The Hilltoppers jumped out to a huge first-quarter lead and never looked back to route Madison 55-0 in a Western Reserve Conference matchup.
The Hilltoppers jumped out to a huge first-quarter lead and never looked back to route Madison 55-0 in a Western Reserve Conference matchup.
Chardon showed no signs of a hangover from their bye week and simply dominated a young, sophomore-laden Blue Streak squad on a wet and rainy night, which created a sloppy grass field.
Despite starting nearly all their drives in Madison territory, the Toppers racked up 379 yards of total offense, including 345 yards rushing. They also picked up 16 first downs.
On the other side of the football, Chardon’s defense was dominant. They held the Streaks to 27 yards of total offense – 16 rushing yards and 11 passing yards — and only allowed Madison one first down, which came on a roughing-the-kicker penalty.
Compared to the meat grinder that was the Toppers’ first six opponents of the year, Madison was a cakewalk, which was not necessarily a good thing.
“The conditions were such that it was hard to evaluate,” said Chardon Head Coach Mitch Hewitt. “They played a bunch of sophomores, and that’s how it’s supposed to look when you play a bunch of sophomores against a pretty good team.”
The game began when Chardon’s defense forced a three-and-out. On fourth and nine from their 21 yard line, the Blue Streaks attempted to punt the ball, but the snap went over the punter’s head and skidded out of the endzone for a safety.
Trailing 2-0, Madison elected to punt the ball after the safety and shanked the punt, giving Chardon the ball inside the Madison 40. Several plays later, senior Heath Fetchik took a handoff and raced 27 yards to the endzone for a touchdown.
Another three-and-out later, the Toppers took over on Madison’s 49. The first play of the drive was a handoff to Fetchik, who ripped off a 49-yard touchdown run to bump the lead to 16-0.
Chardon recovered a Blue Streaks fumble on its next possession, and senior quarterback Alex Henry responded with a 20-yard touchdown make it 22-0.
With just over 20 seconds to play in the first quarter, senior Zach Fay followed suit by hauling in a 19-yard touchdown reception to make it 28-0.
Chardon would make it 42-0 in the second quarter with a four-yard touchdown run by Fay and a four-yard touchdown run by junior Drago Vujaklija.
That said, the entire second half was played with a running clock and the Toppers still added two more touchdowns – a 45-yard run by sophomore Vinny Colombi and a single-yard run by sophomore Alexander Ash.
In the final 24 minutes, Madison only ran four offensive plays.
Henry finished the night with 47 rushing yards and a touchdown. He also threw for 34 yards.
Fetchik ran the ball twice for 76 yards and two touchdowns.
Fay rushed for 44 and one touchdown. He also caught one pass for a 19-yard touchdown reception.
The contest was the last game between the two schools as conference foes, as Madison departs the Western Reserve Conference at the end of the year to join the Chagrin Valley Conference.
Since 2000, Chardon has won the series 12-10. The two teams did not play in the shorted 2020 season.
From 2007 to 2015, Madison went 8-1 against Chardon. However, since making the playoffs in 2015, Madison’s program has only won 17 total games.
In the past five games, Chardon went 5-0, outscoring the Blue Streaks 155-16.
Once they finish their game against Mayfield in week 9, the Hilltoppers will have completed their run in the WRC. Madison will play a non-conference game against Garfield Heights in week 10.
Hewitt believes the future is bright for Madison football, while remembering a program that matched up well against the Toppers for years.
“Their head coach, their OC, they were here when Madison was a juggernaut, and that’s how I’ll remember Madison: as a tough, physical, hard-nosed program,” he said.
