The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Time for tuning up
Defending state champ Chardon, Geneva test progress in scrimmage
Don’t tell Mitch Hewitt it’s Aug. 7 and the first scrimmage of the fall.
Because the Chardon coach won’t have any of that in any form.
On an early-series running play at SPIRE amid a three-team tuneup with host Geneva and Twinsburg, the Hilltoppers’ execution was less than stellar, resulting in being driven back for a loss.
Hewitt, almost with the rapidity of his linebacker days at Chardon and Bowling Green seeking to snuff out a sweep, sprinted on the field to vociferously let his charges know that simply wouldn’t do.
As a defending state champion and traditional local powerhouse, of course, such is the expected standard.
The Hilltoppers had their moments in the scrimmage, but as a whole, Hewitt acknowledges there’s proverbially nowhere to go but up from here.
“Yeah … we’re not very good yet,” said Hewitt, never one to mince words. “We’ve got to replace a lot of people. As they say in the old adage, ‘There’s no substitute for experience,’ and we’re living proof of that.
“But kids will respond, and they want to get better. So this is perfect for us, and we have no time to mope about it. Because we’ve got Mentor here in a few days.”
Chardon did perform better offensively as the proceedings went along, with the three teams alternating their varsity offenses and defenses for series, along with some punt and kickoff work, for about two and a half hours before giving way to JV and reserve action.
Sean Carr found paydirt twice for the Hilltoppers to cap series.
Brody Dotson recorded some solid reps, including a pass reception to cap one series.
On defense, the Hilltoppers were able to get some defensive line penetration here and there, including a couple of nice plays on a late series by Cooper Felger coming off the edge.
With some of the yearround components of football in this day and age, including offseason conditioning, camps and the like, rust isn’t quite what it may have been a generation ago. Although there were signs of it Aug. 6, with dropped snaps and catches and some rough patches in general on special teams.
“I think schematically, I think more stuff is in by the time you hit camp than 20, 30 years ago,” Hewitt said. “But there is no substitute for pads. There is no substitute for the contact and collision of it. And every coach in the country balances how much to hit in practice to preserve life, as much to do in order to be tough. “And some teams, you don’t need to do it. I think last year, we were in full pads once, because I had kids that I thought were going to kill each other. This year, it’s not the case.”
The host Eagles, under the watchful eye of longtime coach Chip Sorber, scored one touchdown during varsity reps, a run by Logan Queen, but particularly encouraged with an early series on defense against the vaunted Chardon offense.
“We saw some snaps that were on the ground — a typical kind of early scrimmage,” Sorber said. “Blunders were definitely there, but the thing we wanted to get out of today was the physical and the conditioning part of it. I think that was achieved today.
“I thought we had to kind of compete against some pretty good football teams out there today, and I thought we did OK. We’re playing a lot of young guys in a lot of key positions. So this will be a huge learning experience for them for sure.”
Geneva held its own on that aforementioned opening series and in spots thereafter, blowing up some running plays and logging a tipped interception as well. Clay Queen and Logan Peet were key components in that stretch, with Queen active coming up from a safety spot, including a nice hit on a pass over the middle against Twinsburg.
“Oh yeah, any time you can stand toe-to-toe with a Chardon-type team like that, you like that,” Sorber said. “That’s always a good starting point. At least be physical for them early in the scrimmage and hold our own throughout the rest. So yeah, I was very encouraged with that.”