The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Chardon’s all-time best almost gave up football
Hewitt went on to be runner-up Mr. Football
Last in a series previewing the 2018 News-Herald High School Sports Hall of Fame. Mitch Hewitt will be inducted June 15 during a ceremony at halftime of The N-H Senior Bowl at Mayfield High School.
Before Mitch Hewitt played his way into the moniker of “Chardon’s all-time greatest player” — according to former Hilltoppers’ football coach Bob Doyle — he almost walked away from the sport.
Imagine what the program would have missed.
Hewitt blossomed into a fierce linebacker, then a record-setting fullback for Doyle’s tough runfirst offense in the 1990s, came close to helping his team win a state championship in 1998, and in the same season was the runner-up for Ohio’s Mr. Football award as a senior.
Following a standout career at Bowling Green as a linebacker for then-coach Urban Meyer, Hewitt was an area assistant coach, and eventually returned to his alma mater as a teacher and head football coach, a position he’s held going on a decade while having great success.
It’s those exploits that have earned Hewitt a spot in the 2018 News-Herald High School Sports Hall of Fame class. Hewitt will be inducted during a halftime ceremony at the June 15 News-Herald Senior Bowl.
All of those football exploits came close to not happening. Hewitt explains:
“Freshman year, I lettered in wrestling. I had a varsity coat. I thought, ‘This is it, this is my sport. I’m ready to give up football.’ ”
Eventually, Hewitt stayed
with football, and he and Chardon are better for it.
“Too many kids determine their future at too young of an age,” Hewitt said. “Fortunately, my mom made me play all these different sports.”
As a sophomore, he played varsity minutes for Doyle, whose successful program had won the 1994 Division II state championship — even if his first impression on the coach wasn’t the best.
“Got pancaked right in front of Coach Doyle on a kickoff,” Hewitt said.
Those moments were few and far between after that. A few games into that sophomore season, Hewitt got his first start at linebacker, and showed toughness right away. During a game at West Geauga, he broke his foot but played the rest of the season on it.
As a junior, things really got serious on the gridiron. Hewitt was named the Ohio Defensive Player of the
Year in D-II, but by his senior season it went to another level.
Doyle added fullback to Hewitt’s responsibilities, and what the coach got in return was a season for the ages at Chardon. In addition to racking up more than 100 tackles as a linebacker, Hewitt rushed for 1,944 yards and scored a schoolrecord 38 touchdowns. Those rushing yards were broken by Chardon quarterback and 2016 Tony Fisher Award winner Tommy Benenati, who had 2,217.
That season, Hewitt was a repeat winner as D-II defensive player of the year in Ohio. The team rolled through the state playoffs, and advanced to the D-II state championship game when it defeated Mayfield, 32-0, in a state semifinal. Hewitt scored two touchdowns in the state final, but the Hilltoppers came up just short in a 27-21 loss Lebanon to finish 13-1. He was the runner-up to Troy’s
Ryan Brewster for Ohio’s Mr. Football award.
“He was by far (Chardon’s greatest player),” Doyle said in the summer of 2017. “I don’t know who could argue anyone else.”
Hewitt appreciates the high praise, but added: “Any good player, if they’re not acknowledging the fact they’re surrounded by a bunch of other good dudes, is missing the point.”
Hewitt was a late starter in football. He didn’t begin playing until seventh grade.
“My mom said I was too small,” he said.
He carried that sentiment throughout his playing days as motivation.
“I think one of my advantages was that I was never the most talented,” Hewitt said. “I was fast and could jump and all those things, but there were other guys on my team that had more natural athleticism. I think that pushed me more to be in the weight room, and to work harder than everyone else.”