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Beaver County Times Puts 3 Hopewell Players in Preseason Top 5

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 2 minutes read

With the official start of practices tomorrow, high school football is officially back.

The 2026 Hopewell Vikings enter the season with as much excitement and anticipation as they’ve had in many years and for good reason.

Head coach Matt Mottes and his staff will start camp with as much talent as they’ve Hopewell program has boosted in years. With that comes pressure and expectations as this season isn’t just about making the playoffs, it’s about how far you can advance in them.

The bottom line is that much of Hopewell’s success will predicated by quarterback James Armstrong. The junior left-hander is not only one of the best quarterbacks in Beaver County and the WPIAL but in the entire country.

Earlier this summer, Armstrong made his college decision and announced he’ll be attending Penn State to play for new head coach Matt Campbell.

The talent on this Hopewell roster goes beyond Armstrong as in my opinion, there’s 5-6 other Vikings that could eventually play D-1 football. Time will tell on that as things need to play out.

Two of those players along with Armstrong were recently recognized by a local media outlet.

The Beaver County Times has released their Top 50 players in Beaver County and it included a few Hopewell Vikings.

Congratulations to Armstrong, junior running back Nasir Wade and senior defensive end Aris Haniotes for making the BCT’s Top 50. Not only were these three players selected but they were in the Top 5.

As expected, Armstrong was selected as the top player in Beaver County as he finished last season with 2,215 passing yards, 739 rushing yards and 38 total touchdowns.

Coming in at No. 4 is Haniotes, Hopewell’s pass rushing defensive end. In 2025, Haniotes had a breakout season registering 61 tackles and 13 tackles for loss and 11 sacks. At a recent camp, Haniotes measured in at 6’3”, 230-pounds.

Right behind Haniotes at No. 5 is Wade, who had a tremendous 2025 season rushing for 1,311 yards (9.1 yards per carry), along with 26 catches for 361 yards and 16 touchdowns. ‘Bruiser’ also got it done on the defensive side of the ball with 39 tackles, four for a loss, 2 interceptions and a fumble recovery.

I anticipate Wade getting on the radar of numerous D-1 programs this season, including Power 4 schools. Wade currently holds 3 D-1 offers.

Hopewell will open the season on August 28 when they host defending WPIAL champion and one of the top ranked teams for 2026, the Avonworth Antelopes.

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Hopewell High School Football

New Names on the 2026 Hopewell HS Football Coaching Staff

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 1 minutes read

The start of the 2026 high school football season is almost here as the Hopewell Vikings will be opening things up on August 28th against Avonworth at Tony Dorsett Stadium.

Matt Mottes will be returning for his 3rd season as Vikings head coach, but they’ll be some changes around him.

As is often the case in high school athletics due to work schedules, family schedules and time constraints, they’ll be some changes on the Hopewell coaching staff.

Let’s start off with the coaches that will be returning for the upcoming season.

Returning Assistant Coaches
Assistant Head Coach: John Rosa
Offensive Coordinator: Zach Rosa
Offensive Line Coach: Guy Martini
Running Backs Coach: Craedel Kimbrough
Defensive Line Coach: Jeremy Martini
Linebackers Coach/Assistant DC: Mark Knochel
Tight Ends Coach:  Twon Townsend
Quality Control Coach: Tim Morgan
Kicking Coach: Armando Marcantonio 

Hopewell OC Zach Rosa and James Armstrong

While those are the returning staff members, Mottes has added some talented assistants to help him including a big-time addition on the offensive and defensive side of the ball.

Long-time Central Valley defensive coordinator Tatalovich has joined Hopewell and will be in charge of the Vikings defense. Wayne Tatalovich, Jr. was the defensive coordinator for successful CV head coach Mark Lyons for many years and is a big addition to the Hopewell program.

Tatalovich isn’t the only addition with Beaver County ties as long-time Aliquippa assistant and former Ambridge HC Sherman McBride is Hopewell’s new wide receivers’ coach.

