By Kyle Kondor
When the Hopewell Valley Central High School football team won the Central Jersey Group III State Championship in 2013, they reached the peak of an uphill battle that the varsity program had been fighting since it started 10 years ago.
The Bulldogs’ 10 wins last season matched the same amount of losses the team had in it’s first campaign in 2004. Head coach Dave Caldwell, who has been at the helm for all 10 seasons, says it’s been a very satisfying ride.
“The alumni, administration, and especially the players and parents were extremely thrilled and excited about not only the whole entire season but it being the 10th season of varsity football and the way we finished,” he said. “It made all those included pretty proud.”
Since the beginning of the Hopewell football program, each year saw little improvement. But until last year, HVCHS football had never eclipsed six wins, nor had they ever appeared in the state playoffs.
“It was always a work in progress,” Caldwell said. “I had an excellent coaching staff last year, and coupled that with some tremendous athletes and kids that really bought into the program during the offseason.”
Hopewell defeated Lawrence 31-14 on Dec. 8 in the first all-Mercer County sectional championship matchup since the NJSIAA started its football playoffs in 1975.
Since that title-winning game, the core of Hopewell’s players and coaching staff have scattered elsewhere. The team graduated 14 seniors, 6 of whom went on to play college athletics.
The 6-foot-5, 240 pound quarterback, Austin Fellows, has begun his college football career at William Paterson University. Fellows took every snap for the Bulldogs last season, throwing for 2,600 yards and 21 touchdowns, while completing 55 percent of his passes. All those marks are single-season records in the program’s short history. He also holds the all-time records in passing yards, with more than 3,500, as well as 29 touchdowns.
Andrew Yuska – the 2013 Colonial Valley Conference Player of the Year – has taken his talents to Gettysburg College. He scored 24 touchdowns last season, 8 of which came in the final two playoff games. He also rushed for 1,734 yards on the season, and notched over 200 yards per game in Hopewell’s three playoff contests.
Kyle Horihan led the team in tackles with 71 as a junior linebacker. He announced in June that he will be transferring to Hun because it will allow him an extra, postgraduate year of high school in hope that he will land more college offers than he has to this point.
Many believe another reason Horihan made this decision was to follow in the footsteps of Hun’s newly installed head coach, Todd Smith, who worked as Hopewell’s offensive coordinator in 2013.
2013 defensive coordinator Jeff Reilly has also landed himself a head coaching job. He’ll try to revive a West Windsor Plainsboro-North football program that has won only four games over the last three seasons.
Hopewell’s new offensive coordinator this year will be Rob Radice, who will embody the saying “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”
When HoVal beat Lawrence last year, Radice was on the opposing sideline. The Lawrence High alum served the school as head coach for 14 seasons before resigning weeks after that game. He agreed to join Caldwell’s staff in May.
Caldwell expects there to be no postchampionship hangover for this year’s squad.
“Our kids aren’t goint to change how they work, how much they care, the effort, or the time that they put into the program,” said Caldwell, who will now be acting as defensive coordinator in addition to his head coaching duties. “We’ve got shoes to fill just like every other program and every other team, and we’ve got kids working hard to fill those shoes.”
Senior Kevin Coleman, who was primarily a defender on last years team, will finally get his shot at playing quarterback this year. At 6-foot-2, 155 pounds, Coleman can be considered a bite-size version of Austin Fellows, and he says he learned a lot as an understudy.
“(Austin Fellows) really kept his composure in games, and I got to learn how to do that just by watching him, and he helped me become a better quarterback just by practicing with him,” Coleman said. “I don’t feel any added pressure. We’re just out here to win games, and I know that we’ll come together as a team. I’d really like to get back to the championship because everyone works so hard towards it.”
Senior wide receiver and defensive back Mike Gies is one guy that Coleman will look toward to help him have a successful season. Gies had the fifth most receiving yards in the state last year with 1,038. He accumulated those yards by catching 40 passes from Fellows. Thirteen of those catches resulted in touchdowns.
“Coleman is looking pretty good right now,” Gies said of his new quarterback. “I have high expectations of myself and the team this year. If we could get that back-to-back championship, it would be great to win the last game of my career.”
Arguably the brightest spot on the Hopewell roster is senior linebacker and offensive utility player, Drew Wiley. The 6-foot-2, 228 pounder verbally committed to Villanova right before training camp, which began on Aug. 11.
“He’s a big, fast, strong athlete that loves the game of football, and he’s a great kid. So he’s obviously one of our strengths,” Caldwell said.
Wiley had 69 tackles last season, and received reps on offense at tight end, full back, running back, and slot receiver. He had one rushing touchdown and two receiving touchdowns in 2013.
Hopewell will open up Sept. 12 at 7 P.M. under the Friday night lights of Edward Steinmetz Stadium, home of New Jersey high school football powerhouse Burlington Township. Burlington Township has finished with more wins than losses in five consecutive seasons. Hopewell defeated them 46-14 last year for the first time in several attempts over the years.
“They’ve historically been an excellent program,” Caldwell said. “They have athletes all over the field. They’re a tough opponent and it’s going to be a tough test for us Week One.”
The Bulldogs’ first home game is against Hightstown on September 19 at 7 p.m.
All-around Hopewell Valley Regional High School football star Drew Wiley at practice Aug. 13, 2014. Wiley has verbally committed to attend Villanova University. (Photo by Kyle Kondor.),
