In a battle of Geauga County supremacy, Chardon was finally able to successfully run the jet sweep consistently and defeated neighborhood and Western Reserve Conference rival Kenston, 35-18.
Game photos click here.
In a battle of Geauga County supremacy, Chardon was finally able to successfully run the jet sweep consistently and defeated neighborhood and Western Reserve Conference rival Kenston, 35-18.
Throughout its first five games this season, the Hilltopper offensive failed to win battles upfront and seal off the edge.
But on Friday night, things started to click, and Chardon (5-1, 2-1 WRC) was able to successfully run the jet.
The Toppers ran all over Kenston, picking up 401 yards on the ground. Most of those yards came by the legs of senior quarterback Alex Henry, who rushed for 164 yards and two touchdowns, and junior running back A.J. Bruce, who ran who 137 yards and two touchdowns.
“In the beginning it was a little rough,” Bruce said. “We knew we had to make adjustments because jet is our game. We made those adjustments.”
“It was a little bit like the old days, not having to hide or guess and roll the dice up there,” Chardon Head Coach Mitch Hewitt said. “Coach Navs enjoys it.”
The game could not have started any better for Kenston, which jumped out to an early 7-0 lead thanks to a six-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Nikko Georgiou. Senior defensive lineman David Clossin then recovered a Hilltopper fumble on the Chardon 24.
The Bombers seemed poised to add to their lead, but a sack by junior outside linebacker Austin Leszynski knocked Kenston out of field goal range.
“He’s a kid who is only getting better,” said Hewitt of Leszynski. “He was a quarterback for us last year on JV, and has been thrust into a new position that was inhabited by a really good football player in Christian Hall.”
“I’m gonna harp the heck out of that with the kids,” Kenston Head Coach Jeff Grubich said. “We want to be a playoff football team, and we want to make a run, just like that team does. That’s how you do it: when you jump on a team that quick and go up 14-0, you have to take advantage of it.”
Chardon eventually answered back early in the second quarter, as Henry scored on a single-yard touchdown run.
The game was a first half defensive battle, with the score tied at seven going into halftime.
But while the first half distinctly featured defense, the offensives took charge in the second.
Chardon’s offense got the first spark it needed when senior defensive back Leo Colombi jumped the route and picked off Georgiou on the Bomber 21.
Bruce then took a jet sweep left and ran it in from 19 yards out to give Chardon a 14-7 lead.
Kenston answered back, but had to settle for a Parker Munday field goal, as the Topper offense made three goal line stands.
“It was huge,” said Bruce. “We really needed that stop as a team.”
Then Chardon kept the momentum going and drove down the field, with Henry picking up another rushing touchdown to make it 21-10.
Early in the fourth quarter, junior running back Sean Patrick scored a touchdown run and made the two-point conversion to close the gap to 21-18. However, it was as close as the Bombers would get the rest of the game.
Touchdown runs by Bruce and senior fullback Zach Fay closed out the scoring for Chardon.
Grubich felt that Chardon’s front seven dictated what his offense did in the second half, and that was key to the game.
“They were getting pressure on Nikko, and we didn’t do a good job protecting him,” he said. “Defensively, they started running to our weak side, and we have to adjust to that.”
Grubich was pleased with his team’s effort over the first 24 minutes.
“We finally matched up with them; we were finally healthy for the first time in a long time playing these guys,” he noted.
For Kenston, the contest defined areas of improvement that would be needed to make a long playoff.
“Everything that went wrong tonight, we can fix,” Grubich said. “Our kids battled, we were not overmatched, and we can grow from the opportunity we had tonight.”
Meanwhile, beating a county rival and successfully returning the jet both felt huge for Chardon.
“It means a lot; it’s a big rivalry game for us,” Bruce said. “Kenston is the team that always wants to come out and beat us.”
“I was pleased,” said Hewitt. “We ran the ball for over 400 yards tonight and faced some adversity early on tonight. It’s a sign of a team that is growing up.”
At this point in the season, though, Hewitt added that youth and inexperience are not excuses for the team’s performance on the field: “They are not where we need them to be. … We’re either underachieving, or we’re achieving at a level that is sufficient.”
In some ways, Hewitt even felt this was his team’s worst defensive performance of the season, although he credited the Bombers for their game plan, which he called a game of chess.
Chardon gained a total 467 yards of offensive – its best performance of the year.
The Bombers amassed 346 yards of offense, 144 on the ground and 202 through the air.
Patrick ran for 111 yards and one touchdown and caught five passes for 116 yards.
The meat grinder that was the first six games of Chardon’s schedule has concluded.
Early in the season, Hewitt felt concerned for the health of his team after tough and physical games against Olmsted Falls, Camden (N.J.), First Baptist Academy (Fla.), Riverside, Mayfield and Kenston. And the Toppers nearly made it through without any major injuries until Alex Kisley left Friday’s game with a knee injury.
Hewitt said Kisley will go see a doctor this week, but hopes one of his most destructive players on the defensive line can be back in a few weeks.
“Beyond that, we’re in a decent spot (health-wise),” Hewitt added.
More good news for Chardon is that a bye week awaits before games against Madison, South and North to close out the regular season.
Still, the next week will not be a walk in the park, as Hewitt looks to toughen up his troop.
“This team still needs to grow in terms of its level of aggression and violence,” Hewitt explained. “It’s a balance of resting, but we’re not tough enough to take the week off.”
