Mike Vukovcan HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP– Coming into last night’s game, the concern was that the Hopewell players were reading and hearing too much from the outside world/media about how talented they were, and it could reflect in their performance.
As one parent repeatedly tells me, ‘These players need to go out and do it first’.
Well Friday night, the Vikings certainly came out ready to play and did it as they didn’t take their foot off the pedal for the entire game. At the end of four quarters, the scoreboard read- Hopewell 56 Riverside 0.
For Hopewell, it was their first shutout on opening night since 2008 when they defeated Knoch 20-0 and their most lopsided opener since 2006 when they shutout Carrick, 58-0.
Hopewell’s dynamic offense was on full display as the 1st team offense scored touchdowns on all 8 of their possessions.
The stat sheet showed they balanced as the Vikings rushed for 212 yards on 17 carries and passed the ball for 268 yards.
While the offense will get the headlines, Hopewell’s defense was equally as impressive.
The defensive line was as good as advertised led by Keith Young, Aris Haniotes and Nick Thomas but for me, a huge story was the play of a couple Hopewell linebackers. George Tafkov and Zander Muzy played unbelievable games and for Muzy, in my opinion, it was his best game in his 4 years at Hopewell. At times, he was unblockable at linebacker and around the ball carrier all night.
VSN also wanted to give a shoutout to Hopewell offensive coordinator Zach Rosa, who dialed up all the right plays and was able to do a near impossible job of getting everyone touches.
HOPEWELL/RIVERSIDE RECAP-
*After holding Riverside’s offense to a 3 and out, the Hopewell offense got going. On 3rd and 5, Armstrong ran for 18 yards on a designed run to the left side of the line. Boo did a tremendous job tonight of staying in the pocket and looking to throw instead of immediately running after his initial read wasn’t open. Later in the drive, Armstrong connected with Avery Bokor for 17 yards and then on the next play, Armstrong once again, kept the ball and sprinted to the endzone from 17 yards. Hopewell led 7-0.
*On Riverside’s second drive, they had a 3rd and 2 from midfield but Haniotes came up with a sack as he overpowered the Riverside left tackle. On 4th and 6, the Panthers went for it and were stopped as junior Tyler Schroeder came up with his first sack of the season.
*Hopewell took over at their own 49 and on the second play of the drive, Triscila took a WR screen and ran for 17 yards. Nice YAC by Logan on that play. The drive was eventually capped off on a 21-yard TD run by Nasir Wade, Hopewell led 14-0. On the night, Wade only had 5 carries but ran for 103 yards.
*Riverside’s 3rd drive ended up being a 7-minute drive but in the end, Hopewell kept them out of the endzone. The Panthers converted a 3rd and 19 as they ran for 66 yards down inside the Hopewell 10-yard line. That was their only big play of the game. However, the defense stepped up as on 4th and Goal from the 3-yard line, Bokor sniffed out a WR screen and came up with a tackle for loss.
*Despite starting their 3rd drive from inside Riverside’s 10-yard line, it didn’t take long for Hopewell to flip the field. Following a 14-yard run by Armstrong, Wade busted loose for a 59-yard run, which was followed by a 7-yard TD run (his second of the game), Hopewell led 21-0.
*Riverside’s 4th drive didn’t last long, just 3 plays as Muzzy, Tafkov and Bokor all came up with big hits to prevent Riverside from going anywhere.
*A 64-yard punt return by Bokor down to the Riverside 1-yard was called back by a penalty but it only prevented the inevitable. First play of the drive was a 12-yard pass to Kingston Krotec on a crossing route, followed by a great individual play by Triscila who stretched to reach the ball and then was able to keep his feet in bounds for another 12-yard snag. Next play, tremendous job by Armstrong to move around in the pocket, stay patient and with great touch, flipped a 31-yard pass up the right sideline to Krotec. Next play, Armstrong connected with Triscila for an 11-yard TD as Logan went up to get the ball and made a catch that Randy Moss would’ve been proud of. Hopewell led 28-0.
*Riverside’s 5th drive lasted one play as Tafkov made a diving interception at midfield.
*Then with timing running out in the first half, Rosa called for a screen pass and Armstrong dumped it off to Wade, who ran 31 yards down to the Riverside 11-yard line. Next play, another Hopewell scored their 5th TD of the half as Armstrong found a wide open Krotec in the left corner of the endzone, Hopewell 35-0.
*Hopewell got the ball to start the second half and took just 3 plays to score as Armstrong threw a strike to Cameron, who then ran for 31 yards. Next play, on a designed run, Armstrong ran for 23 yards up the left sidelines down to the Riverside 1-yard line. Tafkov then got rewarded for his tremendous game as he took the handoff and powered his way in from the 1-yard line, Hopewell led 42-0.
*For the second straight defensive drive, Hopewell came up with an interception as Cameron broke perfectly on the ball, pulled it in and ran all the way to the Riverside 13-yard line.
*Josh Brunton then replaced Wade at running back and got the job done. First play, Josh, with a great speed, sprinted for 11 yards down to the 2-yard line. Next play, he muscled his way in for a TD, Hopewell led 49-0.
*Still in the 3rd quarter, because Riverside had their starters in, Hopewell kept some of their first team players in it resulted in the final touchdown of the game as Armstrong hit Cameron up the seam with a perfectly placed 31-yard TD.
The 4th quarter allowed the Hopewell staff to get the entire roster on field as backup quarterback Evan McCabe along with Maddox Fattore, Brian Olden, Roman Amadio, Emma DiCicco, Grant Houy got in and made some plays.
FINAL SCORE: HOPEWELL 56 RIVERSIDE 0
FINAL STATISTICS:
Armstrong 13 of 18 for 263 yards, 3 TD’s, 0 Int.
McCabe 1 of 1 for 5 yards.
Krotec 5 catches for 55 yards, TD
Cameron 3 catches for 73 yards, TD
Triscilla 3 catches for 39 yards, TD
Bokor 2 catches for 49 yards
Wade 1 catch for 31 yards
Tafkov 1 catch for 19 yards
Olden 1 catch for 5 yards
Wade 5 rushes for 103 yards, 2 TD’s
Armstrong 5 rushes for 73 yards, TD
Brunton 3 rushes for 20 yards, TD
Tafkov 1 rush for 1 yard, TD
Fattore 1 rush for 12 yards
Amadio 1 rush for 1 yard
DiCicco 1 rush for 2 yards
Hopewell (1-0) will enjoy this win for a few more hours and then it’s history and the focus needs to turn to New Castle, which is a really good team and one that beat them last year. This matchup next week at Tony Dorsett Stadium will be one of the top games in the entire WPIAL.
