18 • SUNDAY, AUGUST 22, 2021 • VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH
DEER LAKES READY TO REAP
REWARDS AFTER TOUGH YEAR
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.
by GEORGE GUIDO
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1993-2020
Name Pos. Ht/Wt. Cl.
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.
ROSTER
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 yards
Receiving Seth Sciubba
11-183 yards
*GRADUATED
FAST FACT
• Reminiscent of the old AIC
(Allegheny Interscholastic Conference)
days, all five Lancers
home opponents are within
16 miles of the school.
DEREK BURK
ALLEGHENY 7 • DEER LAKES
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