Hawks and Trojans light up the night with a high scoring game, Hamburg gets the win

Tagged under: District 3, Game Photos, Gameday Hub, News, Playoffs

Brayden Fasnacht | November 5, 2022

What a night it was for the Hamburg Hawks, giving a magnificent performance against the Trojans of Upper Dauphin in the opening round of playoffs of the 2022 season. Both teams entered the game 8-2 and looking to advance in the District 3 playoffs. Only one of these teams could move on. The key to this game was the team that made the less mistakes throughout the game would crown a victory for how well both teams played. Tonight, that team was the Hawks as they came from behind and held on for the 49-35 win behind a four touchdown performance by Pierce Mason.

Upper Dauphin won the coin toss and elected to take the football. Things started to go down hill right off the bat for the Trojans due to a few early penalties which gave them some tough feild postion. The Hawks later forced the Trojans to punt and and that put the ball into the hands of Sr. quarterback Xander Menapace. Menapace and the offense drove the feild fell short after a interception by Tegan Engle. It was a even match up in the box for the run games on each teams opening drive. Big plays up front for Upper Dauphin’s Peyton Wentzel and Charles Shepard. But Upper Dauphin found things they wanted in their second drive as Brandon Snyder ran in for a one yard touchdown run. They decided to go for two and got it with a pass from Sophmore QB Aidan Bingaman to Tegan Engleto take a 8-0 lead.

The Hawks were forced to punt and gave the ball back to the Trojans. They took advantage of that mmediately, takingthe ball down the field with Alexander Hepler scoring from a yard out to take a 14-0 lead. The Hawks had enough of slacking on both sides of the ball and the offense turned it around. Xander Menapace had multiple QB runs and efficently gained yards after yards. Eventually Menapace found a wide open hole from 5 yards out to score and cut the score in half to 14-7 after a PAT that was good.

In the second quarter both teams got right back at it as running backs Pierce Mason, Derek Ruiz, and Miseal Oviedo of the Hawks and Konner Walker and Brandon Fetterhoff of the Trojans went back to work while having outstanding reads on the feild. But not enough to find the endzone for the Trojans in the second Quarter. The Hawks found a way to drive down the field and Mason punched it in for the first of four times, this one for 22 yards. PAT was also good and the game was then tied at 14.

Defensive play makers were on fire as Wentzel made huge plays behind the line of scrimmage, recording a Sack as well. Hamburg also tallied a sack with Leland Moore. After a big defensive half the score stayed tied at 14.

The Third quarter was all Hamburg. The Hawks started with the football and took over right from the start. Menapace had multiple completions to Mason and Bentz. A big decision came for the Hawks on a 4th and 3 and gave it to Menapace for the first down. Then Menapace hit Ty Werley for a 27 yard touchdown pass and added another PAT to take their first lead 21-14. Hamburg was flying around making multiple defensive plays and and taking control. The Hawks scored with Mason from 11 yards and took a 28-14 lead. Shortly after the Hawks got the ball after a turnover and punch in another one with Mason racing 57 yards and expanded the lead 35-14.

The Trojans fired right back and went down to score with shovel lob pass for 4 yards to Landon Mace. With the score 35-21. That score didn’t last long as Derek Ruiz took it 62 yards for a touchdown and made the PAT to put the Hawks up 42-21.

The Trojans never gave up though. Quarterback Aidan Bingman led the offense to a 4 yard passing touchdown to Tegan Engle and cut the lead to 42-28. The Trojan defense got another sack from Wentzel which led to another Trojans score on an Aidan Bingaman 1 yard touchdown run, cutting the Hawk lead 42-35. They attempted an onsides kick but Hamburg recovered. The Hawks then had to make a decision on 4th and 4 only up a touchdown, but forced an offsides penalty and got the first down. After a few rushes from Menapace and Mason, The Hawks found their way into the endzone for the final time as Mason ran it through from 8 yards and made the PAT and take the lead 49-35.

GALLERY BY BILL SNOOK, CLICK HERE FOR MORE