RAVENNA, Ohio (WKBN) – Ursuline falls to Chardon, 31-14, in the Division III Region 9 championship contest.
The Fighting Irish (13-1) had won each of its first 13 games before Friday night’s setback.
Chardon (11-3) has won eight straight games and has now achieved its 9th regional crown.
Next week, the Hilltoppers will be matched against the #1 team in Division 3 (Toledo Central Catholic).
The Hilltoppers struck first as Vinny Colombi capped Chardon’s opening drive with a 5-yard run.
Back came the Fighting Irish — Joe Balog culminated Ursuline’s drive with a 5-yard touchdown run to tie the game up at 7 apiece with 2:42 left in the first quarter.
Colombi pushed his way into the end zone from just 1 yard away to put Chardon back on top, 14-7, with 8:15 left in the first half.
Chardon tacked on three points midway through the third quarter on a Sam Sacerich 35-yard field goal to give the Hilltoppers a 17-7 lead with 6:35 remaining.
Ursuline answers back as Jack Ericson tossed a 13-yard touchdown to Tairan Davis in the corner of the end zone to cut the Chardon lead to 17-14 (5:17, third quarter).
To open the fourth quarter, Chardon’s Caleb Hewitt ran for 34 yards to garner a 10-point lead for the Hilltoppers (24-14, 11:17 in fourth quarter).
Andrew Bruce added on another score for Chardon. With 4:25 left, Bruce dashed his way into the end zone from 13 yards away.
On Ursuline’s previous drive, Ericson had a pass attempt knocked down at the line of scrimmage on fourth down.
Get updated high school football scores throughout the season on the WKBN scores page.
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