The Hopewell Vikings football team will conclude their 2026 regular season home schedule when they host the Ambridge Bridgers.
The last game means that it’s Senior Night and Vikings Sports Now spoke to two Vikings that will be taking part in Senior Night ceremonies: Aris Haniotes and Tyler Schroeder.
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.
With the official start of practices tomorrow, high school football is officially back.
The 2026 Hopewell Vikings enter the season with as much excitement and anticipation as they’ve had in many years and for good reason.
Head coach Matt Mottes and his staff will start camp with as much talent as they’ve Hopewell program has boosted in years. With that comes pressure and expectations as this season isn’t just about making the playoffs, it’s about how far you can advance in them.
The bottom line is that much of Hopewell’s success will predicated by quarterback James Armstrong. The junior left-hander is not only one of the best quarterbacks in Beaver County and the WPIAL but in the entire country.
Earlier this summer, Armstrong made his college decision and announced he’ll be attending Penn State to play for new head coach Matt Campbell.
The talent on this Hopewell roster goes beyond Armstrong as in my opinion, there’s 5-6 other Vikings that could eventually play D-1 football. Time will tell on that as things need to play out.
Two of those players along with Armstrong were recently recognized by a local media outlet.
The Beaver County Times has released their Top 50 players in Beaver County and it included a few Hopewell Vikings.
Congratulations to Armstrong, junior running back Nasir Wade and senior defensive end Aris Haniotes for making the BCT’s Top 50. Not only were these three players selected but they were in the Top 5.
As expected, Armstrong was selected as the top player in Beaver County as he finished last season with 2,215 passing yards, 739 rushing yards and 38 total touchdowns.
Coming in at No. 4 is Haniotes, Hopewell’s pass rushing defensive end. In 2025, Haniotes had a breakout season registering 61 tackles and 13 tackles for loss and 11 sacks. At a recent camp, Haniotes measured in at 6’3”, 230-pounds.
Right behind Haniotes at No. 5 is Wade, who had a tremendous 2025 season rushing for 1,311 yards (9.1 yards per carry), along with 26 catches for 361 yards and 16 touchdowns. ‘Bruiser’ also got it done on the defensive side of the ball with 39 tackles, four for a loss, 2 interceptions and a fumble recovery.
I anticipate Wade getting on the radar of numerous D-1 programs this season, including Power 4 schools. Wade currently holds 3 D-1 offers.
Hopewell will open the season on August 28 when they host defending WPIAL champion and one of the top ranked teams for 2026, the Avonworth Antelopes.
With summer approaching, that means that we’re getting closer to football season in Western Pennsylvania.
Hopewell HS Football head coach Matt Mottes and his program have been busy the last couple of weeks as they’ve both competed in 7-on-7 tournaments as well as starting spring team workouts.
Coming off a season in which they qualified for the WPIAL playoffs and won a game, Hopewell will have the talent return to the playoffs and possibly advance further.
One of the players that Mottes and his coaching staff to be both a leader on and off the field will be senior defensive end Aris Haniotes.
The 6’3″, 230-pound edge rusher had a breakout 2025 season in which he led the Hopewell defense with 13.5 sacks and was a mainstay in the opposing team’s backfield.
During the off-season, Haniotes has been working religiously on trying to get, bigger, stronger and faster in order to improve upon last season and also get on the radar of college teams.
Haniotes has made a number of unofficial visits to colleges as well attends various camps in order to get himself in front of coaches.
That will continue in the month of June as he’s scheduled to attend a number of prospect camps. Over the next few weeks, Haniotes will be at Pitt (May 31), Bryant (June 13), Youngstown State (June 17) and Miami of Ohio (June 18).
Vikings Sports Now wants to wish Aris the best of luck and to be working because your day is coming soon.
To achieve a life-long goal, it takes hard work and commitment, and you’d be hard pressed to find someone working harder to achieve that goal than Hopewell junior Aris Haniotes.
The 6’3″, 230-pound rush-end’s dream is to play college football at the D-1 level and is doing everything possible to put himself in position to make that happen.
Since Hopewell’s last game of the 2025 season against Imani Chrisitan, Haniotes has focused on one thing and that’s to get bigger, stronger and faster.
