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Rocco Marcantonio

Hopewell High School Football

Hopewell Kicker Rocco Marcantonio Commits to Mercyhurst University

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 1 minutes read

Trying to achieve something truly meaningful is never easy because if it was, it probably wasn’t that meaningful.

Hopewell senior kicker Rocco Marcantonio has had the dream of being a college kicker for many years

Despite going thru some stressful and frustrating times, everything worked out in the end for Marcantonio. Last night, the talented kicker announced that he received and has accepted a scholarship to Mercyhurst University.

Congratulations Rocco and to the Marcantonio family! All the hard work at Tony Dorsett Stadium, traveling to various kick camps, kicking competitions and road trips to various colleges have paid off.

The Mercyhurst football program is not only getting an extremely talented player but they’re also getting an extremely hard worker that is driven to be great.

This is just the start of your journey Rocco, keep working hard!

Mercyhurst plays in the Northeast football conference and play against both Robert Morris and Duquesne.

This season, Mercyhurst will play at Robert Morris on October 24th and at Duquesne on November 14th.

Vikings Sports Now looks forward to following Marcantonio’s career at Mercyhurst.

 

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Hopewell High School Football

Hard to Believe but Hopewell’s Rocco Marcantonio Could be Even Better in 2025

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 3 minutes read

2024 was a breakout year for Hopewell senior kicker Rocco Marcantonio.

In his first full season kicking at the varsity level, Marcantonio showed early on to Hopewell HC Matt Mottes that a field goal was an option if the ball got inside the opponents 40-yard line. Along with that, Rocco added his name to the tremendous crop of kickers currently in the WPIAL that will be joining D-1 programs.

For the season, Marcantonio went 30 of 31 on PAT attempts and 9 of 13 on field attempts, including a long of 55 yards. That kick got Rocco’s name in the record books as it tied a long-time WPIAL record. Don’t be surprised if he breaks it this year.

With this success came attention from colleges for Marcantonio as during the season he received an offer from the Akron Zips.

Since then, Marcantonio has been on a number of unofficial college visits, which have included invitations to kick in front the special teams’ coaches. Rocco has been to Penn State, Michigan and over the weekend traveled to both UConn and Buffalo to show off his leg. In the last month, Marcantonio also received an invite to participate in a Kohl’s Kicking Camp in Georgia.

Hopewell’s Rocco Marcantonio

Marcantonio has literally spent the entire offseason working to get better and finding a way to make his powerful leg more consistent. Luckily through his past performances in high school and at kicking camps, Marcantonio built up a reputation and got connected with the top kicking instructor in the country.

Midway through the summer Marcantonio started to work with Tanalski and will be traveling to Buffalo on Sunday for another workout session.

Vikings Sports Now spoke recently with Tanalski who had plenty of positives to say about Hopewell’s star kicker.

“Number one, his dad is awesome,” said Tanalski. “I talked to him and said what kind of talent does your son have and he said, my son is as good as Harran (Zureikat). I said, wow that’s a pretty big statement.”

In case you didn’t know, Harran Zureikat is a 5-star kicker from Fox Chapel High School that recently committed to Georgia.

“Rocco then comes up here and I can tell you his leg talent is off the chart. He has 57 (yards) and has 61 (yards) in him, but he’s an extremely raw kid. He was a soccer player and from my evaluation, had a bit of a hurdle through the ball, running at the football. Definitely does not keep his linear path, kind of zigzagging and relying strictly on leg talent, which he has.”

After of plenty of work, Tanalski worked on some things with Rocco and believes he’s in store for a special senior season.

Hopewell’s Rocco Marcantonio

“We worked on some things, I’ve now seen him about eight times since May,” said Tanalski. “His dad actually texted me and said I really appreciate you being able to refine him. His ball looks different this year, it’s staying straighter.”

This will be Rocco’s final high school season, but Tanalski believes Rocco has plenty of football left in him and will eventually be taking his talents to the D-1 level.

