Young Hawks thrown for a loss by Octorara
2025 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
(This story was produced by LNP/Lancasteronline, and published in partnership with MikeDragoSports.com.)
By Logan Moyer — LNP/Lancasteronline
| Final | |
| Octorara | 34 |
| Hamburg | 6 |
ATGLEN — Many Hamburg football fans likely hoped for somewhat of a storybook debut for new head coach Tyler Hartranft and freshman quarterback Isaac McFadden Friday night.
That didn’t happen.
Hamburg was dominated 34-6 by Octorara in the season-opener. The Braves outworked the Hawks in every facet of the game.
The issues started on the second snap, which sailed over the head of McFadden. The rookie signal caller was able to fall on the wild snap, but the damage was done.
One punt and a quick Octorara score later, another snap went over McFadden’s head. This time, it was the Braves’ Josh Ross who came up with the loose ball. Three plays later, the Hawks were suddenly down by two scores in the opening five minutes of the season.
“We had some trouble with the snaps early on,” Hartranft said. “Which really set us behind the eight ball. Felt like the entire first quarter, we were playing second-and-20.”
Issues with the snap were ultimately resolved, but not before the rookie quarterback was thrown completely out of rhythm. Junior Isaak Stewart replaced McFadden in the second quarter but got knocked out of the game on a big hit in the second half.
“I think that got his head going a little too quick,” Hartranft said. “We had to kind of calm him down a little bit.”
Octorara’s linemen completely dominated on both sides of the ball. The Braves ran for nearly 400 yards on the ground, led by 141 yards by quarterback Mason Prokay and 138 yards by Brayden Mastripolitto.
The Braves bit off an average of over 9 yards every time they ran the football, relieving the pressure off the fellow first-time starting signal-caller.
“We’ve got to clean up our eyes a little bit,” Hartranft said. “That’s a tough football team. They’re physical. . . it’s a wake-up call for our kids that we’ve got to keep getting after it and keep getting better.”
Prokay and Mastripolitto both ran for short scores in the first quarter. The Braves extended their lead in the third quarter on a 15-yard run by Dante D’Andrea. Prokay added two more scores in the fourth frame, one through the air and one on the ground.
Meanwhile, the Hawks’ offense did improve throughout the course of the game. McFadden looked much better in his second stint behind center, finishing 7-of-9 for 65 yards and a score.
That score came on Hamburg’s final offensive play of the game in the final minute. It was a 24-yard connection in the far corner of the end zone between McFadden and Alex Soto.
“I really liked what (McFadden) did at the end of the game,” Hartranft said. “I saw a fire out of him that I haven’t seen yet.”
Hartranft isn’t sure who will be tossing passes next Friday when the Hawks host Midd-West in a non-leaguer. But he is ready to get back to the drawing board.
“I’m excited to get back to work on Monday,” he said. “I’m going to find out a lot about our football team on how we come in on Monday and how we approach it.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Hamburg | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| Octorara | 14 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 34 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Octorara | Prokay, 2 run (O’Donnell kick) | 9:19 |
| 1 | Octorara | Mastrippolito, 1 run (O’Donnell kick) | 7:42 |
| 3 | Octorara | D’Andrea, 15 run (O’Donnell kick) | 4:25 |
| 4 | Octorara | Remphrey, 17 pass from Prokay (O’Donnell kick) | 8:59 |
| 4 | Octorara | Prokay, 97 run (kick failed) | 3:12 |
| 4 | Hamburg | Soto, 24 pass from McFadden (kick failed) | 0:55 |
Team statistics
| HAMBURG | OCTORARA | |
| First downs | 10 | 21 |
| Rushes-yards | 30-44 | 43-390 |
| Passing yards | 85 | 19 |
| Total yards | 129 | 409 |
| Passes | 9-14 | 2-5 |
| Fumbles-lost | 2-1 | 2-0 |
| Punts-average | 34.4 | 31.5 |
| Penalties-yards | 8-42 | 11-93 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Hamburg: Ernst 16-59, Johnson 3-29, Stewart 2-5, McFadden 6-(-13), Team 3-(-36).
Octorara: Prokay 8-141, Mastripolitto 14-138, Dow 10-56, D’Andrea 4-46, Pooler 2-10, Powell 3-1, Team 2-(-2).
PASSING
Hamburg: McFadden 7-9-0—65. Stewart 2-5-0—20.
Octorara: Prokay 2-5-0—85.
RECEIVING
Hamburg: Soto 3-38, Metzler 1-13, Horvath 1-11, Schmeck 1-10, Strunk 1-9, Bentz 1-4, Ernst 1-0.
Octorara: Remphrey 1-17, Mowday 1-2.
MISSED FGs
Octorara: O’Donnell 30.
