Home Tags Posts tagged with "featured"
Tag:

featured

Site News

Vikings Sports Now’s Five Most Viewed Stories (February 9-15)

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 1 minutes read

For the fourth consecutive week, our website has increased its traffic for the week.

After barely climbing over 4,000 views a week ago, Vikings Sports Now had a total of over 4,800 page views this past week.

Thanks Hopewell for supporting what we’re doing!

Here were the five stories that received the most views. None of these stories were done by copy and pasting from a Facebook post or from someone’s email.

#1 More National Recognition for Hopewell QB James Armstrong

More National Recognition for Hopewell QB James Armstrong

2) Hopewell HS Boys Basketball Receives No. 5 seed, Playoff Opponent Announced

Hopewell HS Boys Basketball Receives No. 5 Seed, Playoff Opponent Announced

3) Athletic Trainer Lauren Linn, A Critical Member of Hopewell Sports

Athletic Trainer Lauren Linn, A Critical Member of Hopewell Sports

4) WATCH: Celebration Inside the Hopewell Vikings Locker Room

WATCH: Celebration Inside the Hopewell Vikings Locker Room

5) Justin Shegog A Huge Addition to the 2025-26 Hopewell Boys Basketball Program

Justin Shegog A Huge Addition to the 2025-26 Hopewell Boys Basketball Program

 

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Hopewell HS Girls Basketball

Avery Boyd Has Been a Big Reason for Hopewell’s Surge to the Playoffs

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 3 minutes read

The Hopewell girls’ basketball’s streak of making the WPIAL playoffs didn’t look very promising as the 2025-26 season was coming down the stretch.

However, this group of gritty girls never quit, and things changed and for once this season, things started going their way.

The biggest thing that happened was the return of senior Caylee Sundy, their leading scorer from the past two seasons. Sundy was sidelined the entire season following knee surgery, but she worked hard to return and was able to do so with two weeks in the season.

Sundy’s return really changed things since she was their point guard and main ball handler. It took a lot of pressure off her teammates and allowed certain players to go back to their natural positions, one of those being junior guard Avery Boyd.

Hopewell’s Avery Boyd

Hopewell’s 3-game winning streak to end the season coincided with Sundy’s return but also with the offensive production of Boyd, who was the Lady Vikings best offensive player down the stretch.

All of this meant that Coach Jeff Homziak’s program qualified for the WPIAL Girls’ basketball program for the 5th consecutive season. Their opening round matchup will take place tomorrow night as they travel to take on Elizabeth Forward. Hopewell enters the playoffs as the No. 12 seed, while Elizabeth Forward is seeded No. 5.

Vikings Sports Now stopped over to Hopewell High School last week and talked with Boyd about her tremendous play as well as her teams late season performance.


“Our streak started on Senior Night, which is always a really important night for us, which is when we always play for our seniors and give our all,” Boyd tells VSN. “Once we won that game, it’s really given us momentum and confidence, and it carried on the rest of the regular season.”

Not many people thought we’d be talking about this team making the playoffs, but this group of girls didn’t listen to the outside chatter and continued to believe in themselves. With the losses continuing to pile up, it wasn’t easy to maintain confidence, but Boyd credits the entire team for keeping the faith.


“This whole time, we all tried to keep everyone’s heads up and make sure our heads were in it all the time because it’s been a long season and everyone is tired,” said Boyd.

“We weren’t winning a lot at the beginning of the season and instead of getting down about the losses we tried to make a team mindset of continuing to work hard but more importantly have fun. I think that by us having fun, it helped us to play better and really play as a team.”

A big ingredient for the success has been the offensive productivity of Boyd. Take a look at her last 5 games as Boyd has averaged 16.4 points per game.

