The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Football coaches excited for state semifinals
Chardon, Lake Catholic, Kirtland vying for spots in state championship games
For all the craziness that 2020has brought the football season, three area teams remain in the hunt for state championships.
Three remain.
For all the craziness that 2020 has brought the high school football season — all thanks to the novel coronavirus — three area teams remain in the hunt for state championships.
Division III Chardon, Division IV Lake Catholic and Division V Kirtland all won their respective regional championships this past weekend, earning those teams spots in the state final four this coming weekend.
When Division I Mentor, which lost its state semifinal to Pickerington Central on Nov. 6, is included in the mix, that means that four of the 28
News-Herald area teams that played high school football this fall advanced to the state final four round.
“It’s impressive,” said Chardon coach Mitch Hewitt. “It’s a testament to where we live and the type of football we have year in and year out in our area.”
“It’s a testament to where we live and the type of football we have year in and year out in our area.” — Chardon coach Mitch Hewitt
• Hewitt’s Hilltoppers (10-0) crushed Canfield, 386, for the Region 9 championship. The Hilltoppers will play Tiffin Columbian on Nov. 13 at Brunswick Auto Mart Stadium. The winner advances to the state championship game against the winner of Columbus DeSales and Kettering Alter.
• In Division IV, Lake Catholic (8-2) will play Bloom-Carroll in a state semifinal on Nov. 14 at New Philadelphia’s Woody Hayes Quaker Stadum. The winner moves on to the state championship game to play the winner of Van Wert and Cincinnati Wyoming.
• In Division V, Kirtland (9-0) takes its 39game winning streak into a state semifinal on Nov. 14 against Tontogany Otsego (10-0). The winner moves on to play the winner of St. Bernard Roger Bacon and Ironton with a state title on the line.
Whereas Kirtland and Chardon — the top-ranked teams in Ohio in their respective divisions — might have been expected to get to this point, the wild card has been Lake Catholic. The Cougars emerged as the Region 13 champion despite being seeded 12th in the region by pretournament voting by the coaches.
If not for an expanded playoff format that allowed every team in Ohio the opportunity to play in the playoffs, Lake Catholic would not be in the position it’s in now.
“I don’t think we were underseeded,” said Coach Marty Gibbons. “I believe in the Harbin system. But even if they went by that, we would have been 14th in our region (and out of the playoff picture). I’m an advocate for how they did it this year, having a playoff where teams can get in and have the opportunity to compete, because we’ve jelled and clicked at the right time.”
This is Lake’s first trip to the final four since 2010 — when Gibbons was a senior at Lake Catholic. In fact, Gibbons was part of state final four teams his freshman, junior and senior seasons.
“This team is a lot like those teams,” Gibbons said. “Really, really tough kids who love each other. It’s cool to see that.”
Over at Chardon, Hewitt is no stranger to state final four competition, either. He was a senior on Chardon’s state runner-up team in 1998.
This is the Hilltoppers’ first state final four since 2003 — when few (if any) of the current players had even been born, and when Hewitt was a senior captain on Bowling Green’s football team.
“2003? That was my last year of playing college football,” said Hewitt with a nostalgic chuckle. “Went 11-3 that year, lost to Ohio State and Miami (Ohio) twice. Our kids on this year’s team probably weren’t even born yet. I’m a dinosaur.”
The Hilltoppers have crushed every team in their path this season. Their closest game was a 21-point victory over Mayfield (3514) back on Sept. 25.
They’ve outscored their playoff opponents by a combined score of 175-33.
“These guys have played in big games. They understand the importance of the next one. Nobody needs to be reminded,” Hewitt said. “Football is cliche because that’s what it takes to be successful. As crazy as it wounds, what you focus on in the final four is what you focus on in Week 1. The only thing that changes is the reward.”
While Kirtland coach Tiger LaVerde doesn’t have the experience of personally playing in a state final four for his alma mater that Hewitt and Gibbons have, he certainly has a vast tournament experience.
Kirtland not only heads into this year’s final four riding the crest of a 39game winning streak, but the Hornets are also looking for their third straight undefeated state crown after going 15-0 in both 2018 and 2019.
Kirtland’s opponents the past three weeks — Sandy Valley, Akron Manchester and South Range — were all rematches from 2019 playoff games.
This week presents a foe — Tontogany Otsego — the Kirtland program has never faced before.
“It’s always neat to play somebody you’ve never played before,” said Coach Tiger LaVerde. “I haven’t even looked at a map yet to see where that is. It’s a neat experience going against somebody else.”
This is Kirtland’s ninth state semifinal. The Hornets have won five state championships and finished as state runner-up three times in the recent years.
That means Kirtland is undefeated (8-0) in state semifinals.
“It’s never a guarantee how far you’re going to get,” LaVerde said. “If you play one bad game, you’re turning i n your equipment. Yeah, we’re 8-0 in semifinals. But we don’t talk about that. When you hear about a guy who hasn’t missed a free throw, he usually misses the next one, so we don’t talk about that.”