Hopewell kicker Rocco Marcantonio ties WPIAL record with 55-yard field goal

By: Chris Harlan
Saturday, September 28, 2024 | 5:13 PM

Hopewell hasn’t had many moments to celebrate in recent years, but kicker Rocco Marcantonio gave the team one Friday night.

Marcantonio made a 55-yard field goal that tied for the longest in WPIAL history. With the help of holder Zander Muzy and long snapper Dominick Gaughan, Marcantonio converted a fourth-quarter kick from just beyond the opponent’s 45-yard line.

“We talked in practice this week that if we had a long field goal, we were going for it,” said first-year Hopewell coach Matt Mottes, who was missing his punter to injury.

There was some uncertainty in the stadium about whether the kick counted as a 55- or 56-yarder since the spot was between yard lines. That one yard was the difference between tying or breaking the WPIAL record.

For measuring field goals, the National Federation of State High School Associations gives this example: “Player A kicks a field goal from between Team B’s 35- and 36-yard lines. It is a 45-yard attempt unless the ball is touching the 36-yard line.”

That makes Marcantonio’s field goal a 55-yarder, tying him with East Allegheny’s Josh Miller, who set the WPIAL record in 2002. No one else in WPIAL history is known to have made one from that distance.

Central Catholic’s Billy Lech made a 54-yarder on Friday.

Hopewell coaches knew the WPIAL record was 55 before the attempt. Marcantonio had made a 49-yarder earlier this season. So facing a fourth down at the 39, Mottes called for his kicker. The hold was about six to eight inches beyond the 45, said Mottes, who hopes to get him a chance someday to break the record.

Friday’s field goal helped Hopewell win 24-7 over Quaker Valley. The team improved to 3-3 overall, 1-2 in the Western Hills Conference. Mottes is working to turn around a program that hasn’t had a winning season since 2011.

A 5-foot-11, 160-pound junior, Marcantonio is a captain on Hopewell’s soccer team.

“He has turned himself into a football player,” Mottes said. “He’s a good kid and works hard, almost to a fault. At halftime, he’s out kicking field goals. He’s always working on his game.”

⁦@mwhiteburgh⁩ pic.twitter.com/BHEPDZPdTb

— Coach Mottes (@jarma72) September 28, 2024

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.