Hopewell’s Avery Boyd

Boyd’s Last 5 Games:
vs. Beaver- 22 points
vs. Sewickley Academy- 9 points
vs. Lincoln Park- 19 points
vs. Central Valley- 19 points
vs. Ambridge- 13 points

“I really just think its confidence. At the beginning of the season, I was really nervous to take shots and miss them. Later in the season, I started coming out of my shell and started to take the opportunities to shoot the ball when I got them. My outside shooting is a key part to my game, but I think my ability to get to the rim has really been helping me in my last few games.”

“It’s been really fun for me lately,” said Boyd. “A key for me has been turning defense into offense, which is my strength. The fast pace of it all has been fun. My teammates have been so great as they’ve supported me so much, which makes it all so much better.”

Hopewell’s Avery Boyd

For Hopewell to get by a good Elizabeth Forward team tomorrow night, they’ll need not just Boyd but everyone to be at their best. This will be a rematch for Hopewell as it’s a rematch of last year’s first round of the playoffs when they were eliminated by Elizabeth Forward. This is a different team and after a solid week of practice, Boyd is looking forward to seeing what they can accomplish.

“Getting to the playoffs is always really exciting and we’ve really taken this last week of practice serious,” said Boyd. “Coach really believes in us heading into this game and he really wants us to believe in ourselves too. He’s pushing us hard at practice and I 100% believe that we’ll be ready to go on Monday.”

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Hopewell HS Wrestling

4 Hopewell HS Wrestlers Qualify for WPIAL Tournament

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 1 minutes read

The Hopewell HS boys’ and girls’ basketball teams aren’t the only athletes from Hopewell competing in the WPIAL playoffs.

Congratulations to four members of the Hopewell HS wrestling team that have earned their way to the WPIAL playoffs next weekend.

Yesterday at the Class AA Southern Sectionals at Burgettstown, Christian Tirado, Justin Obeldobel, Vinny Boris and Evan Tirado all earned a spot at next weekends’ WPIAL playoffs.

From this day long tournament, the top 8 wrestlers in each weight classification earn the opportunity to advance. Tirado finished in 3rd place, Obeldobel finished in 4th place, while both Boris and Tirado each placed 5th in their classification.


For Obeldobel, who is a senior, this will be the 3rd time in his career that he’s qualified for the WPIAL wrestling playoffs, for fellow senior Boris, it will be his second time. Tirado, a sophomore, has made it in back-back years and congrats to Tirado, who’s a freshman, this is obviously will be his first time.

These 4 Vikings will start journey for hopefully a WPIAL championship next weekend at Chartiers Valley High School.

Congratulations to these 4 men but also to HC Brett Smith and the Hopewell wrestling program for their development.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Hopewell Boys HS Basketball

Time and Location Announced for Hopewell’s Quarterfinal Matchup

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 0 minutes read

Details have been revealed for the Hopewell Boys basketball team’s next playoff game.

Following their 74-49 win last night over Greensburg Salem, the Vikings quarterfinal matchup against Deer Lakes will take place on Wednesday.

The WPIAL has announced that tip-off for that game will be at 6 PM and the game will be played at North Allegheny High School.

It will be a doubleheader as after the Hopewell/Deer Lakes game, Central Valley will take on Knoch at 7:30 pm.

Here are the quarterfinal 4A matchups:

-Quaker Valley vs. Belle Vernon

-Hopewell vs. Deer Lakes

-North Catholic vs. Elizabeth Forward

-Central Valley vs. Knoch

Winners of these games will play in semifinal matchups on Saturday.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Hopewell Boys HS Basketball

WATCH: Celebration Inside the Hopewell Vikings Locker Room

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 0 minutes read

A huge night over at Hopewell HS as the Vikings Boys basketball team advanced to the Class 4A quarterfinals with a 74-49 win over Greensburg Salem.

This was also a milestone night for HC Doug Biega as this win was the 400th in his career.

After the game, Biega’s players sprayed him with water and afterwards, Biega addressed the team about the win and the milestone.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Hopewell Boys HS Basketball

Hopewell Advances to Quarterfinals with 74-49 Win Over Greensburg Salem

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 3 minutes read

Hopewell Township- Playoff basketball was back in town as #5 Hopewell hosted #12 Greensburg Salem at Hopewell High School in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs.

