Tim Burk knew exactly whom he had to find.
In the initial moments after the coach led Deer Lakes to its first WPIAL playoff victory in school history Friday night, Burk endured a celebratory Gatorade bath on the Lancers Stadium sideline before immediately embracing his son.
The Deer Lakes senior quarterback, Derek Burk, had just completed 10-of-16 passes for 146 yards, three touchdown passes and added an additional score on the ground, to lead the No. 8 Lancers to a 48-18 rout of No. 9 Southmoreland in the WPIAL Class 3A first-round playoff game.
“We’ll discuss that when we get home in the living room and at the kitchen table,” said Burk of Derek’s performance and the historical implications for his school. “He’s my dude. He knows he’s my dude. It’s not that it’s personal, but it’s personal. I love him, obviously, and he’s a player. I’m happy for him.”
Derek Burk connected on touchdown passes of 5, 9 and 8 yards to junior receiver Zach Grant, who finished with a game-high seven catches for 74 yards. The 6-foot-5, 195-pound quarterback also rushed for a 2-yard third-quarter touchdown.
“It feels great,” Grant said. “Second home playoff game, the first playoff win in school history, this feels good to get the win.”
It was the second time Burk led Deer Lakes (8-3) to a victory against Southmoreland (6-5) this season. The Lancers, who won their first postseason game in four all-time chances Friday, dispatched of the Scotties, 24-7, in a Week 4 contest.
For Derek Burk, the postgame moment spent with his father was meaningful, as he said he was expecting the moments to be once they returned home later in the evening.
“It’s just going to be a sense of joy that we shared together,” said Derek Burk, Class 3A’s top passer who has thrown for more than 4,000 career yards. “From my freshman year, we’ve been 0-7 to 4-6 in back-to-back years. Now just to be 8-3 right now, it’s just something that we worked together for a while.”
For the Scotties, making their second consecutive WPIAL playoff appearance and fifth all time, the hopes of winning their first postseason game in school history were effectively dashed by the Lancers’ strong offensive output and opportunistic defense in the second quarter.
“You just thank the seniors for their contributions and making the playoffs the last two years and building the foundation we’re still, I guess, building,” Southmoreland coach Tim Bukowski said. “We’re not ready to win this big game, I guess. We’ve got to work a little harder.”
After taking a 7-0 lead out of the first quarter, Deer Lakes scored 20 points in just under two minutes of game time to extend its lead to a commanding 27-0 advantage with 8:19 left in the first half.
Lancers senior Aiden Fletcher started the scoring with a 3-yard touchdown run. Safety Nathaniel Moore then returned a Scotties running back Da’sjon Craggette fumble 24 yards for a score, before Deer Lakes running back Zier Williams added a 6-yard touchdown run — following an interception by teammate Ryan Cochran — to cap their team’s critical second-quarter scoring spree.
“The turnovers early on hurt,” Bukowski said. “Giving them a fumble and they score and then the interception putting the ball down there. They’re a lot more physical, bigger up front than we were. I think that was the big difference in the game, just the size advantage up front.
“I thought that we gave effort,” he added. “We just came up short.”
For much of the regular season, both team’s offenses relied heavily on their running games – and Friday night was no exception.
Williams carried the football 21 times for 116 yards, and also caught two passes for 59 yards, while Craggette finished with 137 yards and a 54-yard touchdown run on 22 carries.
“He’s awesome,” said Tim Burk of Williams. “He’s our workhorse. He’s our dog. He’s the guy we rely on and I know I can trust him in any moment. He’s a dude, he just totes the rock so hard and he’s special. Anything we ask him to do, he does. It’s special. We are glad to have him.”
Williams now has 1,182 yards and 12 touchdowns on the season, while Craggette’s campaign will end with a Class 3A-best 1,466 yards and 19 scores.
“This means a lot,” Williams said. “We’ve been wanting this forever. It never happened. We worked so hard for this. This year is just different. Everybody on our team is different. We’re ready to win this thing. We are winning it all.”
Deer Lakes advances to face defending WPIAL and PIAA champion Belle Vernon (8-1) in the WPIAL quarterfinals next Friday at James Weir Stadium.
“We’re working to a WPIAL championship,” Williams said. “That’s our goal right now.
“Everybody needs to be there, be prepared, be ready to work,” he added. “It’s going to be tough.”
Just like the difficult ending to the careers of Southmoreland seniors, quarterback Kadin Keefer and receiver Ty Keffer.
Keefer connected with Keffer for a 6-yard touchdown just before half and rounded out his final game with the Scotties by throwing a 32-yard second-half touchdown pass to senior Wyatt Richter.
The Keefer to Keffer connection was a productive one for the Scotties. Keffer led Class 3A with 46 catches and 796 yards during the regular season. The pair hooked up for nine touchdowns.
Keefer and Keffer also produced a WPIAL-best 73 receptions for 1,009 yards and 18 touchdowns a season ago.
Despite Southmoreland failing to capture a historic victory Friday night, Bukowski said he is proud of the contributions his entire senior class made to the program.
“Even last year, making the playoffs, we didn’t have a winning record,” Bukowski said. “This year we finished 6-5, a winning record. We definitely took a step. We’ll see how conferences fall and see where we end up next year.”
For Derek Burk, however, there will be no focusing on next year for at least one more week.
“I expect a good game,” Burk said. “We’re never satisfied, never satisfied.”
John is a copy editor and page designer at the Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at jsanta@unionprogress.com.