BUFFALO TWP — Austin Romanchak was defiant.

He wasn't coming off the field. No way.

The Freeport sophomore lined up in practice to return a punt despite Yellowjackets' coach John Gaillot telling him he was no longer on the return teams.

“I told him, 'Listen, if I tell you you're off return, you're off,'” Gaillot said, grinning. “You know what he said? 'No.'”

Romanchak's reasoning was he didn't need to come off the field because he was going to “get the ball and score,” Gaillot said.

He was prophetic.

Romanchak scored often, throwing a TD pass on Freeport's first offensive play, returning a fumble for a score, and, yes, returning a punt for a touchdown as the Yellowjackets opened up their new, on-campus stadium Friday night with a rousing 38-6 win over Deer Lakes.

“I told him, 'I'll never take you off. Ever. No matter what,'” Gaillot said.

The tone of this rivalry game was set early when Deer Lakes fumbled the opening kickoff. Just 12 seconds into the game, Romanchak lofted a pass down the right sideline to Evan Schaffhauser for a 25-yard touchdown.

Three minutes later, Romanchak scooped up a fumble by Jake Spirnock and raced 34 yards for a touchdown to put Freeport up 14-0.

It appeared, though, Spirnock never had control of the reception before putting it on the turf.

Freeport (2-0, 1-1) took advantage of another break following a 35-yard field goal by Jake Sarver when Romanchak fielded a punt at the Deer Lakes 38 and ran untouched into the end zone to make it 24-0.

Romanchak had a wall of blockers to his right, cutting off the left side of the field, and easily scored.

“It was just like we practiced it,” Romanchak said. “It was nice we could keep the momentum going and keep punching them in the mouth.”

When Conor Selinger plunged in from the 2 with a little more than five minutes remaining in the half, the rout was on as the Yellowjackets led 31-0.

It was in stark contrast to the meeting the two teams had last season in the final regular season game at Swartz Field when Kris Keppel returned a blocked punt for the game-winning touchdown in a 32-25 win by Freeport.

It was the first of three games that had Gaillot's stomach tied in knots. The second was the playoff game against McGuffy at Swartz Field — the real final game at the venerable stadium — and this one, the first on this field.

“Three games that took probably 30 years off my life, so I don't know how much longer I have,” Gaillot said. “I couldn't eat for the week. That's good. I'm down to 168. I was so worried because everyone is going to remember the first one played here just like everyone will remember the last one played (at Swartz Field). I didn't want to have this first one be a loss.”

Freeport's defense saw to that, forcing three turnovers and giving up just 28 yards rushing on 21 carries.

Deer Lakes quarterback David Fleming dinked and dunked his way to 192 yards passing and the lone Lancers' touchdown — an 8-yard connection to Spirnock with 33 seconds left in the first half.

Fleming completed 22 of 45 passes in the game.

“Keep them in front of us and be solid in our tackling,” Gaillot said of the Freeport defensive gameplan. “Be physical. I was very happy.”

Romanchak rushed for 79 yards on 12 carries. Sarver, in addition to his booming 35-yard field goal that would have been good from 60, raced 61 yards for a touchdown to make it 38-6.

He finished with 72 yards on four carries.

The Yellowjackets, now 2-0 with a bunch of sophomores and juniors contributing, are well ahead of schedule, Gaillot said.

“What's scary is we're young still,” Gaillot said. “We're way ahead. I just hope we avoid injuries and keep getting better.”