Hopewell has 'glimmer of hope' despite loss to West Mifflin
HOPEWELL — Hopewell Vikings head coach Matt Weiss didn’t dwell on the negatives from Hopewell’s 50-15 loss against West Mifflin.
The Vikings head coach entered this season with a full roster and a new slate after going winless in 2021. This year, the Vikings have picked up three wins, with two in conference play. Despite the conference loss to West Mifflin, the Vikings have a slim postseason chance.
“The message to the kids is that we still have a chance,” Weiss said. “It’s slight, but we have a slimmer of light. We have to try to do it. If anything, we’ll play spoilers.”
West Mifflin senior quarterback Shai Newby kicked off the game for the Titans with a 54-yard pass to classmate Tayshaun McMillian. The Vikings immediately responded with a touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Thomas Pipkins III to senior wide receiver Cameron Fedorka, knotting things at 7-all.
West Mifflin took back the lead quickly and added on, thanks to two rushing touchdowns from Newby – one for 1 yard and the other for a big 61-yard sprint down the field. Vikings receiver and cornerback Fedorka said the defense couldn’t click against West Mifflin’s offense, leading to struggles against Newby and the Titans' offense.
“Our defense wasn’t really there with tackling. Just simple stuff to fix,” Fedorka said following the loss.
It began to unravel for Hopewell when senior running back Dayveon Jackson fumbled the ball on the 2 yard line. Newby took the Titans offense down the field and rushed in for a third touchdown on the ground at Tony Dorsett Stadium, going 22 yards into the end zone.
“Our quarterback is awesome,” Rod Steele, West Mifflin head coach, said. “He’s a great kid, great team leader, plays hard, throws the ball and has great feet. Shai is a great dual athlete, that he can run and throw. We’re blessed to have him back leading our offense.”
West Mifflin added a safety from the defense and another touchdown from sophomore running back Richie Fix, this time from 16 yards out. West Mifflin moved the ball around in the second half, with junior running back DelRon White adding two touchdowns on the ground from 38 yards and 1 yard out.
However, despite the victory, West Mifflin was called three times for personal foul penalties. It was a statistic that Steele wanted to forget.
“To be honest with you, we did enough to move the ball, but we had a lot of mental breakdowns,” Steele said. “We need to clean some things up. I just thought the game was just too choppy for my liking. We need to get back in the film room, identify some things, clean some things up and get ready to move forward.”
Steele continued to say that, despite the conference win, the Titans weren’t totally efficient with the penalty calls.
“It’s about us executing our assignments to the best of our abilities,” Steele said. “It was too choppy. I know the score shows otherwise, we have some athletes that are capable of scoring every time. At the end of the day, there were some things we need to clean up on. I need to emphasize that going forward.”
Meanwhile, for the Vikings, Jackson made up from his earlier fumble with a touchdown in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, with an 18-yard run into the end zone. Hopewell attempted, and converted, a two-point try.
At the half, according to Fedorka, Weiss reinforced effort from his young team.
“He told us to keep fighting and not let up,” Fedorka said. “Keep it going, no matter what the score or outcome was, and keep fighting. Just go and play your hardest.”
Weiss said that he’s got a lot of young players, but he’s proud of the fight his team showed through four quarters.
“It was one person every play making a mistake, here or there,” Weiss said. “It’s a young team. The amount of freshmen we had playing tonight was astronomical. We have to keep digging, keep fighting. We still have a shot. It’s small, but we still have a shot. We’re going to keep fighting next week.”
Despite the tough loss in conference play to West Mifflin, Weiss is liking what he's seeing from a young group and a program that he's had to help rebuild from the ground up.
“It’s getting there,” Weiss added after the loss. “We’re a little behind schedule where I want us to be. But like I said, we have a lot of freshmen playing against 17-and-18-year olds. We’re trying to make up ground. They’re learning, and it’s trial by fire. I’m proud of them. We made some strides this year. We have to continue to build off that. All the playing experience will come a year or two down the road.”
Hopewell goes on the road for a conference tilt with the Beaver Bobcats at 7:30 p.m., while West Mifflin finishes the regular-season at home against South Park.
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Hopewell has 'glimmer of hope' despite loss to West Mifflin
