Mike Vukovcan Good luck Vikings from the Wayne N. Tatalovich family
While it certainly comes with pressure, any coach in any sports would rather be coaching with expectations.
The obvious reason for the expectations is that your team is supposed to win and have a real chance to advance in the playoffs.
That certainly is the case with HC Matt Mottes and the 2026 Hopewell Vikings HS football team. The Vikings are coming off a season in which they finished 7-5 and won a game in the playoffs for the first time in a decade.
The good news for this team and fans of Hopewell football and the bad news for many teams on their schedule is that the core of that team is returning for 2026, led by junior and future Penn State quarterback James Armstrong.
Hopewell officially started things up on Monday as training camp got underway with the start of heat acclimatization week. This will be five days of non-contact drills and workouts which lead up to the players putting on pads next week.
Mottes starts his 3rd season has Hopewell HC and says that he embraces the expectations and outside view of his team. He believes the work done the last couple of years in trying to rebuild this program have his players ready for what should be an exciting upcoming season.
“I’ve been extremely lucky and blessed to have a great group of kids,” Mottes tells VSN. “I had a lot of these kids as freshman, and they were expected to contribute and they did. As they mature and the team gets better, that obviously makes my job easier.”
“The good news is that when they were freshman and our seniors now were sophomores, the culture at Hopewell needed changed so I was harder on those kids. I wanted to change the culture around the program and to set a new expectation. Now, I don’t have to be as hard on them because they do and know what is expected of them. That’s great because they know to be on the field 10 minutes before I am. They know that when I walk out the door, that I don’t even have to blow the whistle and they’re already taking a lap. They know the expectations of Hopewell football. They know they’re to mentor the younger kids. It’s outstanding. The culture here has changed so much as I’m entering my third season. I don’t have to tell any of the players what they have to do or need to do because they know what’s expected of them and do it without being asked.”
While opposing teams will still be preparing to stop players such as Armstrong, Nasir Wade, Brody Rock, Tre Cameron, Avery Bokor, Aris Haniotes and Keith Young; those aren’t the only players that will make this team tick this season.
In our conversation, Mottes was truly excited about the depth that’s developing within this program both on the offensive line and on defense.
The biggest change to the Vikings defense and arguably the biggest offseason addition to the program will be new defensive coordinator Wayne Tatalovich, Jr. The veteran defensive mind has spent the past 15 seasons leading the Central Valley defense. That program has won a ton of big games over the years, and Tatalovich is hoping to do the same at Hopewell.
While they’ll be plenty of new faces on the defense, Mottes believes his defense will get the job done and is excited about the opportunity that a couple of players will have.
“It’s exciting because you have a kid like Evan McCabe or Greg Gigliotti, who we’ve been trying to find a way to get on the field for the last couple of seasons,” said Mottes. “Now, this is their turn, they’ve done everything that we’ve asked for two seasons. They’ve played JV, they’ve played in spot situations, they played on special teams and now we’re expecting them to come out and start for us and certainly be a big factor on our defense.”
“It’s great to see kids transform from JV players, special team players to now starters. That’s what we were talking about before, the expectations we have. They’re picking up the defense so well, it’s almost as if they were starters last year. Those two kids in particular have risen to the expectations, it just makes you feel good and makes you feel as though you’re doing your job as a coach.”
Things will kick off for Hopewell on August 28th when they host No. 1 ranked and defending WPIAL champion Avonworth. Other major challenges on the 2026 schedule include Imani Christian, Central Valley, Beaver and Aliquippa.
Their overall schedule will be a test, especially considering Avonworth, Imani Christian (known now as Propel) and Aliquippa are the top three ranked teams in Class 3A.
Despite the preseason rankings, Mottes believes this team has the talent to have a better record and to go further than they did a year ago.
As we finished up our talk, I was curious as if Mottes and his coaches feel any sort of urgency considering this talented core is now in their junior year.
To borrow a golf phrase, does he feel like they’re now on the back nine?
“We’re not on the back nine but we’re making the turn,” said Mottes. “Watching the way that they’re developed from freshman to juniors and sophomores to seniors, I have a very high expectation for them. It’s not just the community and me having high expectations, they have high expectations for themselves.”
“This isn’t the same team that was coming off a 1-9 season and just hoping that they can compete. We had a little bit of success last year, finishing with a winning record for the first time in 14 years, which is a great foundation to build off of. As long as we get better, as long as we compete, as long as we do what we’re supposed to do, we’ll have a great year. I expect us to compete for the section championship and hopefully we’ll be playing deep into November.”