“I don’t want to say he’s late to the game but he’s definitely going to be a little bit of a later recruitment. Before he looked like a kid with a real strong leg and now, he looks like a kicker. I could see him being a very high, Group of Five, full scholarship kicker. I could see him at like a Miami of Ohio, Buffalo, Appalachian State, Marshall or Memphis. One of those giant Group of Five programs would be lucky to get someone like Rocco. But, if someone falls in love with him at a workout at their school, he definitely has the talent to play Power Four football. Plus, he’s a great, great kid.”

Marcantonio and the Vikings open up the 2025 season tomorrow night as they take on Riverside.

Best of luck Rocco on your journey to earn a scholarship and become a D-1 kicker!

 

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Hopewell High School Football

Hopewell’s Rocco Marcantonio Working Hard to Achieve Lifelong Dream

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 3 minutes read

One year ago, Hopewell athlete Rocco Marcantonio received headlines as one of the top players on the Vikings High School boys’ soccer team but was an unknown commodity in terms of a football kicker.

Fast forward to today and that’s no longer the case, as Marcantonio is still a standout on the soccer team but is now well known for his leg and being one of the best kickers in the state of Pennsylvania.

The senior kicker received headlines last season for connecting on a 55-yard field, which tied a WPIAL record set 22 years ago by East Allegheny’s Josh Miller.

Along with this kick, Rocco also connected on 8 other field goals and was 30 of 31 on PAT attempts.

With this success came attention from colleges for Marcantonio as during the season he received an offer from the Akron Zips.

Since then, Marcantonio has been on a number of unofficial college visits, which have included invitations to kick in front the special teams’ coaches. Rocco has been to Penn State, Michigan and over the weekend traveled to both UConn and Buffalo to show off his leg. In the last month, Marcantonio also received an invite to participate in a Kohl’s Kicking Camp in Georgia.

“Traveling all round and meeting these various coaches has been exciting,” said Marcantonio. “I wouldn’t say it’s been a challenge; I look at it as being fun, a learning experience and good training for me. I believe it keeps me ready for the season.”

“Just being lucky enough to get in front of these coaches and getting my name out there is really exciting. That’s as important to me as getting an offer there.”

In terms of what his day consisted of, Marcantonio says each workout was pretty much the same and he believes that he helped his cause.

Rocco Marcantonio at Michigan

“They were similar but a bit different. When I was at Buffalo, we did a couple different training drills before we did charting and competition,” said Marcantonio. “At Pitt, we did a few different drills than Michigan and UConn. But all the charting and the competitions were the same. Before beginning, all the coaches just told me to relax and stay locked in.”

“I think I did very well, in my opinion. Afterwards, a lot of the coaches told me that I did very well and that they would like to keep in contact with me and would keep me in their contacts.”

I don’t know about you but I would’ve been nervous knowing that I was potentially kicking for a college scholarship but that wasn’t the case with Rocco.

Hopewell’s Rocco Marcantonio at UConn

“Really, I wasn’t nervous at all. I was actually more pumped up to get in front of them and to have another an opportunity to get my name out there.”

In terms of his upcoming schedule, Marcantonio tells VSN that he will be performing at an upcoming camp at Robert Morris along with making a trip to Kent State. After that, his focus will be on the upcoming 2025 Hopewell football season.

“I’m really excited for the upcoming season. I’m ready, excited, focused and ready to get to work.”

Considering how much work he’s put in over the last year, I wrapped up my talk with Rocco asking him how bad he wants to earn more D-1 scholarships offers?

“I want it really bad,” said Marcantonio. “I would do anything to earn them. I can’t really explain it, but I just want it so bad.”

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Hopewell High School Football

Hopewell’s Rocco Marcantonio Makes Unofficial Visit to Penn State

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 1 minutes read

The Penn State Nittany Lions held their annual Blue/White Spring Game on Saturday afternoon.

This game at Beaver Stadium was attended by not only fans but also high school football recruits that received an invitation from James Franklin and his coaching staff.

One of the players taking in the game and continuing to develop his relationship with the Nittany Lions staff was Hopewell junior kicker Rocco Marcantonio.