New Hopewell Assistant Coaches
Defensive Coordinator: Wayne Tatalovich, Jr.
Wide Receivers Coach: Sherman McBride
Secondary Coach: Dan Hilton (former assistant at Seton LaSalle, New Castle, Union, Ambridge and Hopewell).
Special Teams/JV Head Coach: Tom Baranyk (former Aliquippa assistant)

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Hopewell High School Football

Vukovcan: Don’t Take the Winning For Granted

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 2 minutes read

“Appreciate what you have before it becomes what you had.”

I think about that quote when looking ahead to the Hopewell Vikings 2026 High School football season.

Last season was the start of what should be a very successful run for this team as they finished the season 7-5 and qualified for the WPIAL playoffs for the first time since 2012.

While some may look at that as no huge accomplishment, consider that the previous 13 seasons, the Hopewell HS football program had a combined record of 26-86.

Needless to say, that was a ton of losing and not many enjoyable Friday nights at Tony Dorsett Stadium.

For the first time in many, many years, there’s an anticipation to the start of football season and for good reason.

Head coach Matt Mottes and his coaches will be returning a large group of talented players that have been together the last few years and are determined to win a championship.

Is that possible? Time will tell but when you have the number of skilled position players that this team will return anything is possible.

That is certainly the case when you have a talent such as James Armstrong running your offense. In his first two seasons, the future Penn State quarterback has combined for 5,500 total yards, 62 touchdowns and 9 interceptions.

Bottom line is that Armstrong will go down as one of the best athletes to every player in the WPIAL, let alone Hopewell High School.

His accomplishments in football, basketball and baseball have helped put Hopewell High School on the map nationally and that’s something to be appreciated.

As I mentioned earlier, appreciate what’s going on and don’t take it for granted.

Armstrong won’t be doing it alone as he’s surrounded by a strong core of players that also have the potential to play football beyond high school. Nasir Wade, Brody Rock, Avery Bokor, Aris Haniotes, Tre Cameron, Keith Young will be returning and poised to have breakout seasons, but players such as Joey Barkovich, Landon Matthews and Richie Johns are names to watch as well.

I could list more names and will be doing so as the Vikings are preparing to open up camp. There’s plenty of time to do that as we move on into the summer, but the point is that this is the best roster of talent Hopewell will be fielding in many, many years.

Having talented players is not uncommon however, being able to have one of the top quarterback talents in the country along with 5 or 6 other players with D-1 talent isn’t something that happens often.

Because of that, the Hopewell Vikings have a chance to be very special for the next two seasons and that’s something we should appreciate and take pride in.

Things will officially get underway on August 28th when Hopewell will host Avonworth, the defending WPIAL and PIAA champions.

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Hopewell High School Football

WATCH: Hopewell’s James Armstrong Announces College Decision

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 1 minutes read

Hopewell’s James Armstrong is only in the early stages of recruitment, but he’s already seen enough.

The talented 4-star junior is one of the most talented quarterbacks in the country and has received 30 D-1 offers, 20+ which are Power 4 offers.

Instead of continuing to make visits and get recruited by major programs, Armstrong has made the decision to end it all and announce his college decision.

“WE ARE” going to still be seeing plenty of Armstrong as he plans on moving across the state and playing for the Penn State Nittany Lions.

Congratulations to James and his entire family as this is obviously a potentially life-changing decision.

VSN was able to talk to Armstrong about all the factors that went into this decision and got his thoughts on his future football home.

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Hopewell High School Football

Hopewell Wide Receiver Avery Bokor Receives 1st D-1 Offer

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 3 minutes read

Hopewell’s Avery Bokor has been working and training to become a D-1 football player since he started playing when he was 5 years old.

As he prepares for his junior season with the Vikings, Bokor continued putting in the work at various facilities along with attending a number of D-1 prospect camps.

