A four-minute stretch at the end of the second quarter propelled the Hilltoppers to a 31-7 over Aurora in the Division III Region 9 regional semifinals held at Jerome T. Osborne Stadium in Mentor.
Game photos click here.
A four-minute stretch at the end of the second quarter propelled the Hilltoppers to a 31-7 over Aurora in the Division III Region 9 regional semifinals held at Jerome T. Osborne Stadium in Mentor.
With the win, Chardon moves on to the regional finals, where the team will take on Youngstown Ursuline at Ravenna Stadium.
As it has been in a handful of games this year, the Topper defense was dominant.
The Hilltoppers held Aurora to 119 yards of total offense, including only 10 rushing yards.
Over a third of the Greenmen’s yardage in the game came in their last two possessions, when Chardon’s second unit was in the game.
Besides mop-up time, the only other Aurora drive to gain decent yardage was its opening possession of the game, which ended on a fourth-down play, when senior AJ Bruce batted away a pass.
“It all came down to physicality,” said senior linebacker Alexander Ash.
He explained that Chardon’s gameplan was to stop Greenman running back Enzo Catania, who gained more than 1,000 yards entering the game but was held to just 10 rushing yards Nov. 10.
“Coach Landies set up an amazing gameplan for us, and we dominated,” said Ash, who also noted that the team was aware past Hilltopper squads had struggled against Aurora. “We were 0-3 versus Aurora and had to avenge the graveyard of Hilltoppers.”
Chardon, meanwhile, racked up 401 yards of total offense: 308 coming on the ground and 93 through the air.
“The offensive line did its job tonight,” senior quarterback Will Francis said. “Last week we were not physical, and that was the big emphasis this week, and the o-line came out and played hard.”
Chardon Head Coach Mitch Hewitt was proud of his team’s overall performance.
“We won in all three phases,” he said. “It was a heck of a performance against the three seed, who put up big numbers against most people. I’m proud of our kids top to bottom.”
Hewitt noted that following the sloppy win against Geneva, the Toppers had a brutal week of practice, but responded the way he had hoped they would.
“The results take care of themselves on Friday night if you execute,” said the coach.
Up 3-0 in the second quarter thanks to a 20-yard Sam Sacerich field goal, the Hilltoppers took the momentum and gained some breathing room against what was statistically one of the better defenses in Region 9.
Chardon’s next drive resulted in an eight-play, 44-yard drive. Francis made it a two-possession game when he scored from three yards out to give the Toppers a 10-0 lead.
While the Hilltopper ground game was playing at a high level, its passing game created the biggest fireworks of the night.
Francis hit junior halfback Caleb Hewitt in stride for a 70-yard touchdown pass on the ensuing Topper drive to push the lead to 17-0.
The passing play was one the Hilltoppers had missed a handful of times during the regular season.
“I missed it to him last week and saw man coverage out there and knew Caleb was going to beat his guy, and I threw a good ball,” Francis said. “It means teams have to respect our pass game and the safeties won’t come down as hard, which opens up the run game for us.”
“I told Coach Navs that very rarely do we win a game without taking a deep shot,” Hewitt explained. “We’ve had them. We had a deep shot against Kenston called back because of an illegal man downfield. Last week he was wide open and we missed him. It’s there, but we have to put it all together.”
With under two minutes to play in the first half, another defensive stop gave the offense the ball, and junior fullback Vinny Colombi made Aurora play by ripping off a 59-yard run.
Francis picked up his second score of the night, this time a one-yard run with 19 seconds left, and Chardon headed into halftime up 24-0.
Hewitt credited the 24-point quarter to his playmakers.
“It’s just playmakers making plays,” he said. “Sometimes they rip one, sometimes they don’t. At the end of the day, big playmaking ability makes life much easier.”
Chardon’s final score came late in the third quarter, when Francis ran 29 yards into the end zone for a touchdown to make it 31-0.
The Greenmen picked up their lone score of the night with just over 30 seconds left in the game.
Francis finished the night with 118 rushing yards and three touchdowns. He also passed for 93 yards and a score.
Caleb Hewitt finished one yards shy of a 100-yard night. He had 29 rushing yards, 70 passing yards and a touchdown.
Bruce added 86 rushing yards and 23 receiving yards.
For Chardon, it was nice to play a postseason game at a neutral site in Mentor after the past two years, when they made several long trips to neutral sites.
“It’s great to play here, and I love the energy our fans brought,” Ash said.
While the Toppers struggled early in the season, they now have the look of team peaking at the right time as they head into the Elite 8.
“I feel like we’re playing well at the right time, but each week is a new animal and everything is fragile at this point,” Hewitt said. “It’s a handful of plays that decide the outcome at this level.”
Chardon returns to the regional finals for the fifth straight year, and the seniors are not taking it for granted.
“We’re back where we wanted to be, but we’ve got to win it,” Francis said. “We lost it last year, so we have to win it this year.”
However, to advance to the state semifinals, Chardon will have to defeat a tough Ursuline team.
“They’re an offensive juggernaut who goes a mile a minute,” Francis said. “Their pace is really fast, so we’ll have to be conditioned and ready for that.”
