The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Chardon HR hitter grew into RB role
At his best as a young football player, James Pettyjohn was a 98-pound weakling.
And the 98-pound part might be on the high side.
“I was small,” Pettyjohn said. “Not very good.”
What he lacked in size, he vowed to make up for with speed and heart.
Thanks to a growth spurt and a rigorous weightlifting lifestyle, Pettyjohn has now grown into a strapping 175 pounds packed into his 5-foot, 10-inch frame.
Combine that with his speed and his burning desire to be great, and Pettyjohn is one of the most dangerous players in Northeast Ohio, if not the state.
Formerly known as “the little kid out there” on the football field, Pettyjohn is the tip of the spear in Chardon’s vaunted, ground-oriented offense with 1,024 yards rushing in eight games.
He and his Chardon teammates will take to the field on Oct. 30 against visiting New Philadelphia in a Division III, Region 9 semifinal.
“Being good at football was just an idea,” Pettyjohn said after the Hilltoppers’ regional quarterfinal win over Geneva last weekend. “I played one year of youth football. I wasn’t very good. I was just so small.”
A wrestler, cross country and track runner early on, Pettyjohn was coaxed to the football field by his youth coach Rob Vujaklija.
“I feel in love with it,” Pettyjohn said.
He was still tiny, which usually meant as soon as he got hit by a defender, he went down. And it didn’t have to be a vicious hit to put him on the ground. But he was fast.
Oh, was he fast.
“I was the littlest guy,” Pettyjohn said. “But I liked to run and I didn’t mind getting hit. If you have that, you can do anything you put your mind to.
“I finally started getting good when I was in eighth grade, playing for Mr. (Doug) Robinson’s team.”
Armed with the confidence from eighth grade and a growth spurt that finally put him over 100 pounds, Pettyjohn has been a terror on the high school scene.
He stood out for the freshman team and then as a junior varsity player as a sophomore.
As a junior, he ran for more than 1,400 yards as the lead back for Chardon’s varsity squad, which advanced to the Division III, Region 9 championship game.
Pettyjohn’s 1,012 yards rushing this year have come on only 74 carries, for a whopping 13.68 yards per carry.
He’s also the leading receiver on the team with six catches for 106 yards, an average of 17.67 yards per reception.
In short, Pettyjohn is the team’s home-run hitter.
“He’s dynamic,” said Coach Mitch Hewitt. “He’s the kid that if you’re playing against him, you hold your breath every time he touches the ball.
“He’s not the biggest kid, but his vision is something you can’t teach and his speed is as fast as we’ve ever had here. It’s a gift. There are times you want to tell him, ‘ You should have done this, or you should have done that,” but with a kid like that you just have to shut your mouth and let him do what he does best.”
Pe t t y joh n quick ly pointed out he can’t have the season he is having by himself. He called fellow running back Sean Carr “the most amazing blocker,” and pointed to the offensive line of center Dylan Friend, guards Nick Fay and Jesse Decipeda and tackles Matt Kloski and George LeMasters as they key to his success and that of his team.
“Evan Ash might be the greatest blocking halfback we’ve ever had. Violent and totally self less,” Hewitt said. “Sean Carr is really good, too. They are essentially athletic linemen.”
Additionally, quarterback Drew Fetchik has run for 494 yards and thrown for 676 as another huge cog in the Hilltoppers’ offensive machine.
As nice as the statistics are, Pettyjohn said his sole focus is hanging a championship banner at Chardon High School, something that hasn’t been done since 1994.
“That would mean a lot to me,” Pettyjohn said. “Chardon hasn’t had a ring in a long time. To bring it to this city would be great. The community would love it.”