It took Chardon just four minutes of game clock to take a 21-0 lead over the North Rangers during the Hilltoppers’ Homecoming game.
Chardon’s Joe Cyvas took two hand-offs in for touchdowns on the team’s first two drives. The fullback was barely touched en route to scores of 64 and 41 yards.
Joe Dinko caught a 49-yard TD pass. The senior halfback scampered around end three more times for a total of four touchdowns. And QB Tommy Benenati threw his second touchdown pass before halftime.
When Chardon fans were finally comfortable in their seats with popcorn and refreshments, the score was 49-0 at halftime, and only the Chardon High School marching band performance was left to watch in the team’s 49-7 win. (The band performed well, as usual.)
Chardon’s defense allowed just 149 yards of total offense, but most of that came in the second half. The Hilltoppers’ first-team defense continues to dominate opponents, even without junior linebacker Chase Kline, who expects to miss the next several weeks with a fractured hand.
“We felt great, we felt fast,” said Chardon senior Kyle McCaffery, who continues to anchor a defensive line that has been clearly better than their opponents. “We’re more physical than them. Everything was going together, like a puzzle that was fitting right.”
Ryder Davis is happy with the team through four weeks.
“This week, our coach told us in the polls we weren’t very high,” Davis said. “(Now) everybody in our conference knows we are coming.”
Chardon finished with 127 yards rushing from Dinko on just nine carries. Cyvas added 111 on the ground, and Benenati threw for 111 yards and two touchdowns. The senior quarterback has thrown for 290 yards on the season on 16 attempts.
Davis, McCaffery and the rest of the team’s seniors have never beaten their Week 5 opponent, the Madison Blue Streaks, who are just 1-3 at this point in the season.
Chardon’s offense has not scored a touchdown against Madison since 2013.
The Week 5 home game will also highlight a few community events. The Chardon Crazies will be dressed in all green for the night’s theme of bringing awareness to mental health. Players will also have green on some of their uniforms.
It is also band senior night and the 50-year celebration of Chardon’s 1966 football team, which won the Western Reserve League championship that year.
The 1966 Hilltoppers won the school’s first title in 20 years by beating Madison at the time, an arch rival even then.