By Tim Hackett
Something felt different this week. Back at home in front of a sizable crowd for the first time in nearly a month, following three weeks of far-flung road games featuring flush-it-and-forget-it final scores, the Cedar Ridge Red Wolves somehow looked like a different team. For about the first 20 minutes of the 48 that comprise a game, Cedar Ridge looked like they might have a chance – a chance to finally win its first game of the season, its first varsity game since August 2017, in what would have been a serious upset against the reigning Big 8 Conference champions Northern Knights. Cedar Ridge trailed by only a point early in the second quarter and by just two scores at halftime.
But, as has been the case so often this season, things changed. Eventually, Cedar Ridge’s momentum faded, their steam evaporated, their offense dried up – all euphemisms which conceal the fact that Northern simply dominated the second half. Despite countless self-inflicted penalties that could’ve made the scoreline worse, the Knights played the second half perfectly, running the clock when they needed and running the ball whenever they wanted – Cedar Ridge (0-6, 0-2 Big 8) only possessed the ball three times after halftime, and Northern (4-2, 1-1 Big 8) scored three more rushing touchdowns, for a grand total of seven overall, to run away from the Red Wolves 47-12 in Hillsborough on Friday.
The game started about as poorly as Cedar Ridge could’ve expected. On just the second play from scrimmage, quarterback Will Berger appeared to have his pass tipped at the line and intercepted off the ground by a defensive lineman. Or perhaps it was fumbled and briefly returned. It was one of those moments where no one really knew what was going on, but the Knights had the ball, and just a few plays later Jaylon Chestnut has the game’s opening touchdown on a wingback run.
That could have been that for Cedar Ridge. The Red Wolves have deflated in the face of adversity at times this season, and after spotting a superior team an early lead through no real fault of their own, they could’ve folded again. But they didn’t. Instead, they marched right down the field on their next drive, going 80 yards in no time at all. In what was easily his most impactful game of the season, Brandon Poteat made a nice catch on the left sideline before dashing 26 yards to the house on a right-to-left end-around to cap off the scoring drive. Cedar Ridge failed to get the two-point conversion, but they had pulled within one, 7-6.
Cedar Ridge had planned to kick it away. Ian Kavanaugh sent the kick low and away, but it hit a Knight in the armor around his head, and Cedar Ridge fell on it – it was a bit of a reversal of fortunes, flashing back to what happened to Cedar Ridge on the very first kick of the contest against Providence Grove two weeks prior. But the Red Wolves couldn’t capitalize, and a botched punt gave the Knights plus field position. They capitalized on a run by halfback Anthony Freeman but missed the PAT, making the score 13-6.
Cedar Ridge tried to respond, with Elijah Whitaker now leading the charge at quarterback, but Darius Channer, Northern’s top corner, picked off a pass down the right seam to take the ball away. But Cedar Ridge’s defense buckled down and forced a Northern punt – the only Knights drive to not end in a turnover or a score – which set up the offense to go right back down the field and score on a QB dive by Whitaker. Kavanaugh missed the PAT and Cedar Ridge still trailed, but only just – 13-12.
Things were looking good, or at the very least encouraging, for Cedar Ridge in what’s been a discouraging season for the team overall. But with half of the second quarter gone, the Knights rallied to the charge. Maybe it was a sense of desperation. Maybe it was the need for revenge after Northern lost their always-important rivalry game to Southern a week before. Maybe it was an embracing of a new run-first, run-always scheme headed by “quarterback” Caleb Steele, a wideout who had never played that signal caller role before Friday. Whatever the motivation, the Knights admirably soldiered on, and they dominated the final 30 minutes of game time.
Freeman reeled off two more touchdown runs before the break, and if Cedar Ridge felt it still had a chance after perhaps its best offensive half of the season, Northern did everything in its power to squeeze the life out of the home side. Chestnut fumbled on Northern’s first possession, but Whitaker answered with one of his own, and Northern possessed the ball for easily the final seven minutes of the third quarter. The Knights were hampered by countless penalties – just about every violation in the book was in effect Friday – but hampered isn’t really the right word – despite constantly finding themselves in 2nd-and-25 scenarios, and some more dire than that, the Knights still were able to grind out the yardage on the ground. Northern might have attempted four passes all game. Freeman added another score at the onset of the final quarter to give him four for the day, and the Knights scored on both of their other possessions in the fourth quarter while the Red Wolves punted on both of theirs. Seven rushing touchdowns by four different players, and a breakout performance by Steele, eased Northern to a 47-12 victory.
It’s fair to say that Cedar Ridge hasn’t looked great this season. There’s no avoiding that. But, it’s also fair to say that Cedar Ridge has looked good enough at times that there should be plenty of excitement for the next two weeks – the Red Wolves’ next two opponents, Chapel Hill and East Chapel Hill, have combined for one win over their first 10 combined contests. The Tigers will head to the Den next week at 7 PM, in what is probably Cedar Ridge’s best chance to snag a win in more than two years. If you can’t be there, we’ve got you covered on hillsboroughsports.com with the C&R Ski Outdoor Pregame Show live at 6:50. A chance at history arrives next week. Join us!