Bokor stayed patient as he anxiously waited for that phone call from a D-1 coach to come telling him that he’d earned his first D-1 offer.

That phone call happened this afternoon as the Kent State Golden Flashes became Bokor’s first D-1 offer.

Congratulations Avery on this special moment in your athletic career.

“I was very excited to get that call and it made me feel that all the hard work I’ve been putting in was worth it and it paid off,” Bokor tells Vikings Sports Now. “I’m not a real emotional person and didn’t get up and start cheering or anything but was definitely happy about the moment.”

“Although it hadn’t happened yet, in my mind, I felt as though one was going to be coming soon. I felt as though I’d get my first one either this spring or following this upcoming season. My goal entering this summer was just to get my name out there and perform well in front of college coaches in order to get them to recognize and think about me.”

Over the last month, Bokor has worked out for or attended prospect camps at Pitt, West Virginia, Michigan State, Toledo and Kent State.

Bokor’s goal of getting in front of D-1 coaches paid off this afternoon as he walked us through how he found out about it and shared his early thoughts on Kent State.

“I was working my job of car detailing this morning and when I got home my dad said that I have to tell you something important,” said Bokor. “I got on the phone with Coach Bucar and started talking and he eventually told me that he wanted to give me an offer. He told me that he’s been watching me and felt now was the time to offer. We continued talking and talked about a couple of connections we had like Coach Mike Sirianni, and he said he was a GA at Pitt when my dad was there.”

“Since getting the offer, I’ve started to do some research on Kent State and I’m really trying to get to know the coaches. It’s only been a few hours but I’m trying to find out and research the program so that I can learn as much as possible.”

In terms of Bokor and his ability on the field, it just felt as though it was just a matter of time until the first program extended the offer. Physically, he just continues to grow along with getting stronger and faster, which was key to him getting this news.

“I believe that my speed has improved quite a bit,” said Bokor. “I started the season last year at 170 and ended the year at 160 but right now I’m at 183 pounds. So, definitely, my size, weight and speed have improved since the end of last season. If you watch my film from last year, I honestly believe that I’m a completely different player than I was a year ago. I feel like I’m so much better than I was a year ago.”

While he’s obviously happy about this first offer, Bokor’s main focus is on his junior season and being a big part of Hopewell having a long run in the playoffs.

Although it’s only one side of the ball, Hopewell’s skill position players on offense are pretty impressive.

Hopewell’s Avery Bokor

How many WPIAL schools can say they have a quarterback (James Armstrong), running back (Nasir Wade) and wide receiver (Bokor) with D-1 offers?

“I truly believe that we will have one of the best offenses in the entire WPIAL. I think we do have the best collection of receivers with me, Tre (Cameron), Brody (Rock), Maddox (Fattore), Tamar (Tisdale) and Bruiser (Wade).”

“We just have weapons everywhere and I don’t know how a team can stop us,” said Bokor. “We will have a great offensive line. It’s going to be a fun year.”

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Hopewell High School Football

Hopewell QB James Armstrong Adds Offer from 5th Big 10 Program

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 1 minutes read

Hopewell junior quarterback James Armstrong’s last 3 Power 4 offers have come from Big 10 programs.

Armstrong traveled to East Lansing, Michigan this morning to visit with Michigan State and left with an offer from new Spartans HC Pat Fitzgerald.

Junior running back Nasir Wade and junior wide receiver Avery Bokor traveled with Armstrong and worked out for the Michigan State staff.

Look for Michigan State to pursue Armstrong heavily as we’re hearing they have serious interest in him.

Michigan State becomes the fifth Big 10 program; 19th Power 4 program and 26th overall offer for Hopewell’s 4-star quarterback.

Up next will be visits tomorrow and Thursday with Virginia and Kentucky. Virginia is another program to keep an eye on for Armstrong as he’s had good early conversations with HC Tony Elliott and his staff.

