Hamburg’s Diohnny Ruiz ran for 212 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Hawks to a 47-34 win over Kutztown in a Berks Football League Section 2 game Friday on Homecoming at Kutztown.
Pierce Mason had 143 rushing yards and three touchdowns for Hamburg (1-1, 5-1).
The Cougars (0-3, 2-4) dominated possession in the first half. Led by junior quarterback Jacob Lafferty running the option, Kutztown was able to take the opening drive from its 20 to the Hamburg 10-yard line. The Cougars converted three times on fourth down on drive and picked up five first downs.
Then on the first play of the second quarter Lafferty completed his first pass of the game for a touchdown, connecting with freshman Dakota Thomas. Lafferty would convert the two-point conversion on an option run to make it 8-0 with 11:55 to go in the first half.
After a failed onside kick attempt by the Cougars, Hamburg started at the Kutztown 45 and would waste no time in tying it.
Quarterback Xander Menapace fumbled the snap on first down, but quickly recovered for a 1-yard loss. On second down, Ruiz, a senior, found a hole on the left side and ran 46 yards untouched for the touchdown. Senior Nick Hix made the extra point.
Kutztown marched down the field again on their next drive. With about five minutes left in the half, Lennon Neiman ran it in from 6 yards his first touchdown of the night. A missed two-point conversion gave Kutztown a 14-7 lead.
The full-capacity crowd at Kutztown erupted when freshman Trystan Jones-Rama fell on the ball around the 50 as the Cougars recovered an onside kick by Thomas on the next play.
Shortly thereafter, Lafferty was intercepted by Cameron Harris. Similar to the first possession, the Hawks scored quickly when Ruiz ran 73 yards for a TD, breaking several tackles along the way. A missed extra point by Hix made it 14-13
The excitement picked back up from the home crowd when with 2:05 left in the first half, Neiman took the Hamburg kickoff from his own 20, found a lane and returned the ball 80 for a score.
Hamburg did not end the half quietly as it continued making the most of the little time left. Starting at the Kutztown 47, they Hawks would drive to the 35 before junior running back Mason scored on an end-around to finish the first-half scoring. Hix made the extra point to tie it at 20-20 at half.
It only took the Hawks two plays into the second half to get into the red zone. With 11:16 on the clock, Ruiz scored on a 24-yard run.
Kutztown had no answer for the tandem of Mason and Ruiz. With 2:25 left in the third quarter, Mason scored his second touchdown of the night after running in another reverse from the 38 to give the Hawks a 33-20 lead.
Hamburg got the ball back a minute later after Lafferty fumbled at the 50-yard line and with one play Mason was able to find the end zone again for his third score.
With the score 40-20 at the start of the fourth, Kutztown was able to put together a successful drive, converting twice on fourth down. The drive was capped by a 3-yard touchdown run by Neiman. He also caught the two-point conversion.
As time dwindled down, Ruiz scored his fourth rushing touchdown of the night from the Kutztown 13 to make the score 47-28.
A late 46-yard touchdown run by Neiman with 1:10 finished out the scoring at 47-34.
Neiman ran for 102 yards and scored four touchdowns for Kutztown. Thomas had 93 rushing yards and 10 receiving yards, and Lafferty rushed for 83 yards.
Source: Berkshire mont
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