Small schools football notebook: Fear the Deer? 4-0 start unusual for Deer Lakes
Colin Beazley / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
In the 55-year history of the Deer Lakes football program, the Lancers have made the playoffs four times. They had started 4-0 just once, in 2015.
Yet coming off the team’s first-ever WPIAL playoff win, the Lancers have started 4-0 again and looked poised to return to the postseason.
Coach Tim Burk, whose son, Derek Burk, quarterbacked the Lancers to history last season, feels his team has built off that success.
“Yes, it has snowballed and kind of rolled in (to this year),” Tim Burk said. “It’s been very good. But time will tell. We still have a long way to go.”
The younger Burk, now in college at Edinboro, was one of many pieces the Lancers had to replace over the offseason. In stepped senior quarterback Jake Fleischer, who has completed 41 of 60 passes for 581 yards and six TDs. His favorite target is fellow senior Zach Grant, who has 18 catches for 318 yards and five total touchdowns.
Fleischer is also a threat to run, with 33 carries for 263 yards, but he’s not the ballcarrier opponents have to worry about. That would be senior running back Zier Williams, a 5-foot-9, 200-pound wrecking ball with a Genghis Khan quote as his header on X. In it, Khan describes himself as “a punishment,” and Williams presumably sees himself the same way.
Given that Williams has averaged 21 carries for 105 yards through four games, one can see why.
“The kid’s just so gritty,” Burk said. “He’s a special talent.”
If there is a reason to slow the optimism for Deer Lakes, it’s that after the 4-0 start in 2015, the team ended up 6-4. Burk, the offensive coordinator that year, remembers that squad having some injury issues and struggling with turnovers. So far this year, the Lancers have been fumble- and interception-free. Fleischer has also been kept mostly upright, being sacked for the first time in Friday’s 28-21 win against Freeport.
Burk worries that even mentioning turnovers and injuries could jinx his team, but so far, so good. If the Lancers can continue on this path, Burk says, “that’s winning football.”
From long losing streak to 3-1
Another team off to a strong start is New Brighton, and unlike Deer Lakes, the key for the Lions was changing the narrative. New Brighton entered the season on a 21-game losing streak, going winless for the past two seasons after losing in the WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinals in 2021.
The Lions have started 3-1, winning their first two matchups and adding a 32-24 victory over Freedom in their WPIAL Class 2A Midwestern Conference opener on Friday night.
New Brighton has a new head coach this year, though the new boss, John Macuga, has been in offensive coordinator and assistant roles for the past couple years. He said morale was low going into the season, saying, “It’s been a rebuilding process mentally more than anything.”
The Lions also have two new quarterbacks. Freshman Jaron King has taken the bulk of the snaps, though senior Jayden Salada plays as well. New Brighton has found most of its success running the ball with running backs Jojo Montanez and Heath Lewis, but King completed 15 of 28 passes for 211 yards and three touchdowns on Friday, the best start of his young high school career.
The goal at the start of the season was snapping the streak and earning a first win. Then, it was earning a first conference win. Now, Macuga believes his team can do more.
“I told [my team], ‘If you guys buy in and we keep performing the way we are, we haven't played our best game yet,’” Macuga said. “So, you know, the sky's the limit with [strong] work ethic.”
Filling in
Central Valley quarterback Braddock Ambrose and running back Mason Dixon combined for seven touchdowns in a 49-0 win against McGuffey Friday. Ambrose, a sophomore, had five touchdown passes, including 68-yard and 5-yard connections with Dixon, and Dixon, a senior, completed the tally with touchdown runs of 2 and 50 yards.
However, both will likely return to second-string duties. Senior quarterback Steven Rutherford, who started Central Valley’s first three games, and sophomore running back Jance Henry, who averaged 122 rushing yards in the first three games, sat out against McGuffey with minor injuries. Both Rutherford and Henry are expected to return this week for Friday’s big game against Beaver.
Other notes
• Jefferson-Morgan is 4-0 for the first time since 1989, when it finished 11-1. This year’s team has won at home in blowout fashion in the past two weeks, cruising past Burgettstown, 49-14, in Week 2 before opening WPIAL Class 1A Tri-County South Conference play with a 62-14 thrashing of Mapletown. The Rockets led 55-0 after the third quarter.
Quarterback Houston Guesman led the rout with two passing and two rushing touchdowns. Wide receiver Deakyn Dehoet, who connected with Guesman for a 14-yard receiving touchdown in the first quarter, also found the end zone on a 44-yard rush and an 85-yard kickoff return. Guesman is off to an excellent start, throwing for 575 yards and rushing for 352.
• After two slow weeks, California running back Lee Qualk was unleashed Friday in a 72-14 win at Bentworth, carrying 11 times for 259 yards and five touchdowns. Qualk is now the WPIAL’s leading rusher, with 84 attempts for 798 yards.
However, the interesting part is how Qualk has done it. He had 39 carries for 383 yards and six touchdowns in a season-opening blowout of Serra Catholic, then was bottled up for seven total yards in a 27-3 loss at Cornell the following week. He got back on track with 15 carries for 149 yards in a loss to Waynesburg Central in Week 2.
• Speaking of Cornell, Qualk’s struggles against the Raiders were likely just because Cornell’s defense is that good. Cornell has held opponents to 12 total points through four games, including just one touchdown. That touchdown, in Week 2 against Riverview, came when the contest had already been decided, as the Raiders led by 49.
With such a strong defense, it’s no shock that Cornell is 4-0. A game to circle for the Raiders comes in three weeks when Cornell faces fellow 4-0 team, Fort Cherry. Rangers quarterback Matt Sieg, playing with a broken thumb, has managed 445 rushing yards so far this season.
• Offense runs in the Jablunovsky family. Twin brothers John and Mark Jablunovsky, both seniors at Ligonier Valley, both rank in the top 20 in yardage in the WPIAL. John, a running back, is 15th in rushing yards with 54 carries for 458 yards. Mark, a wide receiver, is 16th in receiving yards with 12 catches for 311 yards.
• Imani Christian is rolling, starting the year 4-0 with three blowout wins. Even the fourth win, a 42-28 Week 2 victory over Beaver Area, was comfortable, though Beaver never let it become a blowout.
Quarterback Stephen Vandiver has completed 36 of 66 passes for 667 yards and 10 touchdowns to spark the Saints, helping keep some momentum after advancing to the WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinals last season. On Friday, Vandiver had four touchdown passes in a 46-0 win.