The Chardon 8th grade football team finished the season 8-0 with a 36-20 win over then 7-0 Riverside at Riverside High School.
The Chardon 8th grade football team finished the season 8-0 with a 36-20 win over then 7-0 Riverside at Riverside High School.
It was the second straight year the team went undefeated. It shows how bright the future remains for Chardon’s high school football program. And it underscores how consistency, which has been the team’s modus operandi for almost 40 years, continues to run through each level of the Hilltoppers program.
As a painful reminder to Browns fans from last weekend. When it comes to an organization, Chardon is the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“It’s very difficult to run the table in any sport,” said 8th grade coach Dan Dinko, whose two sons both played varsity football in the program. “Especially two years in a row.”
The 8th grade team outscored its opponents by an average score of 41 to 5 as it knocked off future Western Reserve Conference rivals like Mayfield, Kenston, North, South, Madison and Riverside.
“It’s an impressive class of skill and size and most importantly over 30-plus kids out playing,” said head varsity coach Mitch Hewitt, whose son, Caleb, is the team’s starting halfback. “They didn’t just go 16-0 over the last two years but they dominated their competition.”
Aside from Caleb, whose grandfather Don Navatsyk is the high school’s offensive coordinator, there are connections from the 8th grade team that run through the program. Navatsyk played for the Hilltoppers in the early 1970s.
Consider:
• Mark Hall has two other brothers in the program. Christian Hall is on the varsity team and Amir Hall is on the freshman team. Their dad, Frank Hall, is the varsity team’s co-offensive coordinator.
• Alex Ash’s older brother Evan Ash is on the varsity team. And his dad, Eric, played on the 1994 Hilltoppers that won the Division 2 state championship.
• Chad Prince’s dad, John, is on the 8th grade coaching staff and is a 1989 Chardon graduate. Eric Bartley, a Chardon teacher, is also on the coaching staff.
• Sam Stollard’s dad, Cliff, played on the 1993 state semi-finalist team.
• Braden McDevitt’s older brother, Cade, is a senior on the varsity team.
• Beckett Dotson’s older brother, Brody, is a junior on the varsity team.
• Zach Ischay’s older brother, Aidan, is a junior on the varsity team.
• And Vinny Colombi’s older brother, Leo, plays on the freshman team.
“Combined with the 9th grade class ahead of them they could be really hard to beat in the coming years,” Hewitt said. “If they develop a love and passion for the weight room.”
