Chardon’s two-year reign as Division III state champions ended in Ravenna, as Canfield knocked the Hilltoppers out of the playoffs with a 14-7 victory in the Region 9 Regional Finals.
Game photos click here.
Chardon’s two-year reign as Division III state champions ended in Ravenna, as Canfield knocked the Hilltoppers out of the playoffs with a 14-7 victory in the Region 9 Regional Finals.
With the win, the Cardinals advanced to face Holy Name for a spot in the state title game.
It was a stunning ending for the Toppers, who over the past two years became accustomed to derailing their opponent’s playoff hopes.
Entering the game, Chardon was 29-1 dating back to the 2020 season opener, including two playoff wins over Canfield.
On this Friday night, the Cardinals defense was too much for the Toppers offense to handle, as their defensive line won the battle of the trenches. Thanks to a stifling run defense, Canfield limited the Hilltoppers offense.
The contest marked the second week in a row where Chardon’s offense struggled to move the ball, and this time, it cost them a victory.
Trailing by a touchdown with less than a minute to play, the Toppers offense finally game to life as senior quarterback Alex Henry engineered a drive to put his team in a position to potentially tie the game.
Facing a fourth and one, the Cardinals stopped a Henry run and ended the Hilltoppers amazing run.
“Those were two really good football teams duking it out with two sledgehammer quarters,” said Chardon head coach Mitch Hewitt. “Our kids left it all out here.”
“I don’t like losing, especially when we’re tied 7-7 with six minutes to go,” Henry said. “We had a chance, but we ran out of time, man. We ran out of time.”
Chardon got on the board first they blocked a punt and recovered the ball on the Canfield 45-yardline. A couple of plays later, junior running back AJ Bruce took a jet sweep 35 yards to the endzone for a touchdown.
In the second quarter, both teams traded turnovers inside the Chardon 10-yard line. Canfield took advantage of the turnover, as senior quarterback Broc Lowry hit Donnie Marzano in the endzone to tie the game at 7-7.
The score remained tied until junior running back Danny Inglis ripped off a 54-yard touchdown run with 4:16 to play in the third quarter to give the Cardinals a lead they would never relinquish.
On the night, Chardon’s offense was held to 210 total yards of offense, with 172 coming on the ground.
Bruce ran for 91 yards and a score, while Henry ran for 56 yards and threw for 38 yards.
Canfield gained 304 yards – 197 rushing and 107 through the air.
The loss was not the ending the most successful senior class in Chardon football history hopped.
“The senior class is small but mighty,” said Hewitt. “They’re going to leave as the winningest football class in school history.”
“These guys mean the world to me,” said Henry. “It means more that they are 12 or 14 of us and we stuck together the whole time. It was just amazing.”
“I think we were one of the toughest classes,” Liebhardt said. “Our freshman team had 17 kids and we were recruiting kids in the halls to come play for us. We had what, 12 seniors? To go this far and have this much success with a small senior class shows a lot.”
While they won two state titles, the seniors had to deal with something no other class had to deal with.
“What they dealt with that was different from any other senior class was an unrealistic expectation – a totally unreal expectation,” Hewitt said. “You don’t think there’s ever a rebuilding year here and I don’t ever want there to be, but the reality is we’re very young in a lot of spots, specifically on the offensive front and I think we saw that tonight.
“We’ve been to the regional finals four years in a row and it’s not normal,” said Henry. “Don’t take for granted what we’ve been doing. It’s special, it’s truly special.”
“I expected to win some games, make the playoffs and maybe have a run, but to do it two times and then lose in the regional finals is disappointing,” Liebhardt said. “That says a lot.”
“I think they overcame a lot and I think people may mark this up as they fell short. They overcame a lot and that’s how I’ll remember them – small, but mighty class,” added Hewitt.
For Henry and his fellow seniors, when they first put on the Chardon jerseys as freshman, they could not have imagined what the next four years would bring – a 39-5 record with two state championships.
“I just wanted to make an impact on the community and I think over the past few years I did,” said Henry.
Besides praise for the seniors, both Hewitt and Leibhardt praised the coaching staff.
“We’re blessed,” said Hewitt. “We have a great staff with guys who love it.
“I think sometimes people think it will last forever and all you have to do is put on a Chardon helmet and go win state titles. That is so not the case. It’s really hard to do it. We’ve got kids playing with torn ACLs, kids playing with ankles that don’t function. We’re relying on a bunch of young guys to get the job done and it’s tough, it’s a challenge,” he added.
“They’ve got to be one of the best coaching staffs around and they work their butts off,” Liebhardt said. “They do everything they possibly can to put us in a position to be successful.”