A very nice crowd showed up tonight and the gym had a playoff atmosphere. Hopewell jumped out to a 12-2 lead before Greensburg Salem responded to get within 3 points.

The two points traded points in the 2nd quarter before the Vikings went on a 6-0 run at the end of the quarter to take a 27-20 into halftime.

In the 3rd quarter it was all Brody Rock and James Armstrong as Rock scored 11 points in the quarter. After that, Hopewell’s talent and depth took over as they outscored Greensburg Salem in the 2nd half, 47-29.

A balanced score sheet tonight for Hopewell as Brody Rock led the way with 19 points followed by James Armstrong with 17 points, Justin Shegog with 13 points, Jeremy Benninghoff with 9 and Jack Biega with 5.  (All of these point totals are unofficial).

Next up for Hopewell is a quarterfinal matchup against #13 Deer Lakes, who upset #4 Derry, 57-46. This game will take place on Wednesday. The site of the game hasn’t been announced.

1st Quarter Scoring–
*Justin Shegog opened up the scoring with a tough drive from the right wing, Hopewell 2-0
*More toughness and quickness as Jack Biega also drives in for a layup, Hopewell 4-2
*Make that three as Brody Rock gets to the hoop from the left wing, Hopewell 6-2
*Shegog with a steal with halfcourt and takes it home for 2, Hopewell 8-2
*Biega with a miss from the outside but Armstrong grabs the rebound and puts it back in for a layup, Hopewell 10-2
*Greensburg Salem’s plan was to make it difficult to get Armstrong any touches in the paint and they did a good job early on but on this possession, Shegog finds Armstrong who connects on a baby hook, Hopewell 12-2

END OF 1ST QUARTER- Hopewell 12 Greensburg Salem 7

2ND Quarter Scoring-
*Greensburg Salem was on a 7-0 run before Biega drains a 3-pointer, Hopewell 15-9
*Avery Bokor with a nice entry pass to Armstrong who makes the shot and is fouled, Hopewell 17-11
*Rock with a miss but Shegog grabs the rebound and puts it back in for 2, Hopewell, 21-18
*Armstrong with a defensive rebound and dribbles coast to coast for a layup, Hopewell 23-18
*Armstrong with a shot in the paint, misses but muscles his way for his own miss and converts the putback, Hopewell 25-18
*Armstrong with a pass to Shegog who finds Benninghoff who finishes, Hopewell 27-20

HALFTIME- Hopewell 27 Greensburg Salem 20

3RD Quarter Scoring-
*After a quiet first half with only 2 points, Rock gets going by making the 1st shot of the 3rd quarter, a 3-pointer from the corner, Hopewell 30-20
*Shegog with another steal and layup, Hopewell 32-20
*Biega with a miss, Armstrong with a rebound and gets fouled shooting. Armstrong goes 1 of 2 but after missing the 2nd shot, Rock grabs the rebound and makes the layup, Hopewell 35-23
*Rock with a steal at halfcourt and races for a layup, Hopewell 37-23
*Armstrong with a defensive rebound and fires a pass down the court to Rock, who converts the layup, Hopewell 39-23
*Armstrong with another assist, a nice touch pass to Benninghoff who finishes down low, Hopewell 41-27
*Armstrong with a steal and his 3rd assist in a row, this time to Shegog, Hopewell 43-27
*Armstrong with a rebound and fires a pass to Rock, who performs a nice Euro step for 2, Hopewell 45-29
*More defense for Hopewell, Biega blocks a shot, gets it up to Rock who misses but Benninghoff gets the rebound and 2, Hopewell 47-29
*Right before the end of the quarter, Rock with a miss but Armstrong with the rebound and layup, Hopewell 49-31

