Octorara dominates Hamburg in opener

By Chris Deantonio Last updated Aug 24, 2024

2024 Berks football coverage

presented by UECU

By Chris Deantonio — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent

After a record-setting season for the Hamburg Hawks on offense, the start of the 2024 campaign didn’t feature the dynamic playmaking that carried them to a winning record just a year ago.

Octorara dominated time of possession and held the Hamburg offense out of the end zone in a season-opening 30-7 non-league win Friday night at Hamburg’s Hawk Hill.

“Nothing worked,” said Hamburg head coach Matt Hoffert. “Octorara did a great job, they had the energy. We are super young, and you saw it.”

That young Hawks offense is still looking for its first touchdown of the season, and ran just four plays on offense in the first quarter.

The team’s only score came on an electric 95-yard kickoff return by Daniel Brady late in the first half. On offense, Brady hauled in four catches for a team-high 26 yards.

Hamburg forced and recovered an Octorara fumble just before halftime, and headed into the locker room in a one possession game, but outside of that return, Hamburg struggled all night. The Hawks gained just 121 yards on offense and picked up just seven first downs.

Hamburg quarterback Tyler Shuey, who set several team records last season, completed 8-of-19 pass attempts for 70 yards. He also ran the ball seven times for 29 yards.

Shuey was under pressure from Octorara’s front seven most of the night, resulting in two sacks.

Hamburg’s offense fumbled the ball three times, and each led to Octorara touchdowns.

Despite the slow start, Hoffert has confidence that his team will correct their mistakes.

“We have nothing to do but figure it out,” he said. “These guys aren’t going to give up, and neither am I. Now we have game film, we have things to fix. We’ll spend a lot of film time this week to get it fixed and get a win next week.”

Octorara capitalized on Hamburg’s mistakes, and capped off long drives with touchdowns. Running back Chandler Stoltzfus led Octorara on offense, finishing with 19 carries for 71 yards and a touchdown. He also caught five passes for 65 yards.

The Braves also got two rushing scores from running back Ian Teufert. Teufert made the most of his six carries, scoring twice and picking up 38 yards.

Octorara quarterback Collin Wood was nearly perfect, connecting on 15-of-17 pass attempts for 158 yards and two TDs. He tossed an 8-yard score to Brayden Mastrippolitto to put the Braves up 24-7 in the fourth quarter. He also connected with Mason Prokay for a 5-yard score with 10 seconds left in the game.

Octorara shut down Hamburg’s running game most of the night, limiting the Hawks to just 51 rushing yards on 19 attempts. Hamburg’s longest run of the night came on a 13-yard scramble by Shuey.

The Braves repeatedly ran the ball and sustained time-consuming drives, racking up 18 first downs to Hamburg’s seven. Octorara fumbled the ball three times, with Hamburg recovering one of the loose balls.

The Braves balanced offensive attack kept Hamburg’s defense guessing all night. They earned 155 yards on the ground as a team and threw for 158.

	1	2	3	4	Final
Octorara	0	12	6	12	30
Hamburg	0	7	0	0	7

Scoring summary

2	Octorara	Stoltzfus, 3 run (kick failed)	10:34
2	Octorara	Teufert, 2 run (pass failed)	1:01
2	Hamburg	Brady, 95 kickoff return (Blatt kick)	0:48
3	Octorara	Teufert, 1 run (pass failed)	7:51
4	Octorara	Mastrippolitto, 8 pass from Wood (kick failed)	10:01
4	Octorara	Prokay, 5 pass from Wood (kick failed)	0:08

Team statistics

	Octorara	Hamburg
First downs	18	7
Rushes-yards	44-155	19-51
Passing yards	158	70
Total yards	313	121
Passes	15-17-0	8-19-0
Fumbles-lost	3-1	3-2
Punts-average	4-25.5	2-28
Penalties-yards	5-30	6-46

Individual statistics

RUSHING

Octorara: Stoltzfus 19-71, Teufert 6-38, Kurtz 9-24, Wood 4-10, Mastrippolitto 4-8, Dow 1-5, Team 1-(-1).

Hamburg: Shuey 7-29, Moore 7-22, Ernst 3-17, Team 2-(-17).

PASSING

Octorara: Wood 15-17-0–158.

Hamburg: Shuey 8-19-0–70.

RECEIVING

Octorara: Stoltzfus 5-65, Lambert 3-39, Teufert 3-15, Prokay 2-28, Mastrippolitto 2-11.

Hamburg: Brady 4-26, Soto 1-15, Bentz 1-10, Horvath 1-10, Ernst 1-9.