Panthers, Frost Bowl, live up to the hype
2024 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Andrew Clauser — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Sometimes the most hyped up games don’t deliver. That wasn’t the case Friday in the 44th Frost Bowl.
Friday’s long-awaited matchup between Hamburg and Schuylkill Valley had plenty of story lines and came through on all of them.
It was the 50th meeting between the schools. It was a key battle in the race for the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 5 title. And it featured a matchup of record-setting quarterbacks.
| Section 5 | ||
| Sch. Valley | 5-0 | 6-2 |
| Lanc. Cath. | 4-1 | 5-3 |
| Hamburg | 3-2 | 5-3 |
| Berks Cath. | 3-2 | 4-4 |
| Ann.-Cleona | 3-2 | 4-4 |
| Pequea | 2-3 | 4-4 |
| Kutztown | 0-5 | 0-8 |
| Columbia | 0-5 | 0-8 |
The night belonged to Logan Nawrocki and the Panthers, who maintained sole possession of first place with a 30-21 victory before an SRO crowd at Hawk Hill.
Last week Nawrocki became the all-time passing leader in school history. Friday Tyler Shuey became Hamburg’s all-time leading passer.
Both quarterbacks enjoyed big games.
Nawrocki was 23-of-34 for 314 yards with three touchdown passes.
Shuey was 21-30 for 292 yards with two touchdown passes and a 21-yard touchdown run. He also ran for 136 yards, causing fits for the Panther defense.
There was only one turnover between the two. In fact, the Hawks out gained the Panthers 469-411 in total yardage.
This game was decided on fourth-down conversions and a clock-draining drive to end the game. The Panthers (5-0, 6-2) executed on both. They used a 12-play drive to seal the win. Cooper Hohenadel’s 2-yard run on fourth down came with 54 seconds left.
“(Hamburg) scored quickly on us to get within three,” said Schuylkill Valley coach Bruce Harbach. “Shuey is a good player and that team battled hard to stay in this thing but it also forced us to battle back so we responded with a well-executed drive.
“I said at halftime we just have to keep battling every play. Guys like (Luke) Spotts came up big for us.”
Both quarterbacks stayed poised to the end. After Shuey’s two big passing plays in less than a minute that culminated in a 30-yard strike to Daniel Brady brought the Hawks within 24-21 it was up to the Panthers to answer. Nawrocki led the Panthers on a drive that ate nearly six minutes off the clock. The best part of that was keeping the ball out of Shuey’s hands.
“All season our line was sometimes looked down on but in that last drive they really stepped up for us,” Nawrocki said. “They opened holes for our running backs and gave me time to make passes. This is what good teams do and we believe in ourselves.”
That belief system is the reason Schuylkill valley keeps rolling and improving every game.
The Panthers sit atop Section 5 with two games remaining. If they win both they’ll have the first outright championship in school history.
They meet Annville Cleona next week and end the regular season against Lancaster Catholic, both at home.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Schuylkill Valley | 10 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 30 |
| Hamburg | 0 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Schuylkill Valley | Wamsher, 28 FG | 10:03 |
| 1 | Schuylkill Valley | Gehret, 11 pass from Nawrocki (Wamsher kick) | 0:55.6 |
| 2 | Hamburg | Brady, 11 pass from Shuey (kick failed) | 9:43 |
| 2 | Schuylkill Valley | Spotts, 10 pass from Nawrocki (Wamsher kick) | 3:11 |
| 2 | Hamburg | Shuey, 21 run (Werley, pass from Shuey) | 0:25.2 |
| 4 | Schuylkill Valley | Spotts, 36 pass from Nawrocki (Wamsher kick) | 7.44 |
| 4 | Hamburg | Brady, 30 pass from Shuey (Blatt kick) | 6:51 |
| 4 | Schuylkill Valley | Hohenadel, 2 run (kick failed) | 0:54.9 |
Team statistics
| Schuylkill Valley | Hamburg | |
| First downs | 17 | 18 |
| Rushes-yards | 30-97 | 28-177 |
| Passing yards | 314 | 292 |
| Total yards | 411 | 469 |
| Passes | 23-34-0 | 21-30-1 |
| Fumbles-lost | 0-0 | 1-1 |
| Punts-average | 0-0 | 1-33 |
| Penalties-yards | 5-40 | 5-60 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Schuylkill Valley: Cammauf 11-36, Kowalski 3-22, Hohenadel 8-19, Pyle 6-17, Nawrocki 2-3.
Hamburg: Shuey 17-136, Ernst 10-40, Moore 1-1.
PASSING
Schuylkill Valley: Nawrocki 23-34-1-314.
Hamburg: Shuey 21-30-0-292.
RECEIVING
Schuylkill Valley: Spotts 8-123, Gerner 8-113, Hohenadel 3-12, Lackner 2-17, Durland 1-11, Gehret 1-10.
Hamburg: Werley 10-141, Brady 4-49, Horvath 4-37, Moore 3-65.
INTERCEPTIONS
Hamburg: Moore.
MISSED FIELD GOALS
Hamburg: Blatt 34.
