Mike Vukovcan Hopewell get ready for some football because it’s coming!
With the official end of the baseball and softball seasons, aside from a handful of Hopewell Track and Field athletes competing this week in the PIAA Track and Field Championship, the sports calendar year for the 2024-25 season is finished.
But that doesn’t mean the Hopewell Viking athletes are off until next school year, lol, far from it. This is the time of the year that coaches love because it’s truly when athletes make their most individual progress. Individual workouts, working with a trainer, working with coaches, working out with teammates.
‘Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice, and most of all, love of what you are doing’.
That’s the mindset of the Hopewell Vikings HS football program.
After a year of noticeable progress under first year head coach Matt Mottes, the personal expectations of the players and coaches on this team are as high as they’ve been in a long, long, long, time.
Despite not having qualified for the WPIAL playoffs since the 2012-13 season, this program has much higher expectations this season than just qualifying for the playoffs. They truly believe that winning a game or two is very realistic.
When you look at the returning roster, you certainly can see why that’s the mindset.
At least on-paper and at this time (things can always change), this 2025 Hopewell roster is very well balanced in terms of seniors, young talent, along with some new additions to the program.
They’ll be plenty of time between now and the start of the season for VSN to individually breakdown this roster but for the purpose of this column, the 2025 offense will be explosive and that’s an understatement.
With weapons such as James Armstrong, Brody Rock, Nasir Wade, Logan Triscilla, Kingston Krotec, Tre Cameron, Avery Bokor, etc. along with an improved offensive line that’s been working their butts off in the off-season to get bigger, stronger and better, scoring points shouldn’t be a problem. Plus, the offensive will be getting another pleasant surprise that we’ll be telling you about in the near future.
Plus, the Hopewell offense has the luxury of having Rocco Marcantonio, one of the best kickers in the entire WPIAL.
The question and unit that will truly determine how far this 2025 Hopewell team can advance this year will be the defense. Can they make enough stops and force enough turnovers to compliment the offense?
Thanks to offseason player development, moving some players to different positions, newcomers to the program and having a full year under their belts and truly knowing what Mottes wants from them on defense, this unit will improve.
The most important question though is how much will they improve?
The official start of this team development will begin tomorrow night when the Vikings hit the field for spring practice. While work has been put in prior to tomorrow, Monday is the day things really get going.
If you’re a fan of football, enjoy these next few years Hopewell because this team will be good and could be competing for championships.
Wow, when’s the last time we were able to say that!
Between the boy’s high school soccer program, the boy’s and girls’ basketball programs, the boy’s and girls’ volleyball programs, the Vikings HS baseball program, the Track and Field program, plenty of success should take place next school season in Hopewell.
However, none more than with the Vikings football program. I’m putting a lot of pressure on you Coach Mottes, but I know you wouldn’t want it any other way.
