Hopewell counting on mix of youth, experience to get back on track

By: Antonio Rossetti
Tuesday, August 13, 2024 | 6:01 AM

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Hopewell is no stranger to elite football. Tony Dorsett, Paul Posluszny and WPIAL all-time leading rusher Rushel Shell all roamed the halls of the high school.

Senior Hank Berner understands the tradition of Hopewell football, and he can’t wait to run out of the tunnel with his teammates one last season.

“The feeling of going onto the field with your home team supporting you and all your parents, friends and classmates, and they’re all there to support you, and you’re running out of the tunnel, it’s one of the greatest feelings in the world,” Berner said. “It feels electric out there. And then, whenever you’re on the field and you get ready to hike the ball and the quarterback hands it off, or even throws a pass and the play works, you get a good feeling inside. All this hard work, all this dedication paid off, and we’re showing it off in front of everybody.”

Last season, the Vikings finished 1-9. They’re won four games the past two seasons. Nevertheless, Hopewell is putting in the work over the offseason and the Vikings are ready to see that work pay off.

Hopewell is bringing in a new head coach, Matt Mottes. He came to Hopewell as the defensive coordinator, but after John Rosa took the position as athletic director at Winchester-Thurston, Mottes stepped up to the plate and became head coach.

Mottes played for Aliquippa in the early 2000s and also was an assistant coach for Ambridge, Western Beaver and Freedom. He said that he still is in contact with Dan “Peep” Short and that he learned so much from hall of fame coaches such as Don Yanessa, who he was an assistant for at Ambridge.

Berner is excited to play for Mottes and said that the team atmosphere is completely different.

“He pushes you,” Berner said. “He knows whenever you’re down. He knows how to joke around, and he knows when to get serious. He honestly is probably one of my favorite people, and I will follow him into any team we can go up against. Even the Pittsburgh Steelers.”

The Steelers would be quite the challenge. Nonetheless, Mottes is instilling confidence in the Hopewell football team.

Mottes believes that the mix of veterans and freshmen will make Hopewell competitive.

“We have a great freshman class that I think can contribute right away,” Mottes said. “I think these veterans that we have returning have become experienced, and their will to win and their will to get better is really going to lead these younger kids, and we’re going to develop into a really good football team.”

One of those players who gained experience was junior Kingston Krotec, who started at quarterback as a sophomore last year. Krotec threw for 630 yards with four touchdown passes.

“Kingston’s arguably our best athlete,” Mottes said. “Wherever we put Kingston, he’s going to be our best. If we put Kingston at receiver, he’d be our best receiver. We put him at quarterback, he’d probably be our best quarterback. … Kingston’s athleticism is going to be a huge part of our success.”

As for his receivers, juniors Zander Muzy and Logan Triscilla will both be targets. Krotec also likes what he’s seen from junior Julian Baldwin and many of the freshmen, including Tre Cameron.

“Zander Muzy got great hands,” Krotec said. “Julian Baldwin runs the route hard. Logan Triscilla is a big target out there, and then you’ve got some young kids like Tre Cameron, who has good hands.”

On defense, Mottes has high expectations for the senior leaders.

“Thomas Pipkins III will be a four-year starter,” Mottes said. “I can sit here and tell you every position is open, but he’ll be a four-year starter and Hank Berner has transformed himself into a monster that’s going to anchor a defensive line.”

Mottes added: “They’re dedicated to getting better and the seniors understand that. The seniors have endured a few rough seasons in a row, and they’re ready for a change.”

Krotec believes the offseason has been great and that the seniors have done an amazing job, especially with a new head coach.

“The senior leadership has been good,” Krotec said. “Thomas Pipkins and Hank Berner have been running it. The seniors, they’re going to really show people what’s up.”

Pipkins is excited to see how the team performs on both sides of the ball. Although he has been a leader on defense starting every year, he is ready to help the incoming freshman. He wants to spearhead the defense.

“You can’t win if you let the team score, obviously,” Pipkins said. “I have a personal experience of this, because my dad took that Quaker Valley team and they won the WPIAL championship 2-0, so obviously that was a pretty big defensive game, and they wouldn’t have been able to win without that. I just have to lead the team, and after another team scores a touchdown, we can’t get down on ourselves. We have to keep on getting back up and try to get those possessions back.”

Pipkins said the freshmen group has been phenomenal thus far. He believes the mix of veterans and the underclassmen will be a major factor.

“I have pretty high expectations of all of (the seniors), and I think they can all fulfill their expectations,” Pipkins said. “The new group of freshmen, they had been coming off of a pretty good season, so I’m really looking forward to playing with them too and just seeing it all meshing together.”

Freshman standouts include Brody Rock, Avery Bokor, James Armstrong and Cameron. Pipkins was amazed to see the effort the freshmen have put into the offseason. Berner said the effort of Pipkins, junior Julian Baldwin and the entire freshman class has been next level.

“They’re trying to better themselves,” Berner said. “They’re looking at plays or organizing events. Not just events, but practices outside of our normal practices, to get better. It’s been really nice to see some actual work being put in.”

Pipkins mentioned that Nick Thomas and the line had a strong summer.

“We have a lot of athletes, but our line has also been putting in a lot of work compared to the past,” Pipkins said. “They’ve learned so many new things, and I’m looking forward to seeing how they come out and block for us and that’s a big role.”

Berner said Mottes makes football fun and knows when to joke around but also knows when it’s time to lock in. Krotec and Pipkins share that sentiment.

“I’ve known coach Mottes for a while now,” Krotec said. “He’s my dad’s friend. I’ve known him for a long time. He’s very determined to come in and make us win.”

Mottes is ready to see how the team does and he can’t wait to see the team grow.

“When you see kids transform from having no confidence and being unsure of themselves to developing leaders and football players, and you turn a bunch of boys into the young men who will run through a wall for you, there’s not a more rewarding feeling than seeing that grow before your very eyes,” Mottes said.

Hopewell

Coach: Matt Mottes

2023 record: 1-9, 0-6 in the Class 3A Western Hills Conference

All-time record: 368-414-25

SCHEDULE

Date, Opponent, Time

8.23 Riverside, 7

8.30 at New Castle, 7

9.6 Ambridge, 7

9.13 at Beaver*, 7:30 pm

9.20 Avonworth*, 7

9.27 Quaker Valley*, 7

10.4 at McGuffey*, 7

10.18 at Central Valley*, 7

10.25 at North Catholic*, 7

* Conference game

STATISTICAL LEADERS

Passing: Kingston Krotec

58-144, 630 yards, 4 TDs

Rushing: Jacob Brunton*

76-490 yards, 4 TDs

Receiving: Isaiah Pisano*

6-146 yards, 1 TD

FAST FACTS

• Tony Dorsett, 1976 Pitt national champion, Super Bowl champion with the Dallas Cowboys and Pro Football Hall of Famer, went to Hopewell in the early 1970s.

• Former Pitt and West Virginia running back and five-star recruit out of Hopewell Rushel Shell III broke the WPIAL and PIAA state record in career rushing yards when he ran for 9,078 in his four years with the Vikings.

• Hopewell has had five players make it to the NFL: Paul Posluszny, Curt Singer, Dorsett, Dan Rains and Bill Koman.

• Hopewell named its field after Dorsett.

Tags: Hopewell