HAMBURG — There’s a paving project under way on the main drag of Hamburg, but the steamroller found its way to Hawk Hill on Friday night, where undefeated Berks Catholic flattened Hamburg 42-14 in what had been anticipated to be a key Berks League Section II contest.
The win kept the state-ranked Saints unbeaten (7-0, 3-0 Berks II) and looking down the road to a season-ending matchup with undefeated Wyomissing.
For the Hawks, it was their first league loss (4-3, 3-1) and did not set them up well for next week’s game — wait for it — at Wyomissing in the second half of what Hawks coach Damian Buggy called a “bruiser two weeks.”
Buggy knew Hamburg would have its hands full with Berks Catholic, but he was disappointed in how the game played out — a 28-point first quarter for the Saints and a 42-7 halftime lead, which invoked the mercy rule.
“I felt good going into this game. We seemed extremely focused. We felt like we overcame some adversity last week in our overtime win so we thought we were plugging along, but it just wasn’t our number tonight,” Buggy said.
The Saints’ lines — big and fast — controlled both the offensive and defensive lines of scrimmage, racking up 439 yards rushing and six rushing touchdowns, while limiting Hamburg to 96 yards on the ground and 157 yards of offense.
“Their athleticism across the board was pretty good. We knew they were going to be athletic up front, and that’s what really impresses me — the speed with which they got off the football,” Buggy said.
“We weren’t used to the overall speed at which they play. They use their speed to their advantage and when you have size and speed, that’s a good combination.”
Such as senior running back Isaac Lutz, who scored on a 9-yard run on the game’s opening drive, and then added three more rushing TDs of 24, 73 and 9 yards to give the Saints a 28-0 lead before the first quarter was out. Lutz finished the night with 167 yards and 4 TDs on 10 carries.
Hamburg got on the board at the 6:12 mark of the second quarter when Jordan McAllister, a bright offensive spot for the Hawks, scored on a 19-yard run to cap a five-play, 66-yard drive.
McAllister, who rushed for 23 yards on four carries, also had a 20-yard pass reception in the drive.
In the final 3:33 of the half, Isaac Lutz’s younger brother, Cooper, a sophomore, got in the act, rushing for scores on runs of 3 and 37 yards, part of his six-carry, 109-yard night.
With the mercy rule in effect, Hamburg did push across one touchdown in the third quarter, a 5-yard pass from Nick Kuhn to Dariel Ruiz.
Kuhn had a good night, completing 6-of-12 passes for 61 yards and a TD, and rushing for 36 yards on six carries. A couple of dropped passes on good Kuhn passes hurt Hamburg, as did Berks Catholics’ bottling up of running back Ignacio Reynoso. One of the area’s leading rushers, Reynoso could manage only 22 yards on 13 carries as the Saints packed the box to stop the run.
Game Summary
BC (7-0, 3-0) 28 14 0 0 — 42
Ham (4-3, 3-1) 0 7 7 0 — 14
BC — I. Lutz 9 run (Gundersen kick)
BC — I. Lutz 24 run (Gundersen kick)
BC — I. Lutz 73 run (Fuchs kick)
BC — I. Lutz 9 run (Gundersen kick)
H — McAllister 19 run (Nelson kick)
BC — C. Lutz 3 run (kick blocked)
BC — C. Lutz 37 run (I. Lutz run)
H — Ruiz 5 pass from N. Kuhn (Nelson kick)
Berks Ham
First Downs 14 7
Rushes-Yards 38-439 37-96
Passes 1-4-1 6-12-0
Passing Yards 21 61
Total Yards 460 157
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 3-2
Penalties 9-92 3-25
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Berks Catholic — I. Lutz 10-167, C. Lutz 6-109, Wilson 9-84, Matos 3-32, Molteni 5-27, Gluek 1-8, Derr 1-5, Perdomo 2-4, Arias 1-3. Hamburg — Kuhn 6-36, McAllister 4-23, Reynoso 13-22, Ruiz 10-14, Nelson 3-6, Werley 1- (-5).
PASSING: Berks Catholic — Derr 1-4-1, 21. Hamburg — N. Kuhn 6-12-0, 61.
RECEIVING: Berks Catholic — Reedy 1-21. Hamburg — Reynoso 3-28, McAllister 1-20, Nelson 1-8, Ruiz 1-5.
INTERCEPTIONS: Hamburg — McAllister.