Spartans get defensive, shut down Hawks on way to fourth straight championship game
By Mike Mitchell Jr. — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Wyomissing used a stellar defensive effort to shut down potent Hamburg 49-14 Saturday in a District 3 Class 3A semifinal at the A-Field.
The top-seeded Spartans (11-0) forced three turnovers leading to 21 points, including Logan Hyde’s 55-yard Pick Six in the first quarter for a 14-0 lead.
“Our defense has improved tremendously,” said Wyomissing coach Bob Wolfrum. “Early in the season we were making too many mistakes. We still do at times, but we have gotten much, much better.”
In the second quarter Max Tipton recovered a Hamburg fumble, setting up a 29-yard touchdown run by Matt Kramer for a 21-0 lead.
Wyomissing linebacker Collin Neidrowski delivered a vicious hit on a pass completion, causing a fumble that was recovered by Andrew Forrey. That set up a 12-yard touchdown run by Drew Eisenhower to make it 35-7.
Wyomissing led 28-0 in the second quarter and 49-7 late in the third. The fourth-seeded Hawks (9-2) had been averaging a program-record 44.8 points, fifth-highest in District 3.
The Spartans defense was spearheaded not just by its ability to cause turnovers but also by strong, physical tackling. Linebacker Ryker Jones had eight tackles and delivering some vicious hits.
“We knew they had great skill players,” Jones said. “We watched a lot of film, prepared real hard, and came out with our usual mindset of every guy doing his job on every play. We knew if we didn’t (running back Pierce) Mason or (quarterback Xander) Menapace could go the distance at any time.”
Two-way lineman Pacen Ziegler also had a strong game for Wyomissing with four tackles and a number of crushing blocks leading to big runs.
“Mason is a beast of a running back.” said Ziegler. “He runs hard. Our entire defense came to play today, and it showed. Each player focused on their assignments and we didn’t give up any big plays.”
The Spartans held the ultra-talented Mason, who entered with 1,304 yards, to 66 yards on 16 carries. Mason finished with a program-record 1,340 yards.
Wyomissing limited the Hawks to 123 yards passing. Menapace completed 17-of-29 passes.
“One of the things we like most about our defense is our ability to quickly make tackles after a completed pass, ” Wolfrum said. “We gave up some completions today, but because of our tackling we didn’t give up big plays or a huge chunk of yards on any of them.”
Because of the three takeaways, a 47-yard kickoff return by Jones to open the second half and a 22-yard punt return by Ethan Brower the Spartans had a lot of short fields to work with. They rushed for 250 yards. Kramer and Charlie Mc Intryre led the way, combining for 152 yards on 16 combined carries. The Spartans offensive line, led by Ziegler and Jven Williams, controlled the line of scrimmage.
Wolfrum recorded his 348th victory, tying him with Mike Williams of Manheim Central for most ever by a District 3 coach. Wolfrum also moved into sixth place on the all-time Pennsylvania wins list.
The Spartans will go for their fourth straight district championship next Saturday against third-seeded West Perry at Wyomissing. It will be their eighth championship-game appearance in nine years and 11th in 13 seasons.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Hamburg | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| Wyomissing | 14 | 14 | 21 | 0 | 49 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Wyomissing | McIntyre, 15 run (Levering kick) | 10:33 |
| 1 | Wyomissing | Hyde, 55 interception return (Levering kick) | 6:14 |
| 2 | Wyomissing | Kramer, 29 run (Levering kick) | 10:42 |
| 2 | Wyomissing | Jones, 9 run (Levering kick) | 6:33 |
| 2 | Hamburg | Menapace, 1 run (Blatt kick) | 0:37 |
| 3 | Wyomissing | Kramer, 2 run (Levering kick) | 9:00 |
| 3 | Wyomissing | D. Eisenhower, 12 run (Levering kick) | 6:11 |
| 3 | Wyomissing | C. Eisenhower, 6 run (Levering kick) | 1:06 |
| 4 | Hamburg | Werley, 9 pass from Menapace (Blatt kick) | 4:31 |
Team statistics
| Hamburg | Wyomissing | |
| First downs | 13 | 11 |
| Rushes-yards | 31- 72 | 36- 250 |
| Passing yards | 122 | 8 |
| Total yards | 194 | 258 |
| Passes | 17-29-1 | 1-5-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 2-2 | 0-0 |
| Punts-average | 4- 29 | 0-0 |
| Penalties-yards | 5-30 | 5-40 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Hamburg: Mason 16-66, Menapace 7-8, Moore 2-7, Ruiz 5-5, Team 1- (-14).
Wyomissing: Kramer 11-86, McIntyre 5-66, C. Eisenhower 5-39, Niedrowski 4-26, D. Eisenhower 4-16, Jones 2-15, Macrina 2-8, Zechman 1-(-2), Diaz 1- (-2), Ambarian 1- (-2).
PASSING
Hamburg: Menapace 16-29-1-122.
Wyomissing: Zechman 1-5-0-8.
RECEIVING
Hamburg: Werley 8-64, Correll 3-32, Bentz 2-18, Mason 2-10, Ruiz 1-(-2) .
Wyomissing: McIntyre 1-8.
INTERCEPTIONS
Wyomissing: Hyde.