Knowing Aris and knowing his work ethic, it’s not surprising to hear that he’s accomplishing those things.
By doing that, combined with his break-out junior season in which he racked up 14 sacks, 23 tackles for loss and 63 tackles, Haniotes is on the radar of many D-1 programs.
This past weekend, Haniotes was invited to attend a spring practice at Bowling Green, who’s head coach is former Heisman Trophy winning Ohio State running back Eddie George. This comes on the feels after making a visit to Pitt a few weeks early.
“Bowling Green was great,” Haniotes tells Vikings Sports Now. “They have a great culture with Coach Eddie George and his staff. I got along well with their D-line coach Clyde Simmons.”
If that name sounds familiar, Simmons was a former All-Pro DE that had a 15-year career in the NFL playing for the Philadelphia Eagles, Arizona Cardinals, Jacksonville Jaguars, Cincinnati Bengals and Chicago Bears.
What’s next for Haniotes in terms of recruiting?
Monmouth is scheduled to pay him a visit in the spring, along with Bowling Green, Kent State, Marshall and Temple. All of which would like to evaluate this talented player.
The Hopewell Vikings team already has two future D-1 players in James Armstrong and Nasir Wade and I believe that number will increase to three in the near future with Haniotes.
Unfortunately, times and different with college recruiting because of the transfer portal with programs pursuing veteran players first before turning their attention to high school players.
Haniotes has D-1 skill and it’s only a matter of time before all the hard work he’s put in the last two years start to pay off.
Remember Aris, Patience, Persistence and Perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success!
The Hopewell Vikings football program received national attention over the last few weeks as coaches from Pitt, Penn State and Duke all made their way to express their interest in sophomore quarterback James Armstrong.
While Armstrong has been the center of the recruiting attention, this current Hopewell roster has plenty of other players that will also be playing football past high school.
Vikings Sports Now has reported on Nasir Wade and with his dynamic skillset, have little doubt that D-1 offers will start coming in soon. Wade just has to be patient since he’s only a sophomore. It’s really not a matter of it, just when.
Programs such as Virginia, Virginia Tech, Penn State and Boston College have showed initial interest in Wade.
The other player that is seeing his arrow pointing up is 2027 edge rusher Aris Haniotes.
Haniotes was a huge presence on Hopewell’s 2025 defense as he continually applied pressure on opposing quarterbacks and improved tremendously setting the edge and stopping the opposing teams running attack.
Haniotes finished the season with 14 sacks, 17 tackles for loss and 67 tackles. Want to see improvement, compare those numbers to his sophomore season (at Quaker Valley) when he had 4 sacks, 52 tackles and 13 tackles for loss.
When you watch his film, the thing that immediately stands out is his first step and burst off the edge.
”I was very pleased with Aris’ progression” said HC Matt Mottes. “He got a lot better throughout the season against the run. We played against him last year and knew he did really well getting after the quarterback.”
“I’m excited for this upcoming season. He has a lot of potential and has gotten bigger and stronger
Since the end of Hopewell’s season and their playoff loss to Imani Christian, Haniotes set a goal to get bigger, stronger and faster. Knowing his work ethic, it’s not a surprise that he’s been able to achieve all three.
At the end of the season, Haniotes weighed between 205/210 pounds and is currently up to 230 pounds, with the goal of possibly adding 10-15 more pounds. In order to main that speed, Haniotes has been training under Terry Grossetti Performance out of New Castle.
As far as D-1 interest, Haniotes has received interest from Michigan State, Boston College and Pitt, with each of those schools inviting him to attend a spring practice.
The goal for any high school sports team is to try and get their players college interest and that’s currently happening with Coach Mottes’ program.
Armstrong, Wade and Haniotes aren’t the only players on the Vikings roster that have the potential to play in college so Vikings Sports Now will do our best to get these players exposure and do whatever we can to assist in their recruiting.
It’s officially the offseason for the Hopewell HS football players and coaches as the Vikings season ended on Friday following a WPIAL quarterfinal loss to Imani Christian.
Vikings Sports Now wanted to put a wrap on our coverage this season, which I hope you followed and enjoyed.
Like with the Hopewell Girls Volleyball team, we did our best to provide you with as much coverage as possible throughout the season, aside from just game recaps. Would have liked to have done more with both teams but there are only so many hours in a day and I do have a full-time job. Hopefully we can do some things in the offseason to be better for 2026.
