Hamburg blitzed in EC final; Tyler Shuey finishes with passing efficiency mark (updated)
2024 Berks football coverage presented by
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North Pocono 41, Hamburg 0
MOSCOW — North Pocono forced five turnovers and blocked two punts in beating Hamburg 41-0 Friday in the Eastern Conference Class 4A championship game at Covington Township.
The Hawks (6-5) never recovered from a poor start that saw them turn the ball over three times and get a punt blocked in the opening quarter. They trailed 28-0 in the first quarter.
The Hawks were held to 125 total yards.
The Trojans, meanwhile, ran 51 times for 263 yards.
“I thought we’d be able to run the ball,” Trojans coach Greg Dolhon told the Scranton Times-Tribune. “I think if you can run the ball physically and take control of the line of scrimmage, you can really take control of the game and things open up. We thought we had a good matchup in running the ball tonight and we exploited it early.”
Senior tailback Brady Lavery rushed 16 times for 119 yards and four scores. He scored on runs of 14, 1, 24 and 5 yards.
Hamburg quarterback Tyler Shuey completed 9-of-17 passes for 100 yards. He finished the season with 1,490 passing yards and his career with a program-record 4,252. He topped the previous record of 3,855, set by Matt Deibler in 2000, late in the regular season.
Shuey’s 37 career TD passes are also a program record. The two-year starter set a single-season record with 25 TDs last season and had 12 this year, with just one interception.
Shuey’s passing efficiency rating of 165.2 set a program record, topping the mark of 153.5 set yb Xander Menapace in 2021. He threw for a program-record 2,762 yards last season but, because of 11 interceptions, had a lower passing efficiency record as a junior.
The Hawks were playing in the Eastern Conference championship game for the second straight season after missing the District 3 Tournament. They lost at Berks Catholic 40-21 last year.
The Trojans had lost six of their previous seven games after a promising 3-0 start; they end the season 5-6.
This was Hamburg’s sixth appearance in the Eastern Conference playoffs; they have won just once in six games, beating Big Spring in 2019.
The loss was the fourth in the last five games for the Hawks. They had a five-game winning streak early in the season but lost three straight in Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 5 play. Despite the loss Hamburg ends the season with a winning record for the fourth straight season for the first time in program history.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Hamburg | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| North Pocono | 28 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 41 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | North Pocono | Lavery, 14 run (Magnotta kick) |
| 1 | North Pocono | West, 12 pass from Zimmerman (Magnotta kick) |
| 1 | North Pocono | Lavery, 1 run (Magnotta kick) |
| 1 | North Pocono | Lavery, 24 run (Magnotta kick) |
| 2 | North Pocono | Taylor, 1 run (kick failed) |
| 3 | North Pocono | Lavery, 5 run (Magnotta kick) |
Team statistics
| Hamburg | North Pocono | |
| First downs | 5 | 15 |
| Rushes-yards | 20-39 | 51-263 |
| Passing yards | 125 | 77 |
| Total yards | 164 | 340 |
| Passes | 10-20-1 | 4-5-0 |
| Punts-average | 4-33.0 | 0-0 |
| Penalties-yards | 3-30 | 6-55 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Hamburg: Shuey 8-24, Stewart 2-14, Ernst 5-3, Oviedo 4-2, Moore 1-0.
North Pocono: Lavery 16-119, Taylor 11-50, Stout 4-44, Koch 3-31, Eisley 4-15, Gray 2-11, West 1-3, Abbatiello 1-3, Scotch 3-1, Zimmerman 5-(-14).
PASSING
Hamburg: Shuey 9-17-0–100, Moore 1-3-1–0.
North Pocono: Zimmerman 4-5-0–77.
RECEIVING
Hamburg: Brady 5-45, Werley 4-54, Schmeck 1-25.
North Pocono: West 2-44, Lavery 1-24, O’Neill 1-9.
