Staff photo / Neel Madhavan Ursuline quarterback Jack Ericson and offensive coordinator John DeSantis embrace in the aftermath of Ursuline’s regional final loss to Chardon on Friday night.

RAVENNA — Ursuline had a season for the ages.

However, in any given year, only one team gets to remain standing at the end. This season, it wasn’t the Irish’s turn.

Behind its defense and its powerful run game, Chardon held off the Irish 31-14 on Friday night at Portage Community Bank Stadium in Ravenna to capture the Division III regional championship. The defeat was Ursuline’s first and only blemish of the season.

“I am so proud of these kids,” head coach Dan Reardon said. “Our seniors and this year’s captains did such a great job leading this team. I’ve talked all year about how every single night our kids came out and battled and did a great job against a daunting schedule. Tonight, give Chardon a lot of credit. They’re a very good football team, and they were the better team tonight. They earned it.”

This Ursuline squad, especially its group of seniors, left their mark on the Irish program for years to come, according to Reardon.

Ursuline’s senior class ends its high school careers having been a part of 41 wins across four seasons.

“They’re going to appreciate what they did a couple years down the road,” Reardon said. “It hurts now because we were hoping and expecting to still be playing. But they’re going to realize they were a part of one of the best seasons in Ursuline history. So it’s disappointing, but they’ll understand what they accomplished.”

Chardon got things started in the first quarter as Vinny Colombi powered in from five yards out to put the Hilltoppers ahead.

But before the end of the quarter, the Irish were able to drive down the field and answer to tie the game. Ursuline converted two fourth downs on a drive that culminated with a five-yard touchdown scamper from Joe Balog.

Colombi added to Chardon’s total in the second quarter by plunging into the end zone from a yard out, and the Hilltoppers led 14-7 at halftime.

After Chardon opened the second half with a field goal, Ursuline started to get its offense going again. The Irish drove down the field and quarterback Jack Ericson scrambled to find Tairan Davis standing all alone in the back corner of the end zone for a 13-yard scoring strike.

Having cut the deficit to three, Ursuline’s defense got a stop and forced the Hilltoppers to punt.

With the ball and down by three, the Irish were driving with a chance to either tie the game or take the lead. After crossing midfield, Ericson was picked off after being pressured in the pocket and Chardon returned the ball into Ursuline territory.

Just a few plays later, the Hilltoppers capitalized on the momentum shift, as Caleb Hewitt was able to run for a 34-yard score.

“It was certainly a big momentum play, and they’re too good of a team to give extra possessions,” Reardon said. “This is the first time all year we lost the turnover margin. We won it in every other game that we played. This is a team you can’t lose the turnover margin against because of their ability to run the football, so just hats off to them and give them credit.”

At first, Ursuline’s defense was able to slow down the Hilltoppers’ ground attack, as it held them to 4.8 yards per carry, well below their season average.

Slowly but surely, Chardon’s armada of running backs started to wear down the Irish’s front seven, especially in the fourth quarter. Chardon finished with 292 yards on 61 carries, led by Will Francis’ 133 yards on 30 carries.

“Their ability to run the ball, we knew that,” Reardon said. “We’ve been really good against the run all year and (Friday) we weren’t nearly good enough.”

Offensively, Ursuline became one dimensional, having to rely primarily on its passing game, as it played from behind most of the time. Ericson finished 15-for-34 for 207 yards and a touchdown.

“On offense, we turned the ball over a couple times and we were taking too many negative plays,” Reardon said. “Jack was scrambling, it felt like, every time he dropped back to pass. They were doing a great job of getting pressure. We needed to do a better job on both sides of the ball.”

nmadhavan@tribtoday.com