Mike Vukovcan HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP– One year ago, the Hopewell Vikings football team traveled to New Castle and were overwhelmed by New Castle’s speed and big play ability, losing 42-19.
Fast forward to 2025 and the game story was completely flipped as Hopewell’s defense completely suffocated New Castle’s offense and lived in the opposing backfield as the Vikings moved to 2-0 with a 31-6 win.
New Castle quarterback Marino Graham was pressured the entire evening by the Vikings defense, led by Brian McCabe, Nick Thomas, Keith Young, Aris Haniotes and Tyler Schroeder. For the second straight week, the Vikings defense completely shut down their opponents run game, this week limiting New Castle to just 27 yards on 20 yards.
Hopewell nearly recorded a shutout for the second consecutive week, as New Castle registered their only touchdown on a 65-yard TD from Graham to Kai Cox. Other than that big play, they simply couldn’t move the football.
Give credit to Hopewell head coach Matt Mottes, who also serves as the defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach, along with his defensive staff of Mark Knochel (LB’s coach, assistant DC), Jeremy Martini (DL coach), Antwon Townsend (assistant LB) and Scott Aguglia (assistant DB). These guys have done a tremendous job with these players.
Keep in mind, a year ago, Hopewell only held the opponent to single digit points once all season and have done it twice already in 2025.
Taking a look at the offense, Hopewell scored 31 points but due to turnovers, they left a lot of points on the field and honestly, could’ve/should’ve scored 50+.
That being said, it says a lot about the potential and skill level of this team when I’m nitpicking about scoring 31 points.
Sophomore quarterback James Armstrong led the way for Hopewell as he completed 16 of 19 passes for 229 yards, while also rushing for 109 yards and 4 touchdowns.
Senior Logan Triscilla had another steady/spectacular game with 5 catches for 96 yards, including a great catch on a 40+yard flea flicker.
Other Hopewell pass catchers included sophomore running back Nasir Wade with 5 for 34 yards, Tre Cameron 2 for 23 yards, Avery Bokor 2 for 7 yards, Kingston Krotec 1 for 5 yards and George Tafkov 1 for 4 yards. Wade also rushed the ball 13 times for 51 yards.
HOPEWELL/NEW CASTLE TEAM STATISTICS:
Rushing First Downs: Hopewell 11, New Castle 2
Passing First Downs: Hopewell 5, New Castle 4
Total First Downs: Hopewell 17, New Castle 7
Penalties: Hopewell 9 for 92, New Castle 11 for 48
Rushing: Hopewell 37 for 174 yards, New Castle 20 for 27 yards
Passing Yards: Hopewell 229 yards, New Castle 97 yards
Next up for Hopewell will be a road trip to take on the Ambridge Bridgers before returning home on September 12th against Beaver.
