WEST DEER — Leading 7-0 early in the second quarter, the Freeport defense was faced with a fourth-and-goal at its 1-yard line after enduring a 12-play drive by Deer Lakes.

The Yellowjackets answered with a huge stop as four defenders broke through the Deer Lakes line, led by linebacker Bobby Jendrejewski, and stuffed Lancers running back Ryan McGrath. The goal-line stand proved to be a game changer as the Yellowjackets defeated Deer Lakes 34-14 Friday night at Lancer Stadium.

“Defensive coordinator (Todd) Durand always gets those guys motivated, and they made a play for us,” Freeport coach John Gaillot said. “That was a huge momentum swing in the game.”

Freeport took that momentum and marched 96 yards in eight plays, the drive ending in a 10-yard touchdown pass from Andrew Romanchak to Dylan Hochbein to make the score 14-0 at the 4:30 mark of the second quarter. The senior quarterback was on target with 10 of his 14 passes in the first half for 140 yards.

While Romanchak was successful running the Freeport offense, he also made an impact on defense on the ensuing Deer Lakes possession. A pass by Lancers quarterback Scott Kelly went through the hands of receiver Justin Everetts and right into the arms of Romanchak.

He raced down the sidelines untouched and scored from 52 yards out to put the 'Jackets up 21-0 with 2:44 remaining in the first half.

Romanchak also opened the scoring with a 1-yard run, capping off Freeport's first drive that went 60 yards in 12 plays.

“Andrew is an amazing kid,” Gaillot said. “I'm proud of everything he put into getting ready for this season and it's nice to see him reaping the benefits from that.”

For Deer Lakes first-year head coach Steve Sciullo, it was frustrating to see his team move the ball, only to come up empty on a couple of promising drives.

“We get down there and something goes wrong,” he said. “We have some talent on this team and we have to continue to work hard to get the results we want.”

The Lancers were able to finish off a drive and get on the board in the final minute of the first half when Kelly connected with Colin Simcoviak on a 19-yard pass to cut the score to 21-7 heading into the break.

The teams both punted on their first possession of the second half. Freeport then got the ball at its own 36 and moved it in 11 plays to the Deer Lakes 2- yard line, but settled for a Jacob Sarver 19-yard field goal.

On the next possession, Romanchak picked off another pass and returned it from his own 24 to the Lancers' 1-yard line, setting up another Sarver field goal. It is the second straight week the freshman kicker connected on two field goals.

After Freeport forced a turnover on downs, it was time for Romanchak to strike again. He faked a hand-off and ran around the left side of the Deer Lakes defense, broke a tackle and drove into the end zone to score from 16 yards out. Alyssa Furlong added an extra point and put the 'Jackets up 34-7.

The Lancers added a late touchdown when Kelly found Hunter Burns with a 19-yard pass.

Freeport did amass 115 yards on 12 penalties. Three were for kick-offs out of bounds, and they had two pass interference calls go against them.

“There are some things we need to clean up,” Gaillot said. “We had a couple of passes that we should've intercepted, too, that we didn't get.”

The win brings Freeport to 2-1 in Allegheny Conference play, matching its win total for 2013, while Deer Lakes fell to 0-3.

“We are getting closer to where we want to be as a team,” Gaillot said. “We've just got to keep fighting and take it one game at a time.”