Big Plays Costly as Hopewell Loses to New Castle, 42-19

The scouting report on New Castle turned out to be 100% accurate.

Entering the game, the keys for Hopewell would be to try and slow down New Castle offensively as they possessed a whole lot of speed and big play ability. The second thing was for Hopewell to try and control the time of possession with a strong run game.

Well, the Vikings offense was able to run the ball but unfortunately, the Red Hurricanes were too fast for Hopewell as they scored on a number of long touchdowns and handed them their first defeat of the season, 42-19.

Despite the loss, Coach Matt Mottes and the Hopewell coaching staff have a few things that they’re able to come out of this game feeling good about.

POSITIVES FROM TONIGHT’S LOSS:
-Continued To Fight: To start with, this Hopewell team hung in there when it looked as though New Castle had them on the ropes in the 2nd quarter. Instead of folding, this team stepped up and cut the New Castle lead down to 2 points in the 3rd quarter.

–The Running Game: The Hopewell running attack made huge improvements from their opening game against Riverside. This will no doubt continue to be the plan of attack for offensive coordinator Zach Rosa for the rest of the season. If it wasn’t for New Castle’s big plays on offense, the Hopewell offense was running the ball effectively, being physical and using the clock. Brody Rock, Thomas Pipkins and James Armstrong were very effective.

–Brody Rock: The Hopewell freshman running back was the best player on the field tonight for the Vikings. Unofficially, Rock rushed the ball 18 times for 85 yards. Brody was extremely physical and made it difficult for just one New Castle defender to bring him down. Like a lot of great big backs, Rock was getting better as the game progressed. This was a very encouraging performance.

-Zander Muzy: Last week it was Logan Triscilla, tonight it was junior Zander Muzy who turned into James Armstrong’s favorite target. Muzy finished with 4 receptions for 41 yards. If Armstrong can get time to drop back and survey the field, this could develop into a dynamic duo as the season progresses.

–Rocco Marcantonio: As we’ve been telling you from the start of camp, Hopewell has a very special player in junior kicker Rocco Marcantonio. Tonight, Rocco was perfect on both of his field goal attempts, one from 28-yards and the other one from an impressive 48-yards. The bottom line is that if the Hopewell offense is able to get near their opponents 35-yard line, they’re in Marcantoni’s range.

TONIGHT’S GAME SUMMARY:

*Following a Hopewell punt on the opening drive, New Castle drove down to the Hopewell 17-yard line, but the defense came up with a stop on 4th and Goal from the 17-yard line.

*After a Hopewell 3-and-out, New Castle got on the scoreboard first with a 55-yard TD run. New Castle 7-0.

*After another Hopewell 3-and-out, New Castle went up 14-0 on a 57-yard pass with 1-minute left in the 1st quarter.

*The Hopewell offense finally got on the scoreboard.
–Rock ran for 7 yards and a 15-yard penalty was tacked on as New Castle pulled down Rock by the facemask.
–Next play, Rock ran for 19 yards down to the New Castle 20-yard line.
–New Castle then stopped Hopewell on the next 3 plays and Marcantonio came on and converted a 28-yard field goal.    New Castle 14 Hopewell 3

*Hopewell then forced a 3-and-out and following a short New Castle punt, Hopewell took over at the NC 35-yard line.

–2nd and 15, Armstrong rolled to his right and connected with Muzy for a 14-yard pass.
–A 7-yard run by Armstrong got Hopewell inside the New Castle 10-yard line.
–From the 9-yard line, Armstrong ran the ball 3 consecutive times and finally got into the endzone on a 1-yard run. New Castle 14 Hopewell 10

*New Castle scored on another long TD with under 3 minutes left to go up 21-10 but Hopewell responded before halftime.
–Hopewell started at their own 49-yard line. New Castle jumped offsides on 3rd and 4 to give the Vikings a first down.
–Hopewell eventually got to the New Castle 31-yard line and with seconds left, Marcantonio booted a 48-yard field goal.

HALFTIME NEW CASTLE 21 HOPEWELL 13

–Coach Mottes rolled the dice to open the second half, and it paid off as the Vikings recovered an off-side kick.

*That would pay off as the Vikings drove the field for another TD.
–2nd and 15, Armstrong with a nicely designed screen pass to Rock for 12 yards.
–3rd and 3, once again New Castle jumped offsides to give Hopewell a first down.
–2nd and 15, Armstrong ran for 10 yards on a designed run.
–A few plays later, Armstrong powered in again from 1-yard out to cut the score to 21-19.

–Hopewell went for the 2-point conversion to tie the game but were stopped.  New Castle 21 Hopewell 19 (midway through the 3rd quarter).

*Key play of the game, on the ensuing drive, Hopewell had New Castle down to 4th and 5 from the Vikings 21-yard line. New Castle went for it and converted on a nice pass from their quarterback on the run. A couple plays later, they’d run it in from 2 yards out. Hopewell 28-19.

*Down by 9 points, Hopewell got the ball and drove the field but came up empty.
–3rd and 8, Armstrong with a nice 11-yard pass to junior Logan Triscilla.
–Moving into the 4th quarter, following a 6-yard run, Rock ran for 5 more on 3rd and 2.
–Following a 7-yard run by Rock, Brody got the ball again and got another first down on a 5-yard run.
–Hopewell was inside the New Castle 30-yard line but on the following play, New Castle sent a corner blitz from Armstrong’s blindside. Unfortunately, the blitzer got home and came up with a sack and a forced fumble.

*Then with 9 minutes left in the game, New Castle ran in a TD from 22-yards out to ice the game.

FINAL SCORE: NEW CASTLE 42 HOPEWELL 19

Next up: Hopewell (1-1) returns home next Friday to take on the Ambridge Bridgers.