Mitchell Watt has been as dependable as any Hamburg football player this year.
So, when he lost two fumbles on back-to-back plays Friday night that led to two touchdowns for Bermudian Springs, he wanted to make amends.
“My head was kind of down, but I knew I had to keep going,” Watt said. “It was rough. I was upset with myself, but I knew I had to keep going for this team.”
Watt responded by putting the Hawks ahead for good with a 4-yard touchdown run in a 31-27 victory in a District 3 Class 3A first-round game at Hawks Stadium.
Watt stepped up on defense as well. He had 4½ sacks and recovered a fumble, helping third-seeded Hamburg (7-3) advance to next Friday’s semifinals at second-seeded Boiling Springs.
The Hawks won a district playoff game for the first time in their history after first-round losses in 1985, 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2013.
“I’m almost crying right now because I’m so happy,” Watt said. “It’s huge. I know this is something that no one can take away from us. This is a memory that we’ll have forever. This will be in the record book.”
Running back Diohnny Ruiz, another senior, put his name in the Hamburg record book.
Even though the sixth-seeded Eagles (5-6) keyed on Ruiz, he rushed for 89 yards on 14 carries. He found a crack on the left side and ran 47 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown, which gave him the school record for rushing yards in a season. He finished the night with 1,187 yards, passing former Hawks star Vreeland Wood.
“That run was so him,” Hamburg coach Jeff Chillot said. “He made one person miss and then he accelerated so quickly.”
Ruiz also caught a 16-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter when Xander Menapace found him in the back of the end zone on fourth-and-5. Later in the second quarter, Menapace hit a wide-open running back Pierce Mason for a 77-yard touchdown.
Menapace completed all five of his passes for 115 yards.
“That was a play we repped all week in practice,” Chillot said of the pass to Mason. “It was a play-action pass on a wheel route. We thought we could hit that.”
The Hawks took a 17-7 lead on Lucas Blatt’s 24-yard field goal in the final minute of the first half and received the second-half kickoff. Watt, though, lost a fumble that Ethan Beachy returned 72 yards for a touchdown.
On the Hawks’ next play, Watt lost the ball on the exchange from Menapace. Bermudian Springs recovered and converted it into Beachy’s 7-yard TD pass to Michael Carson, which gave the Eagles a 21-17 lead.
“One thing about Mitchell is that he gets mad but he doesn’t let it bother him on the next play,” Chillot said. “He knew he had a job to do.”
He had the go-ahead touchdown and then had 3½ sacks in the fourth quarter alone. The Hawks sacked Beachy 10 times.
“We had some quicker guys up front, like Mitchell,” Chillot said. “We felt we could get some penetration. Once they had to throw, we put some pressure on him.”
Bermudian Springs scored a touchdown in the final minute before Menapace recovered an onside kick to clinch the Hawks’ historic win.
“After the game, I told them to turn around and look at the scoreboard,” Chillot said. “ ‘Look at what you just did. That memory will never leave you.’
“I feel so good for them and I feel so good for the coaches because they put so much time and effort into it. It’s been our goal all year.”
Source: Berkshire mont