END OF 3RD QUARTER- Hopewell 49 Greensburg Salem 31

4TH QUARTER Scoring-
*Benninghoff with a 3 pointer to open the quarter, Hopewell 57-38
*Armstrong with a block, gets it to Benninghoff who goes in on a 2-1 with Rock and Rock converts a pass for the layup, Hopewell 57-38
*Shegog from the corner with a 3-pointer
*Armstrong drives from the left wing, knocks down the shot off the glass and is fouled, Hopewell 63-43
*Rock with a blocked shot, Hopewell gets out in transition and Armstrong gets 2 more off the glass, 65-43
*Rock with a hard drive from the left wing for a layup, Hopewell 67-45
*Late in the game, Jayvion Lindsey converts 2 free throws, Hopewell 72-49
*On the final possession, Jackson Yurcina gets around his man, drives the baseline, almost converts but Bokor is there for the rebound and 2 points.

FINAL SCORE: HOPEWELL 74 GREENSBURG SALEM 49

Following the game, Vikings Sports Now was in the Hopewell locker room and talked with HC Doug Biega about the game and about the win, which was #400 of his career.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Hopewell High School Football

More National Recognition for Hopewell QB James Armstrong

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 1 minutes read

Hopewell sophomore quarterback James Armstrong is receiving more national recognition.

This afternoon, QBHitList.com, a national recruiting website that focuses on quarterbacks, wide receivers and tight ends, included Armstrong in their latest rankings.

QBHitList.com, which is based out of Cleveland, Ohio, released their list of the top 2028 dual threat quarterbacks in the country. According to their rankings, Armstrong is the No. 18 ranked dual threat quarterback in the country and No. 1 in the state of Pennsylvania.

Last season for the Vikings, Armstrong (6’3″, 225-pounds) passed for 2,350 yards, while also rushing for 760 yards and collecting 37 total touchdowns.

A couple of impressive numbers are that his passing total was 1,200 more yards than his freshman season. Keep in mind that in a handful of games this season, Armstrong only played 2+ quarters because of the score being out of hand. One other thing, Armstrong threw only 3 interceptions.

Because of his on-field performance, Armstrong has received Power 4 offers from Pitt, Penn State, West Virginia, North Carolina and Duke. Like many recruits across the country, Armstrong will be making some visits this spring to start formally checking out colleges, one of those being Duke.

Aside from these spring visits, Armstrong was invited to participate in national prospects camp sponsored by Adias this spring along with 2026 Regional Elite 11 Quarterback Competition in New Jersey. These are competitions held throughout the United States for the top quarterbacks in the country. From there, the Top 11 quarterbacks compete in a national competition this summer in California.

Before all of this, Armstrong and his Hopewell teammates will start play in the WPIAL Basketball playoffs tomorrow night when they host Greensburg Salem at 7 PM. This season, Armstrong is averaged 20+ points and 10+ rebounds for the Vikings.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Hopewell HS Baseball

Hopewell Baseball Standout Ben McDonald Commits to West Liberty

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 1 minutes read

A third member of the Hopewell Vikings 2026 HS baseball team will be playing college baseball.

Hopewell senior outfielder and left-handed pitcher Ben McDonald has announced his commitment to play at West Liberty University in West Virginia.

Earlier this offseason, both catcher Charlie Smetana (USC Sumter) and shortstop Drew Donovan (Westminster) announced their college decision.

While at West Liberty University, McDonald will be performing the same role that he has here at Hopewell – playing the outfield and also being on the mound to pitch.

The big, 6’2”, 195-pound left-hander is able to get his fastball to the mid/upper 80’s, while also possessing a knee buckling curveball.

Since his days in Hopewell youth baseball, McDonald is an ABOVE AVERAGE defensive outfielder because of his speed and rifle for a arm.

At the plate, McDonald has tremendous power to right and center field along with the ability to generate extra base hits into the gap because of his power and speed.

This season with Hopewell, McDonald will be at the top of the pitching rotation and will likely be in a prominent spot in the batting order.

