Hopewell Makes Statement With 34-14 Victory Over Avonworth
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Shane Lux | August 29, 2026
Hopewell Township – There’s no doubting the 2026 Hopewell Vikings anymore. Not after a 34-14 victory.
Entering their opening night contest against the defending AAA state champions, few had given them much of a chance.
Many media outlets had Avonworth ranked number 1 or close in the state, while word on the street from social media was that Hopewell was seen as much as a 20-point underdog.
Funny how that works, isn’t it? The irony is that the game did end by 20 points, but according to the so-called experts, the wrong team won.
Now, while being wrong is nothing new to the mainstream media, high school football can still surprise you from time to time, and Hopewell rolled past Avonworth with a 20-point victory Friday night at Tony Dorsett Stadium.
“Anytime you can beat the number one team in the state, it’s a big win,” said Hopewell head coach Matt Mottes. “Look how far we’ve come in the last few years. These kids grew up before our eyes. They knew this was the ultimate test, and they started it off well and passed.”
It was no secret to see Penn State recruit James Armstrong lead the way for the Vikings. The junior completed 8-of-11 passes for 188 yards and a touchdown while also rushing for 99 yards on 28 carries, scoring twice.
“It means a lot,” said Armstrong. “That’s a great team. But I think you know we’re a great team, and I’ve seen everything people are posting on social media about 20-point underdogs and all that stuff. We knew it wouldn’t be easy. Wouldn’t expect it to be, and I’m sure they didn’t either. We came out with this win. This isn’t a championship. We need to keep improving and keep playing. Keep executing the way we can execute, and we’ll be holding up that trophy at the end of the year at Acrisure.”
The Vikings made a statement on the opening drive as Avonworth faced a 4th-and-1 from the Vikings’ 6-yard line; Hopewell’s defense held tall and stopped Brayden Wiles for no gain.
On the ensuing drive, Hopewell marched 17 plays covering 96 yards and took the lead when Armstrong scored on a 1-yard plunge early in the second quarter.
“That was really just our game plan coming into the game,” said Armstrong. “I’ve been tellin’ them for a while. A lot of those guys are first-year starters. We have a lot of guys coming up because we lost a lot of seniors last year. We knew coming in all we had to do was worry about ourselves and execute. And that’s exactly what we did; no matter the down, no matter the distance, we executed our plays.”
That touchdown was short-lived, however, as on the very next play from scrimmage, Avonworth superstar standout Jaden Jones caught a 68-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Mason Mobley to tie the game at seven.
The Vikings, undaunted, took the ball and drove 80 yards in eight plays, capping the drive with a 12-yard touchdown run by Nasir Wade. Wide receiver Avery Bokor caught a 42-yard pass one-handed downfield from Armstrong on the drive.
Late in the first half, Hopewell lined up for a 45-yard field goal attempt that was blocked and scooped up by Teddy Sweeney and returned to the Vikings’23-yard line. However, after picking up one first down on a 10-yard completion to Jones, the drive eventually stalled when Greg Gigliotti intercepted Mobley in the closing seconds of the half, preserving the one-score lead.
Hopewell came out in the second half looking to put the game on ice, and they nearly did just that on the opening play. Following a solid kickoff return, the Vikings went to their bag of tricks, and Armstrong found a wide-open Bokor downfield for a 45-yard touchdown pass on a flea-flicker, extending the lead to 21-7, just 15 seconds into the second half.
“That’s a play that you call when stuff starts to go bad,” Armstrong said. “There was a ‘little scuffle’ between our player and their kicker. They were a little bit lively over there, so that’s when you call those plays- that’s never when people are ready. They’re trying to fly now, and those are the times when you call those plays. Those flea flickers, the hook-and-ladder stuff like that, and it worked. It worked to perfection.”
Avery Bokor caught four passes for 141 yards, while Jaden Jones also went over the century mark, leading Avonworth with six receptions for 105 yards.
Avonworth closed the gap near the quarter’s midpoint when a bad punt by Hopewell resulted in a 41-yard loss, setting up the Antelopes at the Vikings’ 7-yard line; two plays later, the Antelopes scored on a 5-yard run by Wiles, pulling within a touchdown.
That would be all the closer the defending state champions would get as Wade scored his second touchdown of the night on a 3-yard run early in the fourth quarter, giving Hopewell a 28-14 lead with just under 10 minutes to play following a 7-play, 60-yard drive.
Nasir Wade ran 19 times for 91 yards.
Putting the icing on the cake, Brian Olden then intercepted Mobley and returned it to the Avonworth 11-yard line, where Armstrong capped off an incredible evening with a 2-yard touchdown run that all but sealed the deal for the Vikings.
“Listen, we’ll see this team again. They’re amazing; they just had a bad night. That’s it, to be honest with you. If they don’t make the mistakes they made tonight, this is probably a different ballgame,” concluded Mottes.
Game Highlights
Hopewell 34, Avonworth 14
Score by Quarters
Avonworth – 0 7 7 0 – 14
Hopewell – 0 14 7 13 – 34
Scoring Summary
Second Quarter
H – James Armstrong 1 yd run, (Aidan Gonzalez pat), 10:37 – 17-96
A – Jaden Jones 68 yd pass from Mason Mobley, (Calder Mahan pat), 10:14 – 1-68
H – Nasir Wade 12 yd run, (Gonzalez pat), 6:50 – 8-80
Third Quarter
H – Avery Bokor 45 yd pass from Armstrong, (Gonzalez pat), 11:45 – 1-45
A – Brayden Wiles 5 yd run, (Mahan pat), 5:24 – 2-7
Fourth Quarter
H – Wade 3 yd run, (Gonzalez pat), 9:36 – 7-60
H – Armstrong 2 yd run, (kick failed), 4:31 – 4-11
Individual Stats
Rushing: A – Brayden Wiles 9-23, Mobley 8-22, Jason Cervone 1-5. Totals: 18-50. H – Armstrong 28-99, Wade 19-91, Team 2-(42). Totals: 49-148
Receiving: A – Jones 6-105, Romello Harris 2-19, Tony Plumb 1-12, Teddy Sweeney 1-4. H – Avery Bokor 4-141, Tre Cameron 2-30, Brody Rock 1-16, Wade 1-1.
Passing: A – Mobley 8-for-17, 132 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT; Jackson May 2-for-5, 8 yards. H – Armstrong 8-for-11, 188 yards, 1 TD
Interceptions: H – Brian Olden, Greg Gigliotti.
