Mike Vukovcan 2024 was a breakout year for Hopewell senior kicker Rocco Marcantonio.
In his first full season kicking at the varsity level, Marcantonio showed early on to Hopewell HC Matt Mottes that a field goal was an option if the ball got inside the opponents 40-yard line. Along with that, Rocco added his name to the tremendous crop of kickers currently in the WPIAL that will be joining D-1 programs.
For the season, Marcantonio went 30 of 31 on PAT attempts and 9 of 13 on field attempts, including a long of 55 yards. That kick got Rocco’s name in the record books as it tied a long-time WPIAL record. Don’t be surprised if he breaks it this year.
@mwhiteburgh pic.twitter.com/BHEPDZPdTb
— Coach Mottes (@jarma72) September 28, 2024
With this success came attention from colleges for Marcantonio as during the season he received an offer from the Akron Zips.
Since then, Marcantonio has been on a number of unofficial college visits, which have included invitations to kick in front the special teams’ coaches. Rocco has been to Penn State, Michigan and over the weekend traveled to both UConn and Buffalo to show off his leg. In the last month, Marcantonio also received an invite to participate in a Kohl’s Kicking Camp in Georgia.
Hopewell’s Rocco Marcantonio
Marcantonio has literally spent the entire offseason working to get better and finding a way to make his powerful leg more consistent. Luckily through his past performances in high school and at kicking camps, Marcantonio built up a reputation and got connected with the top kicking instructor in the country.
Midway through the summer Marcantonio started to work with Tanalski and will be traveling to Buffalo on Sunday for another workout session.
Vikings Sports Now spoke recently with Tanalski who had plenty of positives to say about Hopewell’s star kicker.
“Number one, his dad is awesome,” said Tanalski. “I talked to him and said what kind of talent does your son have and he said, my son is as good as Harran (Zureikat). I said, wow that’s a pretty big statement.”
In case you didn’t know, Harran Zureikat is a 5-star kicker from Fox Chapel High School that recently committed to Georgia.
“Rocco then comes up here and I can tell you his leg talent is off the chart. He has 57 (yards) and has 61 (yards) in him, but he’s an extremely raw kid. He was a soccer player and from my evaluation, had a bit of a hurdle through the ball, running at the football. Definitely does not keep his linear path, kind of zigzagging and relying strictly on leg talent, which he has.”
After of plenty of work, Tanalski worked on some things with Rocco and believes he’s in store for a special senior season.
Hopewell’s Rocco Marcantonio
“We worked on some things, I’ve now seen him about eight times since May,” said Tanalski. “His dad actually texted me and said I really appreciate you being able to refine him. His ball looks different this year, it’s staying straighter.”
This will be Rocco’s final high school season, but Tanalski believes Rocco has plenty of football left in him and will eventually be taking his talents to the D-1 level.
“I don’t want to say he’s late to the game but he’s definitely going to be a little bit of a later recruitment. Before he looked like a kid with a real strong leg and now, he looks like a kicker. I could see him being a very high, Group of Five, full scholarship kicker. I could see him at like a Miami of Ohio, Buffalo, Appalachian State, Marshall or Memphis. One of those giant Group of Five programs would be lucky to get someone like Rocco. But, if someone falls in love with him at a workout at their school, he definitely has the talent to play Power Four football. Plus, he’s a great, great kid.”
Marcantonio and the Vikings open up the 2025 season tomorrow night as they take on Riverside.
Best of luck Rocco on your journey to earn a scholarship and become a D-1 kicker!
