This Frost Bowl will feature special kind of heat from Hamburg, Schuylkill Valley
The Frost Bowl tradition and the longstanding football rivalry between Hamburg and Schuylkill Valley has usually been enough to get players from each side fully amped.
This year the storyline is different. For the first time the game itself will be bigger than the pagentry that surrounds it.
“It’s definitely a different game than normal,” said Hawks coach Matt Hoffert whose team, like the Panthers, remains in contention for a Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 5 championship.
If Schuylkill Valley (4-0, 5-2) wins its sixth straight Friday it will remain on a collision course with section co-leader Lancaster Catholic (4-0, 7-0), which it meets in Week 10. If Hamburg (3-1, 6-1) wins it keeps its hopes alive for a share of the title should the Crusaders drop one of their final three games.
| Section 5 | League | League |
| Lancaster Catholic | 4-0 | 7-0 |
| Schuylkill Valley | 4-0 | 5-2 |
| Hamburg | 3-1 | 6-1 |
| Annville-Cleona | 2-2 | 4-3 |
| Kutztown | 1-3 | 2-5 |
| Northern Lebanon | 1-3 | 2-5 |
| Pequea Valley | 1-3 | 1-6 |
| Columbia | 0-4 | 2-5 |
Bruce Harbach, the Schuylkill Valley coach, is all for trophy games and rivalries but that’s not his focus this week: He wants his players thinking only about the end game, not just bragging rights from a rivalry game.
“We’re going to be playing for a section championship,” Harbach said. “That’s what I’m concerned about.”
This scenario is all new for both sides.
Schuylkill Valley has never won any kind of a football championship in its first 49 seasons; in fact, the Panthers have barely even sniffed a title.
Hamburg won its lone Inter-County League title in 1985 under the late Bill Sakusky and was in the running for another a couple years later.
In the decades since, and especially when the Berks Football League split into two sections, the Hawks and Panthers have had no chance to finish first. They have been paired with powerhouse programs such as Wyomissing and Berks Catholic. They were never in the discussion.
The new-look, five-section, 37-team Lancaster-Lebanon League has changed the narrative.
“This is why the (expanded) L-L League is good,” said Harbach, who coached in the league for 16 seasons at Lancaster Catholic before arriving at Schuylkill Valley in 2021. “You have parity in the sections, especially Section 5. It gives the smaller schools a chance. It’s good for Berks County football; it’s good for L-L League football.”
The Hawks, the preseason favorite in Section 5, won their first five games before a 38-35 loss at Lancaster Catholic. Pierce Mason, the league’s leading scorer through the first half of the season with 18 TDs, was injured and couldn’t play in that game. He returned on a limited basis last week; Hoffert said he should be good to go for Friday.
He’ll be a key factor — maybe the key factor. He’s averaging 12.7 yards per carry. No one else in the league with 50 or more carries is close.
“He’s a good football player,” Harbach said.
The Panthers have their own top-shelf running back in Dominic Giuffre, who went for 202 yards and four TDs last week and is within 46 yards of 1,000.
The Hawks will be without running back/defensive back Derek Ruiz, who suffered a foot injury last week.
With their running back situation thinned in recent weeks quarterback Xander Menapace has become a key part of the running game. He went for 164 yards and three TDs against Catholic and for a career-high 172 yards and three TDs in last week’s win 27-20 win over Pequea Valley.
That was the Hawks’ lowest scoring output of the season. Now they face one of the best defenses they’ve seen.
The Panthers have turned things around after an 0-2 start, most of the gains being made on the defensive side. They have allowed just seven TDs during their five-game winning streak and an average of just 54 rushing yards per game. Over their past three games they’ve come up with 11 takeaways.
“They’re hungry, they’re aggressive, and they’re going to try to take advantage of things,” Hoffert said. “If we don’t bring our A-game, their (defensive) aggressiveness is going to take us over. They’re gonna bring the blitz; they’re gonna try to make us make quick decisions. We’ve gotta be prepared for everything.”
Schuylkill Valley is allowing 16.2 points per game, third-lowest among the 14 Class 3A teams in District 3. Only Wyomissing and West Perry — both unbeaten — have allowed fewer.
Linebacker Luke Spotts leads the team with 39 tackles, and six tackles for loss. Linebacker Jacob Stelluti has 29 tackles and five tackles for loss. Defensive end Ethan Swoyer has a team-best five sacks.
Overall, the Panthers are No. 3 in total defense in Section 5 and No. 1 against the rush.
“We’re playing well,” Harbach said of his defense. “I wouldn’t say we’re completely sound, but overall we’ve made some personnel adjustments and it’s really helped out.”
Schuylkill Valley hadn’t won five straight since opening the 2012 season 5-0. Granted, the teams it has played during the current streak aren’t nearly as good as Hamburg; their past five opponents have combined for nine wins.
“Five games in a row is nothing to look over,” said Hoffert. “They’ve been getting better week in and week out.”
Have they improved enough to beat the Hawks for the first time in four years? Enough to go on and win their first football championship?
We’ll find out in short order. The Panthers close with home games against Annville-Cleona and Lancaster Catholic. A three-game sweep will give them the Section 5 title outright. One win in the next two weeks, plus a season-ending win against Catholic will give them at least a share of the title.
“This is where you want to be the last couple weeks of the season,” said Harbach, who won eight section titles at Lancaster Catholic. “This is why you play the game, to be in big games like this. The next three weeks are big games. Every week’s a Super Bowl for us. We determine our own fate.”
