Four TD tosses by Tyler Shuey carry Hawks
2024 Berks football coverage
presented by UECU
By Logan Moyer — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
MIDDLEBURG — The best ability, some will say, is availability.
Football players get knocked out of games all the time; it’s not often you see the head coach get injured and end up on crutches.
While celebrating a 56-yard hook-and-ladder that resulted in a touchdown on the final play of the first half a player stepped on head coach Matt Hoffert’s ankle, tearing his Achilles.
Hoffert, who coached the rest of the contest on crutches, said the 41-7 non-league win over Midd-West Friday night was worth the pain.
“Better me than (the players),” joked Hoffert. “I stayed here, the doctor looked at me, got me all iced up and ready to go. I just kept coaching; I’m a gamer.”
Hoffert was happy to stay on the sidelines and watch the performance of quarterback Tyler Shuey, who chucked the rock around for 323 yards and four touchdowns.
“The best thing is that he’s smart and (he) listens,” Hoffert said. “He’s getting better every day. He’s on the same page with me, and it makes it a lot easier.”
The win is a far-cry from the week before, when the Hawks (1-1) lost 30-7 to Octorara, failing to score a single offensive touchdown.
“Our whole attitude changed this week,” Hoffert said. “I was on them all week. I told them I was Captain Matt, not coach Matt. They worked harder. Tonight they were excited on the sidelines; all the little things you need for a team to start coming together happened.”
Defensively the Hawks limited quarterback Mason Fultz to 40 yards via the air and held the Mustangs (0-2) to just under 2 yards per carry as they ran the ball 34 times for 67 yards.
The secondary closely resembled the team’s mascot, as Owen Bentz, Ethan Horvath, and Hayden Bell each ball-hawked their way to interceptions, two of which led to scores on the offensive end.
“We still have lots to fix; we’re not near perfect,” Hoffert said. “But it was better defensively.”
A big difference-maker on the defensive end was 6-2, 240-pound lineman Astian Reppert, who found his way into the backfield on what seemed like every play, forcing Fultz into some bad decisions.
The Hawks set the tone right away when Shuey found Daniel Brady open for a 76-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage.
Two more Shuey scores propelled the Hawks to a big lead before the trick play on the last play of the first half. Shuey tossed a dart 16 yards downfield to Werley, who almost immediately pitched the ball backwards to Brady (144 receiving yards), who took it all the way to the end zone.
“We practice that (play) once at the end of week, the last play of practice on Thursday,” said Shuey. “It’s the last play we run, then we meet in the end zone. We perfectly executed it there.”
“We’ve been ready to use it,” Hoffert added. “I just thought it was a good time, and they did it perfectly. That’s why we practice that stuff.”
A 7-yard TD run by Blaise Ernst and a 35-yard TD catch by Alexander Soto widened the gap for the Hawks in the third quarter; the latter score triggered the mercy rule.
Fultz found the end zone on a 1-yard sneak to put the Mustangs on the board with 33 seconds left in the game.
“It’s amazing to bounce back like that and show them what we’re about,” Shuey said. “We’ll continue on next week (at Fairfield) and do the same thing.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Hamburg | 7 | 20 | 14 | 0 | 41 |
| Midd-West | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Hamburg | Brady, 76 pass from Shuey (Blatt kick) | 11:42 |
| 2 | Hamburg | Shuey, 10 run (Blatt kick) | 11:27 |
| 2 | Hamburg | Werley, 56 pass from Shuey (pass failed) | 8:33 |
| 2 | Hamburg | Brady, 56 pass from Shuey (Blatt kick) | 0:00 |
| 3 | Hamburg | Ernst, 7 run (Blatt kick) | 10:18 |
| 3 | Hamburg | Soto, 35 pass from Shuey (Blatt kick) | 6:43 |
| 4 | Midd-West | Fultz, 1 run (Crabb kick) | 0:33 |
Team statistics
| HAMBURG | MIDD-WEST | |
| First downs | 14 | 9 |
| Rushes-yards | 29-144 | 34-67 |
| Passing yards | 323 | 40 |
| Total yards | 467 | 107 |
| Passes | 11-19-0 | 6-20-3 |
| Fumbles-lost | 2-1 | 0-0 |
| Punts-average | 4-47.5 | 6-44.3 |
| Penalties-yards | 7-70 | 3-30 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Hamburg: Ernst 7-73, Moore 4-36, Shuey 10-22, Stewart 3-12, Ortiz 2-8, Johnson 1-0, Oviedo 1-(-6), Team 1-(-1).
Midd-West: Hartman 16-57, Shupp 7-18, Kratzer 1-16, Fultz 10-(-24).
PASSING
Hamburg: Shuey 11-19-0—323.
Midd-West: Fultz 6-20-3—40.
RECEIVING
Hamburg: Brady 3-144, Werley 3-80, Horvath 3-41, Soto 1-35, Ernst 1-23.
Midd-West: Shupp 3-32, Kreider 2-6, Janovich 1-2.
INTERCEPTIONS
Hamburg: Bentz, Horvath, Bell.
