Friday night will be the end of the chapter of the lives of Braedon Thompson and Braxton Mergenthal. It will be their last football game as Cedar Ridge Red Wolves when they face Vance County in Henderson. Thompson and Mergenthal have been teammates on the gridiron for over a decade of their young lives. Aside from one year when Mergenthal moved to Germany, they’ve been teammates more often than not. While Cedar Ridge is 1-9 this season, the key role for Thompson, Mergenthal and the rest of the Cedar Ridge seniors wasn’t simply about winning. It was keeping the program alive. Cedar Ridge didn’t field a varsity team in 2018. Instead of transferring, Thompson, Mergenthal and the rest of the seniors stayed at Cedar Ridge and played junior varsity football last year. Whatever success the Red Wolves have in the future will be directly because of the sacrifice that the Red Wolves seniors made this year. Hillsboroughsports.com will broadcast Cedar Ridge at Vance County tonight at 6:55 with Tim Hackett on the play-by-play. Kickoff will be at 7.