Pierce Mason, Hamburg run past Upper Dauphin in District 3 opener
(This story will be updated later tonight with additional details and postgame reaction.)
Pierce Mason looks healthy again, and so do the Hamburg Hawks.
The senior tailback broke off four touchdown runs as the fourth-seeded Hawks recovered from a poor start to beat fifth-seeded Upper Dauphin 49-35 in a District 3 Class 3A quarterfinal Friday night on Hawk Hill.
Mason’s fourth score, and program-record 25th of the season with 1:16 left, clinched it and gave him 264 yards on the night. It is his third 200-yard game of the season.
Mason missed a key midseason showndown against eventual Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 5 champ Lancaster Catholic with an ankle injury and was less than 100 percent over the next several weeks.
He claimed after the game he’s still not 100 percent recovered but appeared to have his burst back Friday, especially on a 56-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that put the Hawks (9-2) up 35-14. They had trailed 14-0 in the first quarter.
Mason also scored on runs of 22, 11 and 8 yards. He had a long second-half TD called back by penalty.
Hamburg (9-2) heads to Wyomissing next Saturday afternoon for a semifinal match-up with the top-seeded and unbeaten Spartans. Wyomissing has won three straight District 3 Class 3A championships.
The Hawks took their first lead when Xander Menapace capped their opening drive of the first half with a 27-yard touchdown pass to Ty Werley to make it 21-14.
Hamburg scored five unanswered touchdowns at one point and led 35-14.
Upper Dauphin (8-3) scored twice in a 3 1/2-minute span of the first quarter to take a 14-0 lead.
Aidan Bingham’s 30-yard pass to Tegan Engle, to the 3, set up the first score, a 3-yard run by Brandon Snyder.
After a Hamburg 3-and-out the Trojans were back at it again, getting big runs from Brady Morgan and Konner Walker to set up Alex Hepler’s 1-yard TD plunge.
The Hawks answered quickly, with Menapace’s 22-yard pass to Mason Semmel and Menapace’s 18-yard run to the 12 set up his 4-yard TD run.
Hamburg tied it midway through the second quarter when Derek Ruiz’s 16-yard punt return to the Upper Dauphin 41 set Mason up with a short field. He covered 19 yards on first down and went 22 yards for a TD on the next play to make it 14-14 with 5:40 left in the half.
The Hawks entered the game averaging 44.4 points, tops among all Class 3A teams in District 3 and third-highest in the state among 3A teams. They have smashed the program record for points in a season with 493; the previous record was 317. The program record for scoring average is 34.5, set in 2020.
Mason had 21 TDs through 10 games despite missing significant time since midseason ankle injury. The program record was 24 TDs by Iggy Reynoso in 2015.
The Trojans ended the regular season with seven straight wins after losing to Camp Hill in Week 3. They went unbeaten in Mid-Penn Conference Liberty Division, beating out Juniata, Susquenita and Line Mountain for the title. Their losses came to Williams Valley (8-2 record) in season opener and Camp Hill (5-5).
Bingaman completed 63 percent of his passes for 1,112 yards and 14 TDs during the regular season. He hadn’t been intercepted since Week 5 before Ruiz picked him off in the second half.
The Hawks’ lone losses this season came to unbeaten and state-ranked Lancaster Catholic — a 38-35 shootout — and to Schuylkill Valley 41-34 in the Frost Bowl.
Upper Dauphin reached the District 3 Class 2A championship game twice in the last three seasons. The Trojans beat Delone Catholic 36-28 in 2019 and lost to York Catholic 35-8 last year. This is the Trojans’ first Class 3A playoff game. Overall, they are 4-8 in districts.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Upper Dauphin | 14 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 35 |
| Hamburg | 7 | 7 | 28 | 7 | 49 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Upper Dauphin | B. Snyder, 3 run (Engle, pass from Bingaman) | 5:31 |
| 1 | Upper Dauphin | Hepler, 1 run (kick failed) | 2:12 |
| 1 | Hamburg | Menapace, 4 run (Blatt kick) | 0:54 |
| 2 | Hamburg | Mason, 22 run (Blatt kick) | 5:40 |
| 3 | Hamburg | Werley, 27 pass from Menapace (Blatt kick) | 7:52 |
| 3 | Hamburg | Mason, 11 run (Blatt kick) | 5:39 |
| 3 | Hamburg | Mason, 56 run (Blatt kick) | 4:36 |
| 3 | Upper Dauphin | Mace, 4 pass from Morgan (Dyer kick) | 1:19 |
| 3 | Hamburg | Ruiz, 62 run (Blatt kick) | 0:33 |
| 4 | Upper Dauphin | Mace, 4 pass from Bingaman (Dyer kick) | 11:18 |
| 4 | Upper Dauphin | Bingaman, 11 run (Dyer kick) | 6:37 |
| 4 | Hamburg | Mason, 8 run (Blatt kick) | 1:16 |
Team statistics
| Upper Dauphin | Hamburg | |
| First downs | 23 | 24 |
| Rushes-yards | 42-203 | 40-372 |
| Passing yards | 172 | 141 |
| Total yards | 375 | 513 |
| Passes | 13-31-1 | 13-17-1 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-0 | 1-0 |
| Punts-average | 5-38.4 | 3-29.7 |
| Penalties-yards | 12-92 | 6-44 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Upper Dauphin: Morgan 10-71, Fetterhoff 11-64, Walker 7-46, Hepler 3-20, Wallace 2-10, C. Snyder 2-7, B. Snyder 1-3, Bingaman 6-(-18)..
Hamburg: Mason 23-264, Ruiz 4-66, Menapace 12-41, Correll 1-1.
PASSING
Upper Dauphin: Bingaman 12-30-1–168, Morgan 1-1-0–4.
Hamburg: Menapace 13-17-1–141.
RECEIVING
Upper Dauphin: Mace 4-26, Farence 3-42, Walker 2-7, Engle 1-30, Hepler 1-29, Wallace 1-10, Fetterhoff 1-10. Morgan 0-8
Hamburg: Correll 5-36, Werley 3-54, Semmel 3-36, Ruiz 1-15, Bentz 1-0.
INTERCEPTIONS
Upper Dauphin: Engle.
Hamburg: Ruiz.
MISSED FIELD GOALS
Hamburg: Clark 46.
