WEST DEER TWP —A victory is always sweet.

It's even sweeter when it's your first win in almost two years.

Knoch football did just that as the Knights defeated Deer Lakes 21-13 at Deer Lakes high school in WPIAL 4A non-conference action Friday night.

“I'm just proud of the way we came out,” Knoch coach Brandon Mowry said. “Kind of picked up where we left off last week. Gave them a little life at the end, but I'm proud of the way our kids hung in there.”

Keagan Fraser got the start at quarterback for the Knights, which opened up different opportunities in an already run heavy offense.

“We changed things up this week trying to catch them off guard,” Mowry said. “We started with Keagan as a wild cat guy back there. We're just trying to keep people on their heels.”

Fraser finished the evening with 148 yards on the ground on 32 carries and a rushing touchdown. The senior had his hand on every Knight touchdown as he also went 4 of 6 through the air for 145 yards and two throwing touchdowns.

“It was just one of those things we tinkered with in practice this week,” Mowry said. “I decided today that's how we're going to start it and see if it works and if it works like it did. That's definitely something we are going to do moving forward.”

Both teams were able to score on their opening possessions.

Knoch got on the board quickly off a 78-yard touchdown pass from Fraser to Jake Murphy, but the Lancers answered back four minutes later with a Cody Scarentine 1-yard rushing touchdown.

The Knights found the end zone two more times in the first half off a Fraser two-yard run, and a 25-yard touchdown pass from Fraser to Exzavier Johnson.

Deer Lakes got the ball after the half and scored less than two minutes into the third quarter off a Derek Burk 13-yard touchdown run.

“We are very young at some skilled spots,” Deer Lakes coach Tim Burk said. “After watching our quarterback (Burk) tonight, we might have to rely more on that. Just kind of coming into our own a little bit.”

On the final drive, Knoch got the ball back on its own 3-yard line with five minutes in regulation.

The Knights were able to find some breathing room, but shortly after they found themselves in a fourth down and short deep in their own territory.

Knoch decided to go for it to seal the game and turned to Fraser again to make the play for the Knights.

“We got to find a way to make that stop on fourth and two,” Burk said. “Unfortunately, they are a little bigger than us up front.”

Mowry had similar thoughts when it came to deciding to go for it on fourth down.

“Just confidence in Keagan, but also confidence in the offensive line,” Mowry said. “We felt like we could do whatever we wanted to tonight.”

After the fourth down conversion, Fraser was able to pick up two more first downs to officially seal the Knights first win since October 2019 when they defeated Trinity 17-14.

Knoch will get it's first taste of conference action next week when Greensburg Salem comes to town.

“Greensburg always plays us tough,” Mowry said. “They hang in there, kind of like we are, so it's going to be a battle no doubt.”

Greensburg Salem defeated Mount Pleasant Friday night 34-6.

Knoch 14 7 0 0 — 21

Deer Lakes 7 0 6 0 — 13

First Quarter

K — Jake Murphy 78 pass from Keragan Fraser (Brendan Tristani kicjk), 10:46

DL — Cody Scarentine 1 run (Zier Williams kick, 6:39

K — Fraser 2 run (Tristanu kick), 2:24

Second Quarter

K — Exzavier Johnson 25 pass from Fraser (Tristani kick), 5:12

Third Quarter

DL — Derek Burk 13 run (kick failed), 10:11

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Knoch, Keagan Fraser 32-148, Exzavier Johnson 3-14, Gavin McGowan 3-8, Luke Goodlin 1-2. Deer Lakes, Derek Burk 7-46, Cody Scarentine 11-57, Fletcher Hammond 1-(-6).

Passing: Knoch, Keagan Fraser 4-6-145-0. Deer Lakes, Derek Burk 11-21-121-0

Receiving: Knoch, Jake Murphy 2-95, Exzavier Johnson 2-50. Deer Lakes, Ryan Cochran 3-20, Seth Sciubba 3-49, Josh Jordan 2-17.