The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Chardon’s new faces are learning on the go
Hilltoppers defeat Shaw in final scrimmage before regular season starts next week
Those programs the Chardon athletic department provides for home football games are going to come in handy this fall.
Returning only one starter on offense and only three starters on defense means a whole new cast of playmakers will be on the field Week 1 when the Hilltoppers face West Geauga in the season opener for both schools.
Chardon took its next preseason step on Aug. 16 with its final scrimmage of the month, a 20-6 win over visiting Shaw in a half of gamesituation action at Memorial Field.
“It’s growing pains, for sure,” said Chardon coach Mitch Hewitt. “And there are going to be more of them during the season. This team could be below average or above average, depending on how fast they grow up.”
Chardon’s lone returner on offense is center Cameron Niehus.
The three returners on defense are linebacker Chase Kline, safety Mason Ziegenfuss and corner Jon McKnight.
Considering Kline and Ziegenfuss were both held out of the Shaw scrimmage for precautionary reasons to let injuries heal, the performance was a successful one.
McKnight scored on a 26-yard touchdown run, A.J. Peterson scored on an 11-yard jaunt, and Cole Purchase ran in a late score to lead Chardon’s effort.
“We’re making progress,” Hewitt said, “but we are still very inexperienced at pretty much every position. We made it through all camp without our three most talented players (Kline, Ziegenfuss and McKnight) not seeing a lot of reps. But they’ll be full speed on Friday, Aug. 25 (against West Geauga).”
Junior Andrew Kobuszewski got the start at quarterback for Chardon and played about a quarter-anda-half. He guided two of the touchdown drives, while senior Dylan Hemly piloted the final touchdown drive.
Chardon has to replace last year’s signal-caller Tommy Benenati, who was named the News-Herald’s Tony Fisher Award winner as the season MVP.
“I feel like we have two kids who can play quarterback,” Hewitt said. “They have to be good enough every Friday to be better than the other team. They’re not chasing the ghost of Tommy Benenati.”
Even with Kline and Ziegenfuss, projected to start in the backfield in Chardon’s Wing-T set with McKnight, out of action, the Hilltoppers showed plenty of running back depth with Peterson, Purchase and Jimmy Cicero toting the ball.
Brandon Frania made a few nice receptions for the Hilltoppers in the passing game.
Chardon’s defense gave up an early score thanks to a penalty when Shaw was punting. The Cardinals then completed a 32-yard touchdown pass — a perfectly thrown ball over the outside shoulder of a tightly guarded receiver — for an early 6-0 lead.
But Shaw never threatened again.
“I think we grew a lot from our first scrimmage,” said Hemly, a starting linebacker. “We were worried about making mistakes in the first one. This week we emphasized just playing fast and not worrying about making mistakes. We regrouped after that first touchdown and flew to the ball.”
Something else that was revealed in the scrimmage was Chardon’s depth at kicker. With Mason Ziegenfuss out, his freshman brother Keaton hammered a pair of conversion kicks that would have been good from 40 yards out.
“This is like Kicker U, man,” Hewitt said. “I have three guys (including McKnight) who can kick it out of the end zone and hit from 40-plus. We’re going to rotate kickers. I don’t know if anyone’s ever done that.”