The Hilltoppers showed Mayfield just how good their defense is during their 31-14 Western Reserve Conference victory last week.
The Hilltoppers showed Mayfield just how good their defense is during their 31-14 Western Reserve Conference victory last week.
On homecoming night, the Chardon defense once again shined, while struggles continued on the offensive side of the ball.
“We’re not close to where we need to be offensively,” Chardon Head Coach Mitch Hewitt said. “We’re not winning enough collisions, and that’s what the game comes down to.
“We’re young, and at some point I’ve got to stop saying that.”
The Wildcats (3-2, 0-1 WRC), a team battling injuries, came out ready to hit. Their physicalness paid off on the defense end as, midway through the first quarter, a hit on Chardon quarterback Alex Henry knocked the ball loose. Junior safety Anthony Howard scooped it up and took it 43-yards to the house for the game’s first score.
With just under two minutes to play in the first quarter, senior safety Trey Liebhardt got the Toppers (4-1, 1-1 WRC) on the board when he saw Wildcat senior quarterback Aiden Arth stare down his receiver, step in front of the target, and then return the ball 30 yards for a touchdown.
Liebhardt has had an interception in four of the five Toppers games this year. The pick was Liebhardt’s fifth of the season. It was his second pick-six of the year as well.
“It was a huge momentum changer,” said senior defensive lineman Cooper Felger, crowned homecoming king prior to the game.
Arth, who started in place of injured quarterback Rocco Monastero, was nearly picked several other times during the game by the ball-hawking Chardon secondary. In many instances, bad throws were due to pressure from senior defensive linemen Alex Kisley and Felger.
Junior linebacker Mario Tolo felt the play of the defensive line opened up holes for the linebackers and helped them and the secondary make impact plays.
Following last week’s loss to Riverside, the defense regrouped and refocused on the basics.
“We weren’t happy with how we played last week, and we knew what we had to do,” said Felger of the defense’s performance. “We came out hard and ran at the ball.”
“We focused on being physical, staying violent,” Tolo said, “go wherever the ball goes and gang tackling.”
The first team to record an offensive touchdown was Chardon, who got on the board with under five minutes to go before halftime.
Henry atoned for his fumble with a 14-yard touchdown run to give the Hilltoppers a 14-7 advantage. The score was set up by a 37-yard run around the left side on fourth and one by senior linebacker Heath Fetchik, who has seen action on the offensive end over the past couple games
“We’re at a point in our season right now where we’re relying on these guys to play both ways,” said Hewitt of Liebhardt and Fetchik. “In the preseason, that was not our goal. It’s the hand we’ve been dealt, and we’re going to ride these guys until other people step up.”
On the ensuing Wildcat possession, the Toppers forced a three-and-out and got the ball back deep inside their territory. The offense went to work and, for the second consecutive drive, had some success in the battle of the trenches, advancing the ball to the Mayfield 6.
With eight seconds to go before halftime, Joseph Evans connected on a 23-yard field goal to increase Chardon’s lead to 17-7.
A late third quarter touchdown pass from Arth to senior running back Anthony Santoro of the Wildcats cut the deficit to 17-14 and put the pressure on the Hilltoppers.
With nine minutes to play, Henry broke off a 43-yard touchdown run to give his team a little bit of breathing room at 24-10.
Throughout the rest of the fourth quarter, both defenses held the offenses in check.
The Toppers defense put the exclamation point on the game late in the fourth, when sophomore Caleb Hewitt stepped in front of an Arth pass and raced 53 yards down the Chardon sideline, falling two yards shy of a pick-six as he was tripped up at the Mayfield 2.
Fetchik capped off the scoring with a one-yard touchdown run.
Despite allowing Chardon to gain 281 yards of total offense, with 198 coming on the ground and 83 through the air, Mayfield’s defense controlled the line and did not let Chardon get to edge.
“We’re a jet team and we can’t get the edge,” Coach Hewitt said. “Until we can get the edge, we are really one dimensional. It’s really frustrating. This staff knows what they are doing and they’ll figure it out.”
Chardon’s offensive struggles have placed more emphasis on the defense to hold the opposition in check.
“We understand the defense has to step up a little more,” said Felger. “It’s not pressure, but we just know what we have to do.”
Chardon’s ground game was paced by Henry, who ran for 104 yards and two touchdowns. He also completed four of six passes for 83 yards. Fetchik rushed for 41 yards and a touchdown, and hauled in two passes for 62 yards.
Mayfield tallied 175 total yards of offense – 82 rushing and 93 passing – while gaining six first downs.
Up next for Chardon is rival Kenston.
“Toss out records and all that other good stuff,” said Hewitt. “It’s going to be a war. We’ve got a lot of respect for them, and they are in our region. They are a playoff team.”
“It’s a huge rivalry for us,” added Felger, “and we have to step up and work hard and come play on Friday.”
