The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
HILLTOPPERS ARE PLAYOFF-BOUND
Chardon Coach Mitch Hewitt holds up a T-shirt commemorating his team qualifying for the Division III playoffs following a 42-6 win over North on Oct. 26. For more coverage from Week 10 of the high school football season,
The Chardon Hilltoppers, once left on the scrap heap with a 1-3 record, completed an amazing journey Oct. 26.
Max Vujaklija and Jon McKnight both ran for more than 100 yards, leading the Hilltoppers to a 42-6 win over visiting North.
The victory, Chardon’s sixth in a row, gave the Hilltoppers (7-3, 6-1) a share of the Western Reserve Conference championship with Kenston and Riverside while also locking up a Division III, Region 9 playoff berth.
All with a backup quarterback.
Vujaklija guided Chardon to the improbable six-game run with starter Andrew Kobuszewski missing games with mono and then a torn ACL when he did return.
“We’re still trying to figure that out,” said Chardon coach Mitch Hewitt when asked how a 1-3 team wins six in a row with its backup quarterback, wins a conference title and gets into the playoffs.
“We’ve got a lot of great kids who believe in what we do here. It may not be the most popular thing among other area schools and throughout the state, but we have kids who believe.”
McKnight, shivering either from the chilly fall air or from the postgame celebration with players, fans and family members, smiled at his team’s accomplishment.
“We started like 1-3, but we never gave up,” he said. “It’s a great feeling. Now we’re in the playoffs.
Pairings for the first round of the playoffs will be announced Oct. 28.
“When we were 1-3, nobody believed we’d be here now but our coaches and the players,” Vujaklija said. “We came through, just like we expected.”
Vujaklija (12 carries, 127 yards) got the Hilltoppers going quickly. He took a keeper around left end on the game’s first play for a touchdown.
North (2-8) had a nice drive in an attempt to answer, but a fumble on the the ball 2-yard back. line gave McKnight Chardon went 85 yards on the first play to put Chardon deep in North territory, then swept around end a few play later for a 14-0 lead. North coach Shawn Dodd said the early fumble hurt, but stopping Chardon on this night was a tall task anyway. “Our kids showed a lot of resiliency,” Dodd said. “I don’t know how much difference (the opening drive) would have made. Chardon’s operating at such a high level right now.” Jacob Urbic’s 48-yard interception for a touchdown made it 21-0. “It was my first pick,” Urbic said with a smile.
“I’ve been waiting all year for it. To be a pick-six is pretty awesome.”
Touchdown runs by McKnight and Vince Ferrante before the half made it a running-clock situation in the second half.
Chardon’s Wade Novak scored in the third before North’s Luis Estrada’s fourth-quarter score for North got the Rangers on the board for the first time.
Vujaklija and McKnight (119 yards on six carries) did most of the heavy lifting for the Hilltoppers. Estrada had 59 yards for the injury-riddled Rangers.
“You reboot,” Dodd said of his team’s plans. “You give them a little time off, many play other sports, then we’ll get back at it in the offseason. Our kids have really bought in. I’d expect the same thing this offseason.”
Chardon’s offseason will have to wait a while, though. Hewitt and his assistant coaches prompted the Hilltoppers to not be satisfied with just making it to the playoffs.
Hewitt called the season “so unique” and that “we’ve had more talented teams” than the 2018 edition. But that this year’s team, which rebounded from the slow start, lost its starting quarterback and still won a conference title and earned a playoff bid, “has a real special place in the history of Chardon football.”
But more chapters, he said, are yet to be written.
“I think we’ve played two of the best teams in the region already in Canfield and Kenston,” Hewitt said. “We can play with just about anyone.”