Hopewell’s Rocco Marcantonio

Last year, Marcantonio had a breakout junior season, which resulted in him receiving a D-1 scholarship from the Akron Zips.

Marcantonio opened the eyes of many college coaches and got on their recruiting radar after finishing up a tremendous junior season in which he was 30 of 31 on PAT attempts and 9 of 13 on field goal attempts, including a long of 55 yards.

This isn’t the first contact between Rocco and the Penn State coaching staff. During last season, Penn State assistant head coach and ace WPIAL recruiter Terry Smith made a visit to Hopewell High School to speak with Marcantonio. Plus, Rocco made a 2024 Game Day visit to one of Penn State’s game.

Hopewell’s Rocco Marcantonio

It would not be surprising if Marcantonio receives an invitation from Penn State to travel to State College for a prospects camp in order to kick in front of the Penn State coaches.

This wasn’t the only visit that Rocco has made to a Big Ten school this month as he made an unofficial visit to Indiana two weeks ago.

Hopewell’s Rocco Marcantonio

Marcantonio has been working hard this offseason to improve his game and in particular the distance on his kickoffs, which would no doubt improve his stock.

One of the things he’s done to do that is taking part in the prestigious Kohl’s kicking camp.

Good luck to Rocco on his journey and this upcoming season will no doubt be an exciting one.

 

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Hopewell High School Football

Hopewell’s Rocco Marcantonio Working Hard to Improve His Game (Leg)!

by Rich Donahue
written by Rich Donahue 2 minutes read

Last season, Hopewell Vikings junior kicker Rocco Marcantonio was able to accomplish the unthinkable.

In Hopewell’s 24-7 win over Quaker Valley last September, Marcantonio tied a WPIAL record with a 55-yard field goal, equaling a mark set 22 years ago by East Allegheny’s Josh Miller.

Marcantonio didn’t even know he set the record until he made it to the sidelines, which left him in disbelief.

“My dad and Coach Mottes came up to me and said that was the record and I was shocked,” said Marcantonio. “I couldn’t believe I actually did it.”

A record setting kick combined with a great junior season has Marcantonio on the radar of college football coaches. He has already picked up an offer from the Akron Zips, an honor he shares with teammate freshman quarterback James Armstrong.

But as he prepares for his senior season, Marcantonio isn’t resting on his laurels as he’s looking to take his kicking game up a notch, and that’s with more focused training. In order to work on his game, Rocco traveled down to Florida to take part in a prestigious Kohl’s kicking camp.

“I’ve gained a lot of distance on my kickoff and my field goals have gone back a lot,” Marcantonio tells Vikings Sports Now. “I haven’t really started actually training kicking as much as I did this year. I have been hitting more legs and I’ve been working out like two, three times a week. It’s just helping a lot.”

The distance includes making kicks this offseason from 60+ yards, even further than his 55-yard field goal last season.

Take a look at Rocco’s 60+ yard field and the distance he’s now getting on his kickoffs.

 

Not only does Marcantonio handle the kicking duties for the Vikings football team, but he is also one of the key members of the Vikings soccer team, playing all over the field including at striker.

Balancing one sport can be tough enough for a high school athlete, but two at the same time can be daunting. Not for Marcantonio, who says soccer keeps him performing at his best for both sports.

“Soccer right now is keeping me fit and keeping me in shape,” Marcantonio said. “I’m always active which is good. I’m good at balancing both.”

The Vikings football team will need that balance and big leg to help them make noise in a very competitive Western Hills Conference. After going 4-6 under first year head coach Matt Mottes, Hopewell is looking to take another big step up the ladder in 2025.

That’s what Marcantonio is focused on.

“I see us going pretty far this year. I see us going to the WPIAL finals this year. We’re going to be a really good team, and I think we’re going to do some really good things. We have a really good, hardworking team and the discipline is great. Everyone is getting in the gym and looking great. I think we’re going to do very well this year.”

And if a game comes down to a big kick, Marcantonio is ready for that moment.

“I like pressure. I’m going to be honest, I love it,” Marcantonio stated. “I don’t think there’s any pressure that’s too big for me.”

 

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