Mike Vukovcan The Hopewell football team added a number of new faces this season and for one of them, it was a homecoming.
Junior defensive end Aris Haniotes grew up in the Hopewell School District before leaving for Quaker Valley. The Haniotes family then made the decision to move back, which has been good news for the Vikings program.
The 6’3″, 220-pound defensive end has been one of the top performers on the Vikings defense, as he’s used his quickness to cause havoc in the opposing backfield.
Haniotes has an extremely quick first step and burst off the edge, which often times has been too quick for the opposing offensive tackle that he’s going up against. That burst has resulted in both sacks and tackles for loss.
Week 4 Highlights -YTD 5 Sacks, 17 Tackles, 9 hurries@Coach_Mattix @CoachZeek_ @MageeCoach @CoachZeek_ @street_ralph @DAWGHZERECRUITS https://t.co/UWsz9DX0aw #hudl
— 6'3 215 | C/O 27 | Edge 3.4 GPA (@ArisHaniotes27) September 14, 2025
The exciting part is that Aris is only a junior and not only has time to improve but also to get bigger.
The start to his season along with his skillset and projectable frame has him receiving early interest from college teams. Haniotes is hearing from programs such as Georgetown, Cornell, Miami Ohio, Eastern Michigan, Marshall, Temple and Buffalo.
In fact, this past weekend, Haniotes made his first unofficial GameDay visit to take in the Buffalo/Troy game.
Great visiting @UBFootball today.
Appreciate the invite and your entire staff. @CoachZeek_ @Coach_JoeBowen @LoganNewman01 @DAWGHZERECRUITS @WPIAL_Insider
Go Bulls !! pic.twitter.com/bgkRNVe4LK— 6'3 215 | C/O 27 | Edge 3.4 GPA (@ArisHaniotes27) September 20, 2025
Vikings Sports Now caught up with Haniotes who recapped his day at Buffalo.
“I liked visiting Buffalo,” said Haniotes. “The staff was welcoming and they have great facilities. Out of the MAC schools, Buffalo has the most consistency and are known for having a successful defense. I thought the entire staff was welcoming and gave me evaluation on my tape. Wherever I choose I want to feel at home. I have some time to go through the process.”
This won’t be his last visit, so Vikings Sports Now wants to wish Haniotes and his family luck with this exciting process. We’ll do our best to keep you updated on his travels.
