Healthy Hamburg defeats Colombia in high school football

The timing could be perfect for Hamburg’s soccer team.

The District 3 playoffs begin next week, and it appears the Hawks are finally closing in on a full roster.

Pierce Mason and Derek Ruiz, slowed in recent weeks by injuries, each scored two touchdowns, as did Mason Zemmel to lead Hamburg to a 42-20 victory over Columbia in a Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 5 game at Friday at Hawk Hill.

“It’s nice to get these guys back on the field and it was a highlight this week,” first-time Hamburg coach Matt Hoffert said. “And it’s a total team win tonight. Everyone should play and I love it. It’s senior night, and it’s important for our seniors to come out with their last win of the regular season at home. We’re looking forward to next week.”

Not for nothing.

Hamburg, ranked fourth in the District 3 Class 3A power rankings, will likely open the district playoffs with a home game, though the games will not be completed until Sunday morning.

And the Hawks (5-2, 8-2) may well be as healthy as they’ve been recently.

Mason has been limping since injuring his right ankle in a Sept. 23 win over Kutztown. He missed two games — the week after the injury and last week against Northern Lebanon — and was limited in others.

“I kept trying to play and then I said, ‘Coach, I think I just need to like (rest),'” Mason said. “He says, ‘No, I agree. probably.’ We figured it out through therapy, doing the best I can every day. And it’s finally coming.”

The senior looked like a batter on Friday, carrying the ball 17 times for 107 yards and looking for contact.

“I started the season really hot,” said Mason, who rushed for 1,043 yards on the season. “And then for that (injury) to happen when I was on pace for some crazy numbers, it stinks. But now you won’t do anything. We’re going into the playoffs, we still have games, we still have things to focus on. So I can’t look at the stats anymore. I just have to start winning.”

Hamburg wasted little time in taking control of Columbia (1-6, 3-7), leading 21-6 after a quarter and 35-6 at the half.

The Hawks scored on six plays on their first possession. Ruiz, who also happened last week, capped a 57-yard drive with a 7-yard run.

Hamburg took advantage of a muffed Columbia fumble recovered by Cohen Carrell at the Crimson Tide 33 to go up 14-0.

Colombia appeared to hold on when Xander Menopas threw an incomplete pass after a missed 33-yard field goal. But the officials threw a flag against the Crimson Tide for what was called an illegal blindside block. Mason ran it in for an 8-yard touchdown on the next play.

Columbia’s Doma Diaz-Ellis connected with Demaree Simms on a 76-yard pass on the first play from scrimmage after the kickoff to cut the deficit to 14-6.

Hamburg answered when Menopas capped a 53-yard drive with a 35-yard TD pass to Semmel.

In the second quarter, Mason scored on a 5-yard run and Ruiz on a 1-yard run to make it 35-6.

“We know we just had to get the job done,” Mason said. “We had to do it. We knew it wasn’t the craziest competition, but it’s a competition nonetheless. And we don’t play differently for anyone. We knew we had to get this win.”

The Crimson Tide scored first in the second half when Diaz-Ellis scampered 29 yards for a touchdown and then threw a pass to Simms on the two-point conversion to make it 35-14.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Menopas threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Zemmel to make it 42-14.

Semmel finished with six catches for 61 yards. Menopas completed 15 of 21 passes for 139 yards.

Most importantly, the Hawks got to see what they look like when everyone is relatively healthy and ready to go.

“I mean, going into the playoffs, being healthy with our big players is really important for us,” Hoffert said.