Annville-Cleona can’t stop Pierce Mason as Hamburg improves to 4-0
(This story was produced by LNP/Lancasteronline, and published in partnership with MikeDragoSports.com.)
By Will Wellivers — LNP/Lancasteronline
ANNVILLE — Pierce Mason fueled Hamburg’s second-half rally past Annville-Cleona Friday night for a 39-26 win in their Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 5 debut.
Mason, who had a league-leading 11 touchdowns in the first three games, matched a program record with five touchdowns and rushed for 277 yards on 20 carries. He matched a program-record with 292 yards last week.
The Hawks — nearly unstoppable through three weeks as they averaged 59 points per game — looked poised to run roughshod over the Dutchmen (0-1 L-L, 2-2 overall). They needed just two plays and 18 seconds to open the scoring and racked up 129 yards to jump out to a 13-7 first-quarter lead.
Entering the game, Hamburg (1-0, 4-0) had punted just once.
The Dutchmen defense settled in and forced Hamburg to punt on its next three drives. The A-C offense took advantage with a quick 88-yard touchdown and Phoenix Music (33 carries, 198 yards), the league’s leading rusher, added his second touchdown with a 14-yard run that gave Annville-Cleona a 20-13 lead with 2:23 left in the first half.
Hamburg sophomore Ty Werley had a 39-yard kickoff return to give the Hawks the ball at the 16. Three plays later Mason collected his third touchdown to cut the A-C lead to 20-19 at halftime.
Annville-Cleona tied the game 26-26 with 10:23 left in the game on a 1-yard dive from quarterback Gavin Keller to cap a 14-play, 71-yard drive.
The Hawks answered with a snappy seven-play, 71-yard drive lead by Mason. Mason had four carries for 69 yards on the drive, including a 6-yard touchdown run to give Hamburg a 33-26 lead.
Hamburg rallied from a 20-14 first-half deficit last week to beat Eastern York 54-34.
Xander Menapace completed 4-of-8 passes for 29 yards for the Hawks. He also averaged 40.2 yards on four pungs.
Mason matched the program record of five TDs shared by Iggy Reynoso (2015), Vreeland Wood (2002) and Bryan Wagner (1997). He is the only Hamburg player to rush for over 270 yards more than once.
For the second time this season, A-C’s Cameron Connelly and Jonathon Shay connected for a long touchdown. Connelly took a toss in the backfield and hit a wide-open Shay who turned on the jets to finished off an 88-yard touchdown for a 14-13 lead with 7:18 left in the first half.
League play continues for both teams next week as Hamburg hosts Kutztown while Annville-Cleona plays host to Columbia.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Hamburg | 13 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 39 |
| Annville-Cleona | 7 | 13 | 0 | 6 | 26 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Hamburg | Mason, 1 run (Blatt kick) | |
| 1 | Annville-Cleona | Music, 24 run (Lucera kick) | |
| 1 | Hamburg | Mason, 1 run (kick failed) | |
| 2 | Annville-Cleona | Shay, 88 pass from Connelly (Lucera kick) | |
| 2 | Annville-Cleona | Music, 14 run (kick failed) | |
| 2 | Hamburg | Mason, 8 run (kick failed) | |
| 3 | Hamburg | Moore, 15 fumble return (Blatt kick) | |
| 4 | Hamburg | Mason, 6 run (kick failed) | |
| 4 | Annville-Cleona | Keller, 1 run (kick failed) | |
| 4 | Hamburg | Mason, run (Blatt kick) |
Team statistics
| Hamburg | Annville-Cleona | |
| First downs | 12 | 19 |
| Rushes-yards | 31-284 | 56-316 |
| Passing yards | 28 | 106 |
| Total yards | 312 | 422 |
| Passes | 4-7 | 3-4 |
| Fumbles-lost | 3-0 | 1-1 |
| Punts-average | 4-36.7 | 30.7 |
| Penalties-yards | 11-115 | 4-20 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Hamburg: Mason 20-277, Menapace 5-23, Ruiz 3-14, Team 3-(-30).
Annville-Cleona:
PASSING
Hamburg: Menapace 4-8-0-29.
Annville-Cleona: Keller 2-3-0-18, Connelly 1-1-0–88.
RECEIVING
Hamburg: Correll 2-17, Werley 1-6, Brady 1-5.
Annville-Cleona: Shay 2-103, Funk 1-3.