There are a faction of voters in The Associated Press high school football poll who feel the Chardon Hilltoppers are the No. 1 team in the state in Division III. Chardon coach Mitch Hewitt has a pretty good idea who is No. 1, and it’s not the team he is coaching. Drew Bellisari threw three touchdown passes and Jake Uhlenhak scored three times, including a 91-yard kickoff return to start the game, as visiting Bishop Watterson annihilated Chardon, 41-9, to spoil the Hilltoppers’ homecoming festivities. It’s the first time in program history Chardon (3-1) has been running-clocked by another team. “There are not many speeches for that,” Hewitt said. “That’s the best team in the state of Ohio. That might be one of the best teams I’ve ever seen.” Chardon entered the game as the second-ranked D-III team in the state per this week’s AP poll, with Watterson ranked first. A week ago, Watterson was ranked second behind Chardon. There won’t be any gray area when this coming week’s voting is revealed. “Well, we’re overrated,” Chardon senior Caleb Hewitt said in a blunt tone. “We’re obviously overrated, clearly. That team is good. We got out-physicaled the whole game. It was pretty brutal, but I guess that’s what we needed.” Chardon had no answer for anything Watterson threw at them, whether it was Drew Bellisari throwing the ball, Uhlenhake catching the ball or Michael Boyle (five TFLs, three sacks) coming off the edge on defense to make life miserable for the Hilltoppers’ offense. “They’ve got dudes,” Coach Hewitt said. Uhlenhake took the opening kickoff 91 yards for a 7-0 lead a mere 14 seconds in the game. And while Chardon answered right back with a long drive that was capped by Drayton Allgood’s 25-yard touchdown run, Watterson needed only one play to get the lead back, with Bellisari hitting Uhlenhake for a 75-yard touchdown. Watterson was never really threatened again. Bellisari is the son of former Ohio State player Greg Bellisari, while Uhlenhake is the son of former Ohio State All-Big Ten lineman Jeff Uhlenhake. “It was a bad start,” Hewitt said. “You can’t afford a bad start against a team like that. You can’t give an inch. Everything has to go well to beat a team like that. … I thought that (opening) drive was the best drive really of the season for us, but from there the wheels just fell off.” Bellisari connected with 6-foot-5 tight end Dominic Theado on a post pattern for a 20-7 lead, which grew to 27-7 at the half when Theado toe-tapped in the corner of the end zone on a five-yard pass from Bellisari. Jack McCoy’s one-yard run made it 34-7 before Chardon scored on a blocked punt by Beckett Dawson for a safety. Another Bellisari-to-Uhlenhake pass made it 41-9 early in the fourth to make it a running clock game. Watterson outgained Chardon, 363-126, with Bellisari throwing for 169 yards and four touchdowns. Allgood had 62 yards rushing to go with 29 passing yards. “What changes how we call the game is when we can’t block a soul,” Hewitt said. “That’s what changes the game.” Afterward, Coach Brian Kennedy praised his team for taking a long bus ride from Columbus to Chardon to take care of business. “We had a really good week of practice,” he said. “They knew what the expectation was. (Chardon) is a really good team. I think our kids were ready for the challenge.” Uhlenhake agreed. “It’s huge,” he said. “Chardon is a really good team. … 2 1/2-hour bus ride up here we just kicked their butt. … It’s a huge statement game. HUGE statement game.” With the loss, Hewitt pointed out that last year’s Chardon team was 3-3 at one point but then improved to the point that the Hilltoppers advanced to the D-III state final four. But for that to happen again, he said Chardon has to get healthy and more physical. Chardon played without starting lineman Aiden Hardesty and running back Vinny Colombi, who were out with injuries. “I thought we flinched. That’s probably the most disappointing thing tonight,” Hewitt said. “It’s one thing to get out-athleted. It’s one thing for them to make plays, but we flinched and that’s probably the part that is most disappointing. That’s the one thing we’ve hung our hat on for 45 years.” Chardon opens Western Reserve Conference play next week against Kenston. “We’ve got to get a hell of a lot tougher if we want to win another game,” Hewitt said. THE SCORE Bishop Watterson 41, Chardon 9