Armstrong’s Power 4 Offers:
Pitt
Penn State
West Virginia
Georgia
Florida State
Duke
North Carolina
Colorado
Ole Miss
Syracuse
Virginia
Auburn
Arkansas
Cincinnati
Maryland
Kentucky
UCLA
Wisconsin
Michigan State

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Hopewell High School Football

Hopewell’s James Armstrong’s Recruitment Hits Different Level as he Becomes a Junior

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 1 minutes read

Despite the current day image of college athletics, the business of college recruiting does come with rules and regulations.

One of the many recruiting rules that most teams (not all) follow is that college coaches are not permitted to initiate contact with high school freshman and sophomores.

No texting or phone calls are permitted unless the communication is started by the athlete.

However, when high school athletes officially become a junior, those rules no longer apply, and the communication can flow freely.

On the NCAA calendar, June 15th is the date when the calendar changes are high school students are moved ahead to the next grade.

All is this means, Hopewell 4-star quarterback James Armstrong is now a junior which meant that his phone would be blowing up yesterday, which is what happened.

Starting at midnight, Armstrong received text messages and phone calls later in the day from a large number of college football programs. Most of the text messages included graphics that the teams recruiting departments put together, letting Armstrong know how much they want him.

Here were the 23 college football programs that communicated with Armstrong in some fashion on Monday: Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Pitt, Penn State, Syracuse, Virginia, Auburn, Florida State, Georgia, Arkansas, Virginia Tech, Michigan State, Boston College, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Duke, NC State, UCLA, West Virginia, Maryland, UConn, Miami of Ohio and Toledo.

In case you were wondering, North Carolina was the first team right after midnight to reach out to Armstrong.

 

It’s fair to say that Armstrong’s recruitment hit a different level on June 15th.

“It was great,” Armstrong tells Vikings Sports Now. “I loved all the love I was receiving and I’m ready to start these new connections with everyone.”

“It now feels a lot more real than before. The clocks officially started and I’m excited to start this journey.”

Speaking of journeys, Armstrong will make a few more trip to visit colleges starting today as he will be visiting Michigan State, Virginia and Kentucky this week.

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Hopewell High School Football

QB James Armstrong Ends Busy Week with Visit to Ohio State

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 1 minutes read

It was quite the week for Hopewell junior quarterback James Armstrong in terms of visiting prospective colleges.

Things got underway on Monday with a short drive to spend the day with Pat Narduzzi, Kade Bell and Pitt.

Two days later, Armstrong traveled across the state and competed in a prospects camp at Penn State.

Things then wrapped up yesterday as Armstrong drove to Columbus, Ohio and took part in a camp with the coaching staff at Ohio State.

Armstrong tells Vikings Sports Now that while he didn’t receive a scholarship offer at this time, he performed well and learned a lot from the Ohio State coaches, in particular quarterbacks coach Billy Fessler. He also got to do drills in front of HC Ryan Day.

Armstrong isn’t taking a break as next week he’ll be at Pitt, Virginia, Michigan State and Kentucky.

 

 

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Hopewell High School Football

Talented Ohio Athlete Tamar Tisdale Transfers to Hopewell

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 2 minutes read

Coming off a season in which they finished 7-5, qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2012 and won a playoff game, the optimism surrounding Hopewell Vikings HS football is extremely high.

The optimism is warranted considering they return James Armstrong, one of the most talented quarterbacks in the country. Rivals.com currently rank Armstrong as the 5th best player in the state in the Class of 2028 and the No. 185 player in the entire country.

It goes much deeper than just having Armstrong as HC Matt Mottes will also have talented junior running back Nasir Wade, senior defensive end Aris Haniotes, junior linebacker/H-Back Brody Rock, junior wide receiver Avery Bokor, junior wide receiver/cornerback Tre Cameron, DL Richie Johns, senior linebacker George Tafkov, etc.

Another talented name can be added to that list as Mottes recently learned that a talented athlete has moved into the district.

Junior cornerback/running back TaMar Tisdale has moved into the Hopewell School District coming from East Liverpool, Ohio.

