Crusaders feast on injury-depleted Hawks
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Mike Mitchell Jr. — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Lancaster Catholic took advantage of a young and injury-depleted Hamburg team en route to a 61-23 Lancaster-Lebanon Section 5 victory Friday night on Hawk Hill.
It was a game that saw the teams combine for over 1,000 yards of total offense. Lancaster Catholic rushed for 545 yards. Over the past three weeks the Hawks have allowed 1,116 yards rushing.
The Hawks (0-3, 3-3) started the season with three straight wins but are currently playing without six starters.
“We are a young team.” said Hamburg coach Matt Hoffert. “We aren’t going to make excuses. We have some injuries and we go with the next guy up mentality. Our goal is to get better and try to win each week.
“Lancaster Catholic is a very good team. For a young team like us to beat them, we have to have everything go perfectly. Tonight it did not go perfectly.”
Hamburg played the Crusaders tough for much of the first half. Lancaster Catholic led 6-3 late in the first quarter when star running back Elijah Cunningham broke off a 57-yard touchdown run to make it 12-3. It was the first of five touchdowns for Cunningham, who ended the night with 322 yards rushing on 21 carries.
“He’s the best back we have seen so far this season,” said Hoffert. “He’s the total package. He is strong. He has excellent speed, and he cuts really well.”
The score remained 12-3 midway through the second quarter with the Crusaders facing a fourth-and-15 from the 30-yard line. Quarterback David Stefanow (10-of-15) threw a touchdown strike to wide receiver Charlie Warren to make it 19-3.
Cunningham added touchdowns runs of 13 and 3 yards, the second of which came as time expired in the first half to extend the lead to 33-3.
The short-handed Hawks did not fold. Tyler Shuey found Tyler Chase for a 5-yard touchdown pass with 7:05 left in the third quarter to cut the lead to 33-10.
Any momentum gained by the Hawks on that touchdown drive was erased on the ensuing kickoff when RJ Gonzalez returned the kick 85 yards for a touchdown to make it 40-10. On the touchdown, Hamburg standout Ty Werley suffered an apparent calf injury and did not return for the Hawks.
The news wasn’t all bad for the Hawks. Junior two-way standout Leylean Moore, out since Week 2 with an injury, returned.
“He looked good on defense,” said Hoffert. “He moved well and made some nice plays.”
Hoffert hopes to see Moore get playing time next week on offense, which should help boost the rushing attack.
Shuey continued his statistically magical season by throwing for 288 more yards, bringing his season total to 1,737 yards. He needs just 97 yards to break the all-time single-season record set by Xander Menapace last season. Shuey also threw for two touchdowns, bringing his yearly total to 17.
Wide receiver Mason Semmel caught seven passes for 128 yards, bringing his season totals to 26 catches for 594 yards and seven touchdowns.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Lancaster Catholic | 12 | 21 | 14 | 14 | 61 |
| Hamburg | 3 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 23 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Lancaster Catholic | Cunningham, 14 run (kick blocked) | 9:20 |
| 1 | Hamburg | Blatt, 30 FG | 4:43 |
| 1 | Lancaster Catholic | Cunningham, 57 run (pass failed) | 1:05 |
| 2 | Lancaster Catholic | Warren, 30 pass from Stefanow (O’Malley kick) | 7:53 |
| 2 | Lancaster Catholic | Cunningham, 13 run (O’Malley kick) | 4:58 |
| 2 | Lancaster Catholic | Cunningham, 3 run (O’Malley kick) | :00 |
| 3 | Hamburg | Chase, 5 pass from Shuey (Blatt kick) | 7:05 |
| 3 | Lancaster Catholic | Gonzalez, 85 kickoff return (Wickenheiser kick) | 6:50 |
| 3 | Lancaster Catholic | Way, 68 run (Wickenheiser kick) | 2:45 |
| 4 | Hamburg | Oviedo, 17 run (Blatt kick) | 11:19 |
| 4 | Lancaster Catholic | Cunningham, 60 run (Wickenheiser kick) | 10:16 |
| 4 | Hamburg | Bentz, 55 pass from Shuey (kick failed) | 8:40 |
| 4 | Lancaster Catholic | Montalvo-Melecio, 32 run (Wickenheiser kick) | 3:19 |
Team statistics
| Lancaster Catholic | Hamburg | |
| First downs | 19 | 18 |
| Rushes-yards | 42-545 | 29-90 |
| Passing yards | 100 | 288 |
| Total yards | 645 | 378 |
| Passes | 10-15-0 | 17-26-2 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-1 | 1-1 |
| Punts-average | 2-35 | 5-29 |
| Penalties-yards | 7-53 | 7-50 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Lancaster Catholic: Cunningham 21-322, Way 3-83, Stefanow 7-55, Monatalvo-Melecio 4-41, Zachary 4-34, Baumler 3-10.
Hamburg: Ernst 16-58, Oviedo 6-50, Chase 1-(-1), Shuey 6-(-17).
PASSING
Lancaster Catholic: Stefanow 10-15-0–100.
Hamburg: Shuey 17-26-2–288.
RECEIVING
Lancaster Catholic: Warren 4-50, Gonzalez 2-30, Acker 1-8, Crawley 1-5, Dresch 1-5, Way 1-2.
Hamburg: Semmel 7-128, Correll 5-72, Bentz 2-68, Chase 2-22, Ernst 1-(-2).
INTERCEPTIONS
Lancaster Catholic: Gonzalez, Warren.
