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The 24 Chardon seniors set to graduate in June will be remembered as the group that restored Hilltoppers football to prominence, broke school records and became men in the process.
Chardon’s season ended last week at the hands of one player, a Warren Harding quarterback, Lynn Bowden, who ran for 370 yards and scored six touchdowns in the Raiders’ 49-31 win.
Chardon allowed about 90 yards rushing per game headed into its second playoff game. But it was hard to understand how Bowden was until you saw him on the field.
That same defense focused on Bowden all night.
Yet when surrounded, when cornered, when grabbed, hit or tripped — Bowden always escaped. Always turned nothing into something, making an incredible effort look routine.
“I’m proud of these guys,” said senior Ryder Davis, tears in his eyes. “We weren’t favored, but we played to the best of our ability. I’ll remember how hard we worked in every game. And without that hard work, this would have never happened.”
“I’m proud as heck of these guys,” said Brian Landies, the team’s defensive coordinator.
“I love everyone, happy to be a part of this senior class, it’s a great class,” said Kyle McCaffrey. “We have a great future.”
Chardon has now reached the playoffs three consecutive years under head coach Mitch Hewitt. This magical season started with QB Tommy Benenati, who set the school rushing record with 2,225 yards in 12 games. That’s more than 200 yards better than the senior who set it in 1998: Mitch Hewitt.
Benenati is a 4.0 student who led the Hilltoppers offense, the third-ranked unit in the state, who averaged 48 points per game. From the Wing-T, Benenati stayed healthy and put his teammates in positions to be successful. Hewitt said Benenati “ran it to perfection.”
Behind him and to his right and left, the senior backs — Joe Cyvas, Joey Dinko and Ethan Ziegenfuss — made big plays all season.
Seniors James Bryant, Justin Stanko, Eric Molle and Dustin Clute anchored an offensive line that dominated the line scrimmage. Mitch Butala, Dom Ricii, Trevor Swick and Nate Thompson had the unheralded split-end and tight-end positions, almost always about blocking.
The team’s most talented unit may have been its defensive line, led by Davis, Clute, McCaffrey and Tyler Boles. Davis had five sacks; McCaffrey had four. Those four helped Chardon allow just 1,893 total yards all season. But in so many lopsided games, it wasn’t the first-team defense that allowed much of those yards.
Cyvas, Shane Quinn and Dylan Hemly joined junior Chase Kline at linebacker. A lot of the focus went to Kline in the middle, but Cvyas played over 90 percent of the team’s snaps this season. Cyvas led the team in tackles (111) and sacks (10).
Jessie Smith and Ziegenfuss were the seniors in the secondary. Smith only allowed six complete passes at his cornerback position.
Ziegenfuss contributed as a three-way player, kicking for 74 points this season and 35 touchbacks. To everyone’s surprise, Ziegenfuss connected on a 48-yard field goal in the tournament loss to Harding. With the wind at his back, the kick had plenty of distance.
Hewitt talked all season long about the seniors and how they continued to exceed his expectations. Just when you thought they might get tested, they beat another opponent by four touchdowns or more.
Chardon finished the season at 11-1. There are a lot of holes to fill in 2017, but the example of this senior class will put the team on the road to success next season.