Tisdale is 6’2″, 175-pounds and last season as a sophomore carried the ball 88 times for 588 yards and 5 touchdowns and collected 926 all-purpose yards.

Watching his tape, Tisdale really stands out with his size, length and physicality in which he plays at cornerback.

Hopewell already has two skilled players in Cameron and junior Brian Olden, so this addition just adds to the talent and depth on this team.

Vikings Sports Now had the chance to talk to Tisdale about his move to Hopewell and found out more about him as a player and person.

“I’m not gonna lie, I’m very excited about coming here,” Tisdale tells VSN. “Being here is going to get more better prepared for the future and I’m excited to see what the future holds for me.”

“I’m currently a two sports athlete (track and field). Right now, I think I’m a better player on defense. I just like getting to hit people, make plays on the ball, I just love playing defense because defense wins you games. My size really helps me a lot defensively because of how aggressive I play. Because of my length, I can be hands on from farther away and I can make more reads on the ball, and they can’t touch me because of my wingspan.”

The excitement of playing for Hopewell was obvious in Tisdale’s voice as we talked, especially when I asked him about becoming a part of a team with so much talent already on the roster.

“Having so many good players is just going to make the team better as a whole,” said Tisdale. “When you have a lot talent on the roster, it just pushes everyone at their position. Having someone push and challenge you helps because it can get you playing like you need to play and hopefully the player you need to be.”

“I recently had a workout yesterday with some of them and it had good energy. I can already tell how good the environment is around this team. Once I’m able to get around everyone, it’s just going to bring more positive vibes and more of a family feel.”

Hopewell will open up the 2026 season on August 28th as they host Avonworth.

 

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Huge Month of Recruiting Trips Starts Tomorrow for Hopewell QB James Armstrong

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 2 minutes read

With the Hopewell High School baseball season now complete, quarterback James Armstrong’s focus now is 100% on his upcoming junior season.

Despite being active with baseball six days a week, Armstrong has still found time to do individual football workouts as well as take part in 7-on-7 team competitions that the Vikings program is participating in.

Over the upcoming months, when Armstrong isn’t working out or at a football practice, there’s a good chance he’ll be making a recruiting visit.

The 2028 4-star recruit is one of the top quarterback prospects in the country and is entering a serious part of his recruitment.

At this stage of his recruitment, Armstrong holds 18 Power 4 offers but would like to start narrowing things down and determining which programs he’s truly serious about and who could be one of his finalists.

In order to do that, on-campus visits need to be made and that’s what he plans on doing during the month of June.

Starting tomorrow and likely running through the end of the month, Armstrong and his father will be making unofficial visits to various schools.

Because some of the dates and visits haven’t been confirmed, we won’t report on a few but here are the ones that are locked in for the upcoming week.

Things will get underway tomorrow when Armstrong makes the quick drive to Pitt and spends time with Pat Narduzzi, Kade Bell and the Pitt staff.

Hopewell quarterback James Armstrong

Although it’s only June and he’s only entering his junior season, IMO, this will be an important time for the Pitt staff. Armstrong already has a tremendous relationship with Narduzzi, but it’ll take more than that to land him. Showing off the university, their facilities, their connections and showing him how much of a priority he truly is to them will all be important.

After Pitt on Monday, Armstrong will travel across the state and make a visit to Matt Campbell and Penn State on June 10th. Like with Pitt, he is a big target for Campbell, Terry Smith and the Nittany Lions program.

The next day, Armstrong will then be in Columbus, Ohio on June 11th to spend the day and visit Ohio State. At this point, Armstrong does not hold an offer from the Buckeyes.

The week will wrap up with Armstrong returning to Pitt on June 14th to take part in a Pitt prospects camp. This will give him the opportunity to display his arm talent to the Pitt coaches.

Three and possibly a fourth visit is planned for the following week, but we’ll wait to report on those until that fourth one gets locked in.

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