May 20, 2024
Football / High School / Written Content

Chardon Lives Up to #1 Ranking, Routs Riverside 35-7

Tyler Stotskyby Tyler Stotsky

PAINESVILLE, Ohio – Through three weeks of the 2020 season, Friday’s Western Reserve Conference matchup between the Chardon Hilltoppers and the Riverside Beavers looked like anything could happen. Both teams were 3-0 and both offenses and defenses were on point.

Following 48 minutes of football, the #1 ranked Chardon squad continued their hot streak on the offensive AND defensive ends of the ball. The Hilltoppers dispatched the Beavers 35-7 in Painesville, as Chardon gave head coach Mitch Hewitt a great 40th birthday present.

The Chardon offense put up 400 yards of offense while the defense limited Riverside to seven points on 245 yards of offense, well below the season average for the Beavers. Chardon’s secondary kept Dom Lulow off-balance, forcing three interceptions.

Hewitt was very pleased with the play of his kids, especially the defensive side of the ball, “I think we’ve got the best linebackers in the state of Ohio,” Hewitt said. “Our front seven is collectively really tough, and we’ve got such range in the secondary.”

The defenses were on display in the first quarter as neither team was able to generate much offense. After three combined drives ending with punts, Riverside created the first takeaway.

Following a bad punt, Chardon started their third drive on the edge of the red zone. Drew Fetchik fumbled the ball, and Riverside’s Nick Tekavic recovered it.

The Beavers could not take advantage as the second quarter began with a scoreless tie.

Chardon’s rushing offense churned out an 11 play, 77 yard drive that ended with the first points allowed for the night. James Pettyjohn opened the scoring on a two-yard TD run halfway through the second quarter.

The Beavers attempted to respond in the final two minutes of the first half. Chardon made two costly penalties along with a big play from Dom Lulow to Jamir Francis, putting Riverside in the red zone.

Riverside nearly scored a touchdown, if it wasn’t for a key pass break up by Brady Toth. Beavers missed a 28-yard field goal at the end of the half. Chardon led 7-0 at the break.

Blake Barker, son of Indians legend and Notre Dame College baseball coach Len Barker, set things in motion for Chardon on the opening drive of the second half.

Barker returned the second half kickoff 21 yards before going 69 yards for a touchdown off a lateral. The big play shifted the momentum in favor of the top-ranked team in Division III for the remainder of the contest.

Chardon stepped up the defensive pressure in a two-score game. Cade McDevitt sacked Lulow on third down, and one play later, the Beavers turned the ball over on downs.

With the momentum from a turnover on downs, Chardon quickly capitalized and added to the lead. A long run by Pettyjohn setup his own four-yard touchdown on Chardon’s next drive.

Lulow threw two consecutive picks in the third quarter, falling victim to the Hilltoppers’ lethal secondary. Trey Liberhardt and Nathanael Sulka each picked off Lulow as Chardon continued to pounce.

Following Sulka’s pick, Fetchik closed the third quarter with a 12-yard touchdown run as the Hilltoppers put up 21 points in the third quarter, leading 28-0.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Toth intercepted Lulow for Chardon’s third defensive takeaway. Unfortunately, three plays later, Mason Stephens picked off a Fetchik pass.

Sean Carr closed Chardon’s scoring in the fourth quarter, forcing a running clock. He scored from three yards away.

Lulow connected with Matthew Spofford in the final 2:15 on a 15-yard touchdown pass as Riverside broke the shutout, trailing 35-7.

Chardon improved to 4-0 with a 35-7 win over Riverside on the road on the heels of a dominating performance.

When asked about the three picks forced by Chardon, Hewitt looked at the missed opportunities as well. “We dropped two that we think we could have housed. We were beat on Brady’s pick, but Brady can cover so much ground. He’s got a wingspan like a pterodactyl.”

Riverside head coach Dave Bors was incredibly up front about his team’s performance. “Give Chardon a whole lotta credit. It kind of snowballed. You try and chase some things, maybe roll the dice a little more than you expected. It got away from us. That’s a great football team over there.”

Chardon outgained Riverside 400-245 in the game, including 364 yards on the ground on 43 carries. Ten different players rushed the ball overall but a select few carried the load. Pettyjohn rushed 14 times for 106 yards and two touchdowns. Fetchik added 69 yards on 14 carries while Barker added 82 yards on just four rushes.

Chardon’s defense took away the rushing game for Riverside as the Beavers only managed 45 yards on 22 carries for the game. Cayman Locher had eight carries for 47 yards.

The lack of running game forced Lulow to throw 30 times with 17 completions. He totaled 200 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.

Riverside will look to rebound against Madison on the road next week and Coach Bors wants to see the bounceback of his team.  “It has nothing to do with the X’s and O’s. I want to see the character of this team. Now it’s gut-check time. It’s easy when you’re 3-0. It’s easy when you’re having running clocks on teams. Now what?”

Chardon should retain the top spot in the Division III AP poll next week, and will host Mayfield next Friday in a WRC matchup.

Tyler Stotsky

View all posts by Tyler Stotsky →

You might also like

Berea-Midpark Defeats Bay 38-21 Behind 17 Points from Regan Braaten

Big Plays From Andrew Bruce Helps Bring Chardon Their 29th Straight Win

WWE WrestleMania XX Flops

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.