Hawks rely on defense, five turnovers, to get past Mahanoy Area

Hamburg used big defensive plays to keep its perfect start intact Friday.

The Hawks forced five turnovers in a 21-0 non-league victory at Mahanoy Area to improve to 3-0 for the first time in eight seasons.

Senior Diohnny Ruiz rushed for 100 yards and a touchdown, forced a fumble and had eight tackles for the Hawks.

It was their first shutout since ending the 2019 season with a 28-0 win over Big Spring in the Eastern Conference Class 4A championship game.

Quarterback Xander Menapace and fullback Tristan Baer also ran for touchdowns, but offense was tough to come by for the Hawks. They led just 7-0 at the half and finished with only 206 total yards and six first downs.

Didn’t matter. The Golden Bears (0-3) couldn’t do much on offense, either, and were picked off three times, two by Cameron Harris, one by Bradley Zettlemoyer. They completed just two passes.

Baer had a team-high 11 tackles. Mitchell Watt had nine and Harris seven.

The Hawks have forced nine turnovers in three games and are a Berks-leading plus-seven in turnover differential.

The Golden Bears have been shut out in each of their three games; they have been outscored 48-0.

Things get considerably tougher for Hamburg next week as it heads to state-ranked Wyomissing Saturday at 1:30 to open play in Section 2 of the Berks Football League.

The Spartans are 3-0 and ranked No. 3 in the state in Class 3A.

The Hawks are in their first season under head coach Jeff Chillot. He was last 3-0 in 2013, with Schuylkill Valley.