Team of the Day: Hamburg Hawks
2025 Berks football coverage
presented by UECU
It’s been said life begins at 50. That’s been true for the Hamburg Hawks. After some trying days in their infancy the Hawks — who debuted in 1969 — are enjoying life these days.
Four years ago, in their 53rd season, the Hawks won their first District 3 playoff game. In 2022 they cracked the state Top 10 rankings for the first time and won their first home district playoff game en route to a 9-3 finish.
They finished with a winning record again last season, marking the first time in program history Hamburg has recorded four straight winning seasons.
Before the current streak the Hawks had back-to-back winning seasons just twice in their history.
Life in Section 5 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League has been good for Hamburg; it has had a winning league record in each of its first three years in the league.
The Hawks will try to extend their winning ways this season under a new head coach, Tyler Hartranft, a former assistant coach in the program who was hired to lead the team late last year.
The wins were much tougher to come by at the beginning.
The Hawks were a newcomer in the Inter-County League in 1969, going against established and successful programs at Holy Name, Central Catholic, Conrad Weiser, Lansdale Catholic, and Exeter.
They debuted with four straight winless seasons and 38 consecutive losses — still a Berks record for futility. It wasn’t until their fifth season that they won a game; finally in Year 9 they had a winning record.
Hamburg claimed its only Inter-County League championship in 1985, setting a program record by winning 10 games under the late Bill Sakusky, the winningest coach in program history and a staple around the program for years after he stepped down as head coach.
Tyler Shuey sparked the team in 2023 with a monster season at quarterback. He set program records by throwing for 2,762 yards and 25 touchdowns; no other Hawks passer has topped 2,000 yards in a season. He finished his career last season with 4,256 passing yards, another program record. His top target, wide receiver Tyler Werley, finished last season with a program-record 1,788 career receiving yards.
Before that Xander Menapace rewrote the passing portion of the Hawks record book during his efficient three-year run at quarterback.
There’s one record neither Menapace or Shuey was able to top, the one for passing yards in a game: Matt Deibler has owned that since throwing for 416 yards against Schuylkill Valley in 1998. That remained the Berks record for 10 years, before Daniel Boone’s Jon Monteiro topped it.
To find more about Hamburg football history, including the newly expanded team records page, click on the Hawks Team Page.
You can find this season’s schedule, the Hawks series record against all their current opponent, results from recent seasons, year-by-year won-loss records, and team rushing, scoring, and passing records you won’t find anywhere else.
Throughout the summer MikeDragoSports.com will feature a different Berks team.
Up next: Kutztown Cougars.
