HSN’s Observations from Hopewell/Avonworth Game

HOPEWELL TWP– The future of the Hopewell football program is headed in the right direction, unfortunately, they’re a year away from being able to fully compete against some of the upper echelon teams in their conference.

It’s all a process and about development as they’re finding out.

The last two Fridays, they’ve played two of the best team not only in their section but in all of Class AAA, Beaver and Avonworth.

Avonworth has been a perennial power the last handful of years and after seeing them last night, it sure looks as though they’ll once again be a factor come playoff time.

FINAL- Avonworth 50 Hopewell 19

The biggest difference in last night’s game was pretty simple- line play. Avonworth was really good and controlling on both sides of the ball. Through 5 games, they’ve been the best team up front that Hopewell has played all season.

Hopewell had troubles pass protecting in the first half but to their credit, that improved drastically in the second half. It’s no coincidence that after that improvement, the passing game was able to make plays down the field.

5 TAKES FOLLOWING AVONWORTH GAME:

1) PASSING GAME BREAKS OUT- Through the first four games of the season, Coach Mottes and offensive coordinator Zach Rosa’s offensive gameplan mostly consisted of running the football. Considering the opposition and the fact that their starting quarterback is a freshman and just 14 years old, that was understandable and the smart decision. Last night, they went off script, which could’ve been dictated by the score but regardless, James Armstrong threw a career-high 19 times and showed off his tremendous arm and potential. Armstrong threw for a career-high 187 yards and 3 touchdown passes, all of which were elite/big-time throws. Armstrong no doubt has the ability to make any throw on the field and last night, we got a little glimpse of that.

The exciting part of this is that if they’re able to consistently throw the ball like this and continue their strong running game, Hopewell’s offense will be dangerous and possess multiple players to defend and worry about. The most exciting thing off all is that all of Hopewell’s skill position players (Armstrong, Brody Rock, Josh Brunton, Thomas Pipkin, Logan Triscilla, Tre Cameron, Avery Bokor, Julian Baldwin, etc.) return next season so if they’re able to develop chemistry and get some results, they’ll be able to take that into next season.

2) GO-TO RECEIVER– For any quarterback to be comfortable and for an offense to be productive, a go-to receiver is needed. At this point, it sure looks as though Armstrong has one in junior Logan Triscilla. In the second half last night, Triscilla caught 3 passes for 106 yards and 2 big-time touchdowns. For the season, that duo has hooked up for 4 touchdowns. Triscilla is just a reliable weapon, that runs great routes and finds a way to get past his defender. He’s also tall, so the quarterback can throw the ball up and he can go up and get it. As I mentioned in the broadcast last night, he reminds me a lot of former Pitt Panther wide receiver Mike Shanahan, who was a tremendous college receiver.

3) CREDIT TO SOME BIG MEN-Although Avonworth’s offensive and defensive lines both played tremendous games, it shouldn’t take away from the performance of Hopewell’s big men.

In terms of Hopewell’s defensive line, three players caught my eye- Nick Thomas, Hank Berner and Brian McCabe.

Those guys battled the entire 4 quarters and played really well in portions of the 3rd and 4th quarters. It’s exciting that both Thomas and McCabe will be returning next season.

4) SOME FRESHMAN MILESTONES- HSN wanted to congratulate a few Hopewell freshman for some achievements.

Freshman Avery Bokor safety recorded his first career interception in the first quarter. Wide receiver Tre Cameron made his first career varsity catch.  It was a great 44 yard reception. The combination of Armstrong to Cameron is something we’ll see a lot over the next four seasons.

One other player that I continue to be impressed with is freshman defensive back/wide receiver Brian Olden. This young kid continues to make a mark on special teams and has a bright future.

5) CHANCE TO GET ON ROLL- With a difficult portion of the schedule past them, I believe Hopewell will have a chance to go on a run and post some positive results.

Up next, are games against Quaker Valley, McGuffey and Freeport. This will be an opportunity for Hopewell to show the progress they’ve made and possibly a chance to pick up a couple wins.