Hamburg beats Columbia, closes out 8-2 regular season
(This story was produced by LNP/Lancasteronline, and published in partnership with MikeDragoSports.com.)
By Matt Aquino — LNP/Lancasteronline
The Hamburg Hawks cruised to a dominant 42-20 win Friday night against visiting Columbia.
Senior quarterback Xander Menapace was efficient for the Hawks, completing 14-of-20 passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns. Hamburg also leaned on its fantastic run game, which totaled 184 yards and scored four touchdowns on the night.
Besides Menapace’s great performance, the Hawks’ rushing offense played brilliantly. Pierce Mason ran 15 times for 109 yards and he and Derek Ruiz each scored two touchdowns. Mason Semmel also scored two touchdowns, catching passes of 35 and 1 yard from Menapace.
Columbia was down 7-0 in the first quarter and forced Hamburg to punt but ended up muffing it to give the Hawks great field position. Hamburg took advantage of the miscue and punched in another score with an 8-yard rush by Pierce Mason to take a 14-0 lead which they never relinquished.
The Hawks consistently capitalized on Columbia’s fumbles and penalties taking a stranglehold of the game going into halftime with a 35-6 lead.
Mistakes were one of the main reasons Columbia could never gain any momentum throughout the night.
To start the third quarter, Columbia received the kickoff and ran it back 95 yards for a potential score, but the play was called back because of a personal foul. The potential comeback was cut short quickly and Hamburg continued to dominate.
The Tide committed eight penalties for 53 yards and fumbled the ball four times, losing it twice.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Columbia | 6 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 20 |
| Hamburg | 21 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 42 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Hamburg | Ruiz, 7 run (Blatt kick) |
| 1 | Hamburg | Mason, 8 run (Blatt kick) |
| 1 | Columbia | Simms, 76 pass from Diaz-Ellis (kick failed) |
| 1 | Hamburg | Semmel, 35 pass from Menapace (Blatt kick) |
| 2 | Hamburg | Mason, 5 run (Blatt kick) |
| 2 | Hamburg | Ruiz, 1 run (Blatt kick) |
| 3 | Columbia | Diaz-Ellis, 29 run (Simms pass from Giles) |
| 4 | Hamburg | Semmel, 1 pass from Menapace (Blatt kick) |
| 4 | Columbia | Simms, 12 pass from Giles |
Team statistics
| Columbia | Hamburg | |
| First downs | 16 | 18 |
| Rushes-yards | 21-137 | 37-180 |
| Passing yards | 205 | 139 |
| Total yards | 342 | 319 |
| Passes | 14-23 | 14-20 |
| Fumbles-lost | 4-2 | 1-1 |
| Punts-average | 5-27.0 | 4-32.5 |
| Penalties-yards | 8-53 | 7-40 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Columbia: Diaz-Ellis 10-57, Mummau 5-33, Diaz-Ellias 7-29, Giles 1-18, Sabino 1-2.
Hamburg: Mason 16-104, Ruiz 3-34, Moore 7-30, Menapace 5-8, Brandstatter 3-34, Jacobs 3-(-1).
PASSING
Columbia: Diaz-Ellis 8-18-1–174.
Hamburg: Menapace 14-20-0–139.
RECEIVING
Columbia: Miller 4-31, Poindexter 4-29, Simms 3-133.
Hamburg: Semmel 6-70, McFarland 3-29, Werley 3-26, Ruiz 1-17, Mason 1-(-3).
INTERCEPTIONS
Hamburg: Ruiz.
