Red-hot Avonworth brings diversified offense into matchup with high-scoring Hopewell

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, September 19, 2025 | 12:18 AM

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Avonworth’s offense relies on a group effort in more ways than one.

Five different players have scored a touchdown this season, balancing out an attack that can both run and pass. But four different coaches could’ve called those scoring plays, adding another wrinkle to one of the WPIAL’s top offenses.

The top-ranked Antelopes are off to a 4-0 start, averaging 34 points per game. Consider that they scored 79 points combined in their first four games last season. This year, they already have 136.

So, in Year 15 as coach, Duke Johncour says this offense surely looks like one of Avonworth’s best.

“It’s pretty darn good,” Johncour said. “There are a lot of weapons that we have right now. We have probably three or four kids who could carry the ball, and we haven’t had to utilize them yet. We’re happy with where we are and what we have going.”

In four games, Antelopes running back Dimitri Velisaris has scored nine touchdowns, wideout Luca Neal has six and quarterback Carson Bellinger tossed seven.

No. 1 Avonworth (4-0, 0-0) hosts No. 4 Hopewell (3-1, 0-1) at 7 p.m. Friday in a Western Hills matchup.

Offensive balance isn’t what got the Antelopes to the state finals last year. The team instead leaned heavily on wildcat runs, but Bellinger has emerged a steady passer. He has nearly 800 yards in four games, causing trouble for defenses.

Velisaris has a team-high 454 rushing yards.

“If you try to stack the box, we can throw it on you,” Johncour said. “If you try and thin the box, we’ll run it on you. You have to be able to defend everything out there.”

Johncour started his coaching tenure as the primary play-caller but said he has shared those duties in recent years with offensive assistants Dan Kuban, son Derek Johncour and Vince Bevilacqua, the O-line coach.

Clearly, the idea works.

Avonworth reached the WPIAL finals in each of the past three years. Last season, the Antelopes won the WPIAL Class 3A title and were state runners-up. This year, they’ve scored 35, 37, 23 and 41 points in four wins.

“I’ve called most of the plays in the past with some help. But if you’ve got good coaches, you let them coach,” Johncour said. “We all chime in. It’s a community effort here.”

The four coaches will communicate through headsets on game days.

“It’s just calling by committee,” Johncour said. “We have our set plays out of certain formations. We look at what we think we can get against (a defense) and we make the call.”

The combined success by both players and coaches showed a week ago when Avonworth enjoyed a 41-14 win over Thomas Jefferson. Tied at 14 in the second quarter, the Antelopes pulled away with 27 unanswered points to defeat an opponent then ranked No. 1 in Class 4A.

A week earlier, Avonworth won 23-7 over Aliquippa, another highly ranked 4A team.

“Avonworth is a very well coached team,” Hopewell coach Matt Mottes said. “They do not make mistakes. You can’t make any either.”

Hopewell’s high-scoring offense is coming off a 50-point effort. The Vikings are led by sophomore quarterback James Armstrong, an emerging WPIAL star, who this week added Penn State and North Carolina offers.

Armstrong accounted for 609 yards from scrimmage in last week’s 51-50 loss to Beaver that ended with a failed two-point run in the final seconds. The sophomore passed for 346 yards and four touchdowns but also ran the ball 22 times for 263 yards and two scores.

Nasir Wade added 144 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.

“They have really talented athletes,” Johncour said. “Their quarterback is special. He’s got multiple Division I offers for a reason. It doesn’t take much for coaches to notice talent. He has it.”

However, in the past three years, Avonworth has dominated this conference matchup. The Antelopes won 50-19 last year, 45-6 in 2023 and 50-0 in ‘22.

Mottes, in his second season as coach, said Hopewell’s offense is better, but stopping Avonworth’s offense remains a big challenge.

Hopewell’s defense started the year solidly. The Vikings outscored their first three opponents 136-8. Only one of the three teams reached the end zone, before they saw Beaver’s offense score six touchdowns.

“With our offense and having the players we have, we can score with anybody,” Mottes said. “It’s just can we stop somebody?”

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.