I think I can tell you is that all the on-field action is over with, VSN will continue to cover the recruiting aspect with a number of these players. Regardless of the level, a number of players on this team have the talent to play football beyond high school and there’s no doubt they’ll be working all off-season to put themselves in position to get bigger, stronger and faster for 2026.
If content that we do on Vikings Sports Now as well as reaching out to college programs to let them know about these players, we’re going to do that. Down the road, we’d love to be able to do that with Hopewell athletes in other sports.
As we finish our 2025 content, here’s a look at individual and team stats for the 2025 Hopewell Vikings football team.
TEAM STATS (12 GAMES):
Hopewell Opponents
Points Scored: 465 259
Rushing 1st Downs: 87 66
Passing 1st Downs: 64 40
Rushes: 350 394
Rushing Yards: 2374 1773
Pass Attempts: 233 177
Completions: 136 95
Passing Yards: 2415 1398
Total Yards: 4789 3171
Interceptions Thrown: 3 11
INDIVIDUAL STATS (12 GAMES):
Rushing-
Nasir Wade (sophomore)- 144 carries for 1311 yards, 15 TD’s
James Armstrong (sophomore)- 137 carries for 739 yards, 16 TD’s
Josh Brunton- 20 carries for 118 yards, 2 TD’s
Brody Rock (sophomore)- 6 carries for 55 yards
George Tafkov (junior)- 10 carries for 45 yards, 2 TD’s
Greg Gigliotti (junior)- 6 carries for 26 yards
Hopewell RB Nasir Wade
Passing-
James Armstrong- 209 attempts, 125 completions for 2,217 yards, 21 TD’s and 3 interceptions
Kingston Krotec- 6 attempts, 4 completions for 132 yards and 2 touchdowns
Logan Triscila- 13 attempts, 5 completions for 49 yards
Hopewell QB James Armstrong
Receiving-
Tre Cameron (sophomore)- 28 catches for 597 yards, 5 touchdowns
Avery Bokor (sophomore)- 27 catches for 475 yards, 5 touchdowns
Logan Triscila- 23 catches for 379 yards, 3 touchdowns
Nasir Wade- 26 catches for 361 yards, 1 TD
Brody Rock- 15 catches for 336 yards, 4 touchdowns
Kingston Krotec- 12 catches for 249 yards, 4 touchdowns
George Tafkov- 2 catches for 24 yards
James Gill- 1 catch for 6 yards, 1 TD
Hopewell Wide Receiver Logan Triscila
Tackles-
Justin Obeldobel- 99 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries, 1 interception
George Tafkov- 65 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 1 sack
Aris Haniotes- 61 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, 11 sacks
Josh Brunton- 58 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Zander Muzy- 56 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery, 3 interceptions
Brian McCabe- 55 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 1 fumble recovery
Nick Thomas- 47 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 1 interception
Nasir Wade- 39 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 1 fumble recovery, 2 interceptions
Vincent Boris- 37 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 interception
Keith Young- 30 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 1 sack
Michael Gargiulo- 21 tackles
Avery Bokor- 19 tackles, 1 tackle for loss
Richie Johns- 18 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 1 sack
Tre Cameron- 15 tackles, 2 fumble recoveries, 2 interceptions
Roman Amadio- 10 tackles, 1 tackle for loss
Tyler Schroeder- 8 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack
Julian Baldin- 8 tackles, 1 tackle for loss
Evan McCabe- 8 tackles
Brody Rock- 7 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack
Landon Matthews- 7 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 sack
Kingston Krotec- 6 tackles
Logan Triscila- 6 tackles
Greg Gigliotti- tackles
Kicking-
Rocco Marcantonio- 59 for 59 on PAT Attempts, 4 Field Goals Made
Aiden Gonzalez- 1 of 2 on PAT Attempts
The entire Hopewell football program went into last night knowing that they needed to start playing their best football of the season in order to qualify for the WPIAL playoffs.
This group of coaches and players have been working literally since the conclusion of last season to become a playoff team, which would be the first time Hopewell did so since 2012.
The Vikings entered last night’s game on the outside looking in of that goal but knew that they controlled their own destiny with tests against 6-1 Freeport, 2nd place Central Valley and 3rd place North Catholic.
