Strong ground game leads Hilltoppers past Dragons

CHARDON — Lakeside coach Terry Henton knows that Chardon has had an unusually down year by Hilltoppers standards.
Against the Dragons Friday night, however, Chardon put it all together in downing Lakeside, 73-7, in a Chagrin Valley Conference Lake Division game at Chardon Memorial Field.
Chardon, winners of three Ohio state championships and domination on the gridiron over the last few decades, came into the game with a 3-5 record.
“We got our [butts] kicked [Friday night],” Henton said. “There is no other way to put it. They are a well-rounded team, and they showed up like Chardon. They’ve had an up and down season, but tonight they looked like Chardon.”
Chardon had its way on offense most of the night, gaining 473 yards of offense, 472 of them rushing in its Wing-T.
Henton gave credit to Chardon, but thought his team lost a little fight as the cold and wet night wore on.
“Our heaviest guy on defense is 200 pounds, and we have to scheme you into [stopping] it,” Henton said. “As the game progressed, I thought our guys took their foot off the gas pedal a little bit.”
Lakeside (2-7, 1-4) looked good out of the gate, however, taking a 7-0 lead after its opening drive.
The Dragons went 75 yards on its first six plays.
Sophomore Masceo Boles connected with junior Jorge Diaz on a 35-yard halfback pass on the second play from scrimmage.
Junior quarterback JJ Murphy then found Diaz twice more on the drive — the second pass for a 24-yard touchdown over the middle.
“That was our plan,” Henton said of throwing the ball. “They [Chardon] play their corners seven to eight yards off and we can throw hitches all night. When we went with the game plan, it worked.”
Chardon immediately countered on the ensuing drive as junior quarterback Andrew Cole scored on a run. Senior back Drew Plato then ran in the two-point conversion to give the hosts a 8-7 lead.
Lakeside stopped Chardon on its next drive, but the Hilltoppers scored touchdowns on their final nine drives of the game.
The Dragons had some positives on offense throughout the night.
Despite getting intercepted four times on the night, Murphy connected on 15 of his 25 passes for 153 yards.
Diaz and fellow junior Jamarro Spikes each had good receiving nights. Diaz caught six passes for 75 yards and the touchdown. Spikes had five catches for 90 yards.
Henton hopes his young team will learn from this game and make a good showing as it finishes its season at Madison next Friday to take on the 3-6 Blue Streaks.
“I want our guys to buy into next week,” Henton said. “After this game, we will go home, lick our wounds, watch this film in the morning, beat ourselves up a bit, and then move on right to Madison. That’s the goal. We want to end our season with a victory.”
Chardon, 4-5 overall, 3-2 in the CVC Lake, will look to finish .500 on the season as it hosts Harvey the same night.
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