Story by Curran Campbell
The Cedar Ridge Red Wolves JV football team took a quick trip down I-85 to face the newly named Southern School of Energy and Sustainability Spartans, who were previously the Southern Durham Spartans. Coming off a tough loss against the Chapel Hill Tigers, the Red Wolves bounced back in a big way against the Spartans.
Cedar Ridge received the opening kickoff and got off to a blazing start. On the first play from scrimmage, quarterback Will Berger connected with KJ Barnes on a deep pass for 65 yards to set up a first and goal, the drive would conclude with an Isaiah McCambry 1 yard touchdown scamper on fourth down would make it 6-0 Red Wolves a minute and a half into the game. Southern went 3 and out on the following possession, and the Red Wolves marched right down the field again, this time with Elijah Whitaker executing the read option perfectly and waltzing into the endzone for an easy six points and a 12-0 Cedar Ridge lead.
Still in the first quarter, Southern quarterback Jeremiah Lynch was picked off by Drew Carlson, and Cedar Ridge carved up the Southern defense for a third time already on the day as Alwin Garcia Mendez would punch it in on the ground this time, following the two point conversion, Cedar Ridge had a 20-0 lead.
Southern would bounce back however, as tailback John Brown Jr. took a 60 yard run to the house and cut the Red Wolves lead to 20-7. In the ensuing possession, a Will Berger pass was intercepted by Jewalace Holmes and Southern would turn that pick into points on a touchdown pass from Lynch to John Paulino. The seemingly insurmountable early Red Wolves lead was now only 20-15 after the two point conversion as the clock on the first quarter hit triple zeroes.
With the seemingly endless opening frame behind them, Cedar Ridge would get back on track to start the second quarter of play. Isaiah McCambry had a 60 yard touchdown run to extend the Cedar Ridge lead to 26-15 on the opening drive of the quarter. Later on in the quarter, Cedar Ridge head coach Antonio King was ejected from the game due to use of foul language.
When asked about the ejection, Coach King admitted his fault and said that “The two guys I left in charge did a very good job and the kids kind of responded to it, they knew what was happening, but it’s not fun. I’ve got the kids running wind sprints for acting the same way. They’ve got to be accountable, and I’ve got to be accountable.”
To start the third quarter, the Red Wolves came out with even more energy, the Cedar Ridge defense forced a three and out on the opening possession, and the offense drove down the field to score another rushing touchdown by way of Isaiah McCambry. A fumbled punt and a third McCambry rushing touchdown later, it was 38-15 Cedar Ridge.
The final frame only had one scoring play, a three yard rush on the read option play by Spartan wildcat quarterback and receiver Jewalace Holmes. The 2 point conversion was good to make it 38-23, but the ensuing onside kick failed to go ten yards and the Red Wolves just had to run out the clock en route to their third victory of the season.
Even after the win though, Coach King still says there are still fundamental aspects of the game that need to be worked on. “Tackling, blocking, all the basic, fundamental stuff that still seems to elude us in these types of situations. We’re going to keep working at it and keep getting better everyday.”
The 3-3 Red Wolves will take on their archrival Orange Panthers this Thursday, October 25th at Cedar Ridge Stadium.