Hampton wins “Mayhem on Middle”; Defeat Deer Lakes 26-13

Tagged under: District 7, Gameday Hub, News, pfn

Greg Hillman | August 29, 2026

ALLISON PARK, PA–

It’s ok to feel a certain way about this team. Because they feel the same way.

A packed house with two communities eager to renew a rivalry a quarter-century in the making.

Heath Borgo set the tempo right out of the gate in Hampton’s 26-13 victory over Deer Lakes on Friday night with a big 87-yard kickoff return, taking the ball down to the Lancers 7-yard line.

“It’s big,” Heath Borgo said afterward. “I did it in the Armstrong game, and it really changed things. We come out strong after we do that. So, it just changed the momentum a lot”

That was short-lived, however. Just a few plays later, Borgo would take a low snap, and the ball hit his foot, bouncing right into the Deer Lakes backfield for an easy recovery.

“It’s frustrating as a coach,” said head coach Steve Sciullo. “To see a couple snaps go wrong in the first quarter. We fumbled a couple times in the first quarter. We had two big plays, and they get tarnished by turnovers. We’re letting them stay in the game, then we’re letting them take the lead on another big play. And the last time they scored, they had another big play, so we got to put those things behind us. Continue to focus on stopping the run, playing our cover three, and making those guys beat us.

But –much like last year—it was Hampton’s defense to the rescue as Parker Valentine would tackle Lancer’s running back Roman Smith for a safety, giving Hampton an early 2-0 lead.

That would be the only scoring for the better part of a quarter as both offenses struggled to find any yardage. Until Deer Lakes found the back of the end zone thanks to a Jack Guthrie pass from Dante Mangieri. That play was set up by a 79-yard completion by Charlie Cook to set Deer Lakes up at the Talbots 10-yard line.

When asked about his defense, Sciullo continued to be impressed.

“Just the way they were running around, he said. Didn’t matter who was in; we had guys being active, trying to go get the football and try and make the tackles. It was awesome”

Hampton’s defense set the tone. No question about it. The offense took all of about 30-minutes to get their groove going.

Andrew Reschoff’s return to quarterback got off to a shaky start. Sacks, interceptions, and missed targets all played a factor in Friday’s game. With all due respect, he hasn’t played competitive football since last October. So, give it time. The splash should come as the season moves along.

An unsung hero was Decan Csellar, who made his presence known with two touchdowns in the victory. Especially one later in the game that made the game almost out of reach.

But it was the two key interceptions from Borgo that would help stop any offensive threat Deer Lakes might have been pursuing. Borgo put an end to those drives pretty quickly.

More on that later…

Overall, this was an impressive win for Hampton. Especially against a team that had some playmakers of their own. It’s not to say Hampton is a WPIAL contender. That would be a dream season like no other.

But this group of Talbots knows this room could be something special. Something they were robbed of last year. But with a win like this, it sets the bar. A tough schedule is coming. And they know that.

They’ll cross that bridge when they get there.

But for now, Step 1 is complete. Take it week by week, game by game.

Onto Armstrong…

“We can go far,” Heath Borgo said. “We got a great group of kids. We got some big guys up front, got a good QB. Receivers are good, defense are studs. We can go far.”