Mike Vukovcan Good luck Vikings from the Wayne N. Tatalovich family
Football season has returned and this coming Friday we’ll have a big-time matchup here at Tony Dorsett Stadium.
How big of a matchup is Avonworth and Hopewell?
The twitter account @WPIALSPORTSNEWS, one of the top places for WPIAL football news, believes that this is the top matchup this weekend in the WPIAL.
@WPIALSPORTSNEWS has Avonworth as the No. 1 ranked in 3A, while having Hopewell as the 4th ranked team.
This also features a matchup of two 2028 4-star prospects with Vikings quarterback James Armstrong and Avonworth 4-star wide receiver Jaden Jones.
*Avonworth will be the most talented team on Hopewell’s schedule this season, which makes them playing them in the opening week very difficult.
How accomplished is Avonworth?
-They have won 15 straight games
-Have not lost a WPIAL game since losing to Belle Vernon back in 2023.
-Record over last 4 seasons: 50-7
-Will be led offensively by RB Dimitri Velisaris, who rushed for 1,492 yards and 23 touchdowns last season and Jones, who caught 33 passes for 1,023 yards and 10 touchdowns.
-Avonworth defense let up less than 10 points per game last season.
*However, Hopewell will enter this game with their most talented roster of players in decades, so it’ll be a good test for HC Matt Mottes’s roster to see exactly where they are.
Hopewell senior DE Aris Haniotes, one of it not the most talented players on the Vikings roster received some recognition today.
WPIAL Insider, another go to source for high school football news and information in Western Pennsylvania released their list of the top senior prospects in the WPIAL.
WPIAL Insider is ranking Haniotes as the No. 37 player in the WPIAL this season.
Haniotes is up to 6’3″, 240-pounds and after recording 13.5 sacks last season, he’s looking to surpass that number this season.
He will be one of the mainstays on DC Wayne Tatalovich’s defensive line.
*WR/LB Avery Bokor is another Hopewell player that is primed to have the best season of his high school career.
Bokor will be one of Armstrong’s top offensive targets but will be counted on to be a productive player on defense.
I expect D-1 colleges to take notice of Haniotes and Bokor this season along with a few other Hopewell players with D-1 potential.
Along those lines, in the past week, Bokor has received GameDay invites to Miami, Ohio and Buffalo games this season. GameDay invites are opportunities for players to attend games as a recruit/guest of these programs. While this isn’t an official visit, it does give players the opportunity to check out the program, meet and talk with the coaching staff and in some cases, check out their facilities.