Despite being a non-section game, this Freeport game was important because a win would improve Hopewell’s resume in the event, they were hoping to be one of the 2 wild card teams selected from Class 3A.
Mission Accomplished.
In arguably their best all-around performance of the season, Hopewell completely outplayed and out skilled Freeport, 48-20, in a game that wasn’t even that close due to two late TDs by the Yellow Jackets.
Hopewell’s resume now looks pretty impressive owning wins over Freeport (6-2) along with 4A New Castle (6-2), plus competing in the most talented conference in 3A.
The story of last night’s game was pretty simple: 1) Hopewell’s skill position players 2) Their defensive line was dominating.
Freeport might have been 6-1 but there’s no chance they played a team with offensive talent and speed of James Armstrong, Nasir Wade, Tre Cameron, Avery Bokor, Kingston Krotec and Logan Triscila. Not to mention a defensive line that was relentless in their pursuit of the quarterback and running back like Aris Haniotes, Brian McCabe, Nick Thomas, Justin Obeldobel, George Tafkov were.
Hopewell’s defense recorded 9 sacks, led by Haniotes with 3, forced 3 turnovers, allowed only 6 first downs and completely shut down Freeport’s running attack. Because of that and the score, the Yellow Jackets were forced to throw and were limited to just 24 yards on 21 attempts.
DOMINATION
Offensively, it was all about Hopewell’s big play capability which was clicking on all cylinders.
Hopewell’s Scoring Summary:
-After Freeport took an early 7-0 lead, Hopewell went on to score the next 42 points. Following a long run by Wade down to the 4-yard line, Armstrong ran it in for a touchdown, the game was tied at 7-7.
-Early in the 2nd quarter, after a defensive stand, Wade broke loose again, this time for a 53-yard TD, Hopewell led 14-7. For the game, Wade had 10 carries for 182 yards.
-The score remained 14-7 at halftime and the 3rd quarter was all Hopewell. After another 3 and out, the Vikings offense took over and struck quick. Armstrong found Cameron deep for an 83-yard touchdown to increase their lead to 21-7.
-More Nasir Wade as one the Vikings next possession, he went 46-yards for a touchdown, Hopewell led 28-7.
-With 6 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, the defense created a turnover as Zander Muzzy came up with an interception. What a senior season Zander has had! Following the pick, Hopewell OC Zach Rosa dialed up a trick play, and it worked. Armstrong handed it off to Krotec, who started to run but then pulled up and showed off his quarterback skills by launching a 68-yard TD pass to a wide-open Avery Bokor, who got behind the Freeport defense. Hopewell now led 35-7.
-Moving to the 4th quarter, Armstrong connected with Cameron for another touchdown, this time from 18-yards to increase Hopewell’s lead to 42-7. For the game, Cameron had 3 catches for 119 yards, while Boo was 5 of 10 for 180 yards and 2 touchdowns.
-The last Hopewell touchdown came courtesy the defense was Wade scored his 3rd touchdown of the game, this one on a 98-yard interception return for a TD.
FINAL SCORE: HOPEWELL 48 FREEPORT 20
Hopewell improved their record to 6-2, which guaranteed them their first winning season since 2011. By the way, the last time Hopewell won more than 7 games was back in 2009 when they finished 12-1.
HERE’S A LOOK AT THE UPDATED STANDINGS AND NEXT WEEK’S SCHEDULE.
Western Hills Standings:
Avonworth: 4-0
Central Valley: 4-1
North Catholic: 3-1
Hopewell: 2-2
Beaver: 2-2
Quaker Valley: 0-4
McGuffey: 0-5
Next Week’s Schedule: Central Valley at Hopewell, Avonworth at North Catholic, Beaver at Quaker Valley
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.
HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP– Following this morning’s scrimmage against Ellwood City, in which Hopewell won 13-0, Vikings Sports Now spoke to a few Hopewell players. Four of the players we spoke to are newcomers to the roster- Keith Young (from Keystone Oaks), Nasir Wade (from Aliquippa), George Tafkov (from Keystone Oaks) and Aris Haniotes (from Quaker Valley). I asked them about today’s scrimmage but also about the expectations for this season.
