited crowd under warm but otherwise pleasant conditions.

The local matchup didn’t disappoint. Springdale led 14-0 at halftime and 21-0 in the third before Deer Lakes battled back to within one score in the fourth.

“It was a really nice, fun football atmosphere for everyone,” Springdale coach Seth Napierkowski said.

“Deer Lakes’ student section was rocking. It was pretty festive after not having that full experience at games last year. There were a lot of fans there from both sides. It was nice to get back to some sense of Friday night normalcy considering what we’ve had to deal with.”

Senior Logan Dexter paced Springdale with 19 carries for 139 yards and scoring runs of 1 and 20 yards.

Fellow senior Legend Ausk only attempted four passes, but he completed two of them for 28 yards. He connected with senior Ashton Krebs for a 24-yard TD in the first quarter.

Deer Lakes sophomore quarterback Derek Burk was 8 of 23 passing for 132 yards and TD hook-ups of 5 and 12 yards to sophomore Ryan Cochran. Cochran hauled in five passes for 69 yards.

Senior Cody Scarantine, back after suffering a broken leg last year, rushed 17 times for 64 yards in his return.

“Any time you can get a win in the first week, it’s a good thing for the team and a nice confidence booster,” Napierkowski said.

“For us, beating a rival like Deer Lakes makes it a little bit sweeter. We were kind of forced into running the ball a little more than we wanted to, but it worked out for us. These Week Zero games, as opposed to scrimmages, are good gauges and tests for teams to see where they stand. We learned a lot, and I am sure Deer Lakes did, too.”

Springdale opens the home portion of its schedule Friday against Shady Side Academy, while Deer Lakes pays a visit to Armstrong.

Points aplenty

Football has been played at Leechburg for 102 years, and Friday marked the second time in three games, dating to last season, the Blue Devils scored 69 or more points in a game.

They set the all-time program record for points with 76 in a Week 6 home victory over Riverview last year.

On Friday, Leechburg made the long trip to Jefferson-Morgan, but it didn’t affect the offense.

The Blue Devils tallied 69 points in a 69-18 victory.

“It was a great win for us,” Leechburg coach Randy Walters said.

“We were thinned out because of a couple of injuries. We went down with six linemen, and only two of them had been in a varsity game before. I am not going to lie, we were really concerned, but everyone came together and played well.”

Walters credited the play of senior center Tino DeCapite, junior guard Alex Pulkownik, sophomore guard Owen Nuttal, junior tackle Collin Cook and sophomore tackle Jake Heilman. Freshman Eric Guo also was in the mix.

“They worked their tails off,” Walters said. “They did everything we asked, and they were the stars of the show.”

Leechburg was without senior tackle Jacob Reinke, who also will miss Friday’s game at Summit Academy after being ejected from a game late last year for throwing a punch Walters said can’t be seen on film.

Braylan Lovelace rushed eight times for 216 yards and four touchdowns, and Jake Cummings, Thomas Burke and Eli Rich also carried the ball for scores.

Burke also tossed a pair of touchdown passes, one to Tyler Foley and the other to Logan Kline.

Bombalski breaks out

Highlands coach Dom Girardi said heading into the season that sophomore Luke Bombalski would see significant opportunities to carry the ball.

While the defense gave the University Prep offense little to work with Friday, Bombalski took advantage of his workload at Golden Rams Stadium.

He finished the game with 133 yards and scored four touchdowns — one in the first, one in the second and two in the fourth to help salt away a 27-0 victory.

Bombalski scored on runs of 5, 6, 8 and 6 yards.

While Bombalski was leading the run game, junior quarterback Chandler Thimons provided plays with his arm and legs. He threw for 90 yards and rushed for 98.

Fellow junior Landan Signorella caught five of Thimons’ passes for 59 yards.

Friday marked the Golden Rams’ first game against a City League team.

Highlands hopes to reach 2-0 on Friday when it travels to New Kensington to face Valley. The Vikings seek to bounce back from a 41-0 home loss to Hampton on Friday.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Springdale