Season preview: Hamburg Hawks
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Top Players To Watch in Section 5 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League
What to expect in Section 5 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League
Classification: Class 4A
League: Lancaster-Lebanon Section 5
Schedule: Click here.
Last season: 4-3 league, 6-5 overall.
Last District 3 playoff appearance: 2022.
Head coach: Tyler Hartranft, first season.
Key losses: Second-team all-league QB Tyler Shuey, Section 5 Receiver of the Year Ty Werley, second-team all-league WR and all-league DB Daniel Brady, second-team all-league ILB Leland Moore, second-team all-league DB Misael Oviedo, second-team all-league PK Eli Blatt.
Top offensive players: QB Isaac McFadden, QB Isaak Stewart, all-league second team RB Blaise Ernst (515 rushing yards, 7 TDs), RB Luis Ortiz, FB Bryce Schmeck, WR Ethan Horvath (15 receptions), WR Alex Soto, WR Owen Bentz, TE Mason Strunk, C John Sharp, G Cayden Mason, G Waylon Gaffney, second-team all-league T Astian Reppert, T Jacob Wagner, PK Aron Moser.
Top defensive players: E Astian Reppert (50 tackles, 9 TFL), E Mason Strunk, T Will Marciano, T John Sharp, ILB Bryce Schmeck, ILB Alexander Valentino, OLB Andrew Arroyo-Ramos, OLB Michael Smith, OLB Isaak Stewart, OLB Landon Colson, S Ethan Horvath, S Alex Soto, CB Owen Bentz, CB Elijah Metzler, CB Isaac McFadden.
Did you know? The Hawks have finished with a winning record in four straight seasons for the first time in their 55-year history.
For the record: The Hawks’ 59-0 win over Columbia last season was the largest in program history.
On schedule: The Hawks meet “Frost Bowl” rival Schuylkill Valley for the 51st time, in Week 8 at Leesport. The Panthers took a 25-24-1 series lead last year.
Quotable: “Our goal every Friday night is to be the fresher team, the tougher team, to be the most fundamentally sound team. We’re going to pay great attention to the little things. We’re going to execute to a high level.” – Hawks coach Tyler Hartranft
Outlook: The standard for success around Hamburg football has been raised. For most of their first half-century the Hawks were also-rans. Now after four straight postseason appearances even a trip to the Eastern Conference playoffs – which the Hawks have taken the past two years – isn’t enough.
“If we just settle for another Eastern Conference championship game, I don’t count that as a successful season,” said junior running back Blaise Ernst. “Winning seasons are great but if you don’t play games at the end of the season that matter, what did you work so hard for?”
First-year head coach Tyler Hartranft comes in with similarly high standard; with 11 starters back he has a chance to reach them. With a mostly new coaching staff and a small roster that includes more freshmen than seniors there’s also a chance the Hawks will be challenged to stay above .500, which they’ve done the past four years – a first for the program.
Hartranft was hired just weeks after Matt Hoffert, who took the Hawks to 21 wins the past three seasons, resigned abruptly right after the season. He’s been a popular choice with the players, who remember him from two seasons ago when he was successful in retooling the Hamburg offense as Offensive Coordinator.
He brought in two other familiar faces for his staff: Jeff Chillot, Hamburg’s head coach for one season in 2021, and Damian Buggy, another former Hamburg head coach who was an assistant on staff with Hartranft in 2022.
Much of how the Hawks’ season goes hinges on quarterback play where a freshman, Isaac McFadden, could end up with the job. He’s been battling junior Isaak Stewart for that spot.
McFadden is raw, no doubt, but he created a buzz during his eighth-grade season when he accounted for 28 touchdowns and nearly 2,000 total yards – huge numbers at the junior high level. He’s a dynamic runner who could add a different element to the offense.
Stewart, who saw a little game time last year, is more of a traditional pocket passer with a stronger arm. He got a start last year against Berks Catholic when Tyler Shuey was out.
Shuey left big shoes to fill: He set program records by throwing for over 2,700 yards in 2023 and finishing with over 4,200. He and his favorite target, Section 5 Receiver of the Year Ty Werley, are among seven all-league picks that need to be replaced.
Three starters return on the offensive line, including all-league pick Astian Reppert and Cayden Mason, who have emerged as leaders.
Blaise Ernst, who led the team in rushing last year as a sophomore, returns as the top weapon on offense. Ethan Horvath, who had 15 receptions a year ago, returns to lead a deep receiving corps.
Hartranft believes defense will carry the Hawks. Reppert, Mason Strunk and Will Marciano will lead the way up front. Horvath and Owen Bentz will be keys in the secondary.
“We’re gonna fly to the football,” Horvath said. “We’re gonna be a tough football team, and we’re gonna rely on that.
At the wire: Hawks a true dark horse in wide open Section 5 race.
