Milestone games part of Deer Lakes’ 3-game winning streak

By: George Guido
Wednesday, October 6, 2021 | 10:23 AM

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Deer Lakes reached a milestone recently with its 500th football game in school history resulting in a 6-0 victory over Valley.

That milestone was quickly obscured last Friday with a 9-7 upset over East Allegheny in Game 501 to give the Lancers three consecutive victories after an 0-3 start.

Deer Lakes coach Tim Burk has plenty of memories of some of the first 500 games as a head coach, assistant coach and former Lancers quarterback.

“Obviously, you go back to the 2010 playoff year, then in ’15 again,” Burk said. “I don’t want to date myself, but the first game I started at quarterback, we beat Freeport that year. Those stick out, and they are memories you cherish. Five hundred? That’s a lot and a pretty good milestone.”

The fourth-year coach was also on the sidelines for another Deer Lakes milestone when the Lancers set the school record for points in a game with 61 against Yough in 2019. By contrast, Deer Lakes scored only 43 points the entire 1978 season while going 2-8.

It’s also instructive to know that the school district almost didn’t come about.

On Dec. 17, 1962, Allegheny County issued a directive on how community school systems around the county would merge into larger school districts. One suggestion was to consolidate Tarentum, East Deer, Fawn and Frazer into one school and leave West Deer and Har-Brack intact.

But the state stepped in and formed what is now the Deer Lakes and Highlands school districts.

Fast forward to the present, where a number of freshmen and sophomores who started the 2020 season are beginning to blossom.

“These guys were young and inexperienced, and these guys are now battling,” Burk said. “That’s all we’ve ever asked is to play four quarters and see where it goes, they’re doing it and they’ve never wavered.”

Spearheading the recent surge is Burk’s sophomore son, Derek. The younger Burk has thrown for 695 yards through six games.

“This feels much, much better than last year,” Derek Burk said. “The linemen put the protection on for me and let me make the plays much more than last year.”

The game is coming better to the still-young Lancers.

Said Derek Burk: “I think the experience has helped us a lot. Two sophomore receivers and a young O-line is leading the way. The experience is helping us a ton.”

Senior running back Cody Scarantine also is helping the turnaround after missing last season with a broken leg.

“For Cody and a few of the others, the game is starting to slow down, and we can see it,” coach Burk said. “It’s nice to see the maturing and finally coming into their own.”

Deer Lakes added another weapon just before the East Allegheny game when junior Mason Metzler came over from the soccer team. The new kicker booted a 30-yard field goal to account for the eventual winning margin in the 9-7 victory.

Next up is long-time rival Burrell at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Lancers Stadium.

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