Vikings Sports Now was able to get Hopewell head coach Morgan Singletary’s thoughts on his standout senior.

”Ben is a big, strong kid,” said Singletary. “He has a lot of power at the plate and can get a lot behind his throws. He has come a long way on the mound and his stuff looks good going into this season.”

”At the plate, if he can put it all together and show the power and contact that we have seen at times over the summer and fall, then he can become a very dangerous hitter. Ben has all the metrics of a very good high school baseball player and a solid college player. I am excited to see how he brings it all together this season.”

Vikings Sports Now wants to congratulate McDonald and his family on this exciting news and wish him the best of luck this coming season.

 

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Hopewell Boys HS Basketball

Watch: Interview with Tre Cameron and Jack Biega on 2025 Season and WPIAL Playoffs

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 1 minutes read

HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP– Prior to this afternoon’s practice as they get ready for their playoff game on Friday at home against Greensburg Salem, Vikings Sports Now had the chance to talk with a couple of key members of the Vikings roster.

Hopewell’s strong end of the regular season has coincided with the tremendous offensive play and really all-around play of starting sophomore guards Jack Biega and Tre Cameron.

The offensive production that those two players have been able to give to the team has been such a big boost as it takes so much pressure of their starting front court of James Armstrong, Brody Rock and Justin Shegog. Those three are going to get their points but when Cameron and Biega are able to chip in 6 or 8+ points per game, that is a huge difference and help.

VSN had the time to talk with these two players about this, about the 2025 regular season and the upcoming home playoff game on Friday.

 

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Hopewell HS Baseball

Former Hopewell Baseball Standout Joe Rock Placed on Tampa Bay’s 40-Man Roster

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 2 minutes read

Down in Florida and out in Arizona, major league baseball teams are starting spring training in preparation for the 2026 MLB season.

This morning in Bradenton, Florida, the Pittsburgh Pirates will conduct their first spring practice.

It’s officially baseball season which is always a good thing!

Vikings Sports Now wanted to keep you updated on a former Hopewell star athlete who’s attempting to make his first opening day roster.

Former Vikings star left-handed pitcher Joe Rock will be in camp with the Tampa Bay Rays and he received some good news as he’s been placed on the Rays 40-man roster.

The 40-man roster is a combination of players on the 26-man regular season roster, the 7, 10, and 15-day disabled lists. In order to be on a teams’ 26-man roster, you must first be on their 40-man roster.

In other words, anyone on 40-man roster is someone the organizations values and believes they have the chance to make the major league roster.

This is good news for Rock, who will work this spring to earn a role with Tampa Bay.

Last season was big for Rock (6’6″, 220-pounds) as he made his major league debut with Tampa on June 28th. In that game against Baltimore, the big left-hander came out of the bullpen and pitched 2 innings, allowed 2 hits and striking out 4 batters.

Rock would go on to have two other appearances, against the NY Yankees (3 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs and 5 strikeouts) and vs. the White Sox (2.2 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs and 2 strikeouts).

So, in his 3 major league appearances in 2025, Rock pitched 7.2 innings, 7 hits, 2.35 ERA, 2 walks and 11 strikeouts.

Courtesy- The Beaver County Times

After graduating from Hopewell in 2018, Rock attended Ohio University and went on to be drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 2nd round of the 2021 MLB Draft. While with Ohio U., Rock finished with a career record of 10-7 with a 3.47 ERA, striking out 158 batters and holding hitters to a batting average of .239.

Courtesy Major League Baseball

In March of 2024, Rock was traded by the Rockies to the Tampa and placed on the Rays 40-man roster.

At the start of the 2025 season, Rock was ranked as the No. 22 prospect in the Rays farm system.

While at Hopewell, Rock was an all-state performer and having his best season in 2017 by going 8-3 with a 1.30 ERA and striking out 108 batters.

Congratulations Joe on this tremendous accomplishment and best of luck with Tampa Bay!!

 

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Newer Posts
Older Posts