Month: November 2021

“Pittsburgh’s going to the Super Bowl. I got a feelin’.”

That would be the song that Lou Geary would sing during loose moments in his woodshop class at what was then called Stanford Middle School. It was a trademark tune crooned by Pittsburgh fans almost annually as fall gave way to winter and head coach Chuck Noll took a franchise that was once the laughing stock of the National Football League (one playoff team from 1945-1971) and led them to four Super Bowl championships in six seasons.

The names that shaped those championship teams and made the Pittsburgh Steelers a worldwide brand name are synonymous with football. Terry Bradshaw. Joe Greene. Franco Harris. Jack Lambert. John Stallworth. Lynn Swann.

They all captured Geary’s imagination as he played under coach Bud Billiard at Brooke High School in Weilsburg, West Virginia. Just as Noll built the Steelers franchise from the ground up starting in the early 1970s, Geary did the same thing with various athletic programs at Stanford and at Cedar Ridge High School in the subsequent three decades. Like Noll, Geary was a championship coach many times over.

On October 31, Geary passed away in New Bern after a four-year battle with dementia at the age of 63. Funeral services will be held today at Hillsborough United Methodist Church at 3PM.

Donald Lou Geary graduated from Fairmont State University, where he was enshrined in the school’s Hall of Fame in 2020 for football and wrestling. He was a four-year letterman in football with the Falcons, along with a two-year letterman for wrestling. After graduation, he journeyed to Hillsborough with his wife and was hired by Stanford Principal Leonard Mayo as an industrial arts teacher. Geary was the football, wrestling and track & field coach at Stanford from 1987 until 2000. The Chargers became a dominant Wednesday afternoon institution in northern Orange County, often playing games at Auman Stadium and collecting one Orange-Person Athletic Conference championship after another. Geary’s two oldest sons, Mack and Sam, played at Stanford for their father.

“He wanted people to love the game just as much as he did,” said Jake Geary, his youngest son. “He shared that passion with anybody who even had the smallest interest in it. His high school coach, Bud Billiard, was a tremendous influence on him. He was just as passionate as many father was. That’s where my father got his drive from.”

Stanford’s wrestling program was even more dominant. They went years without losing a dual match. Stanford was Orange High’s feeder school, which was part of the reason why Orange won 16 consecutive conference championships and five state championships under head coach Bobby Shriner.

“He loved Stanford,” said Jake, who played at Stanback. “He had a dynasty there. He was with his buddies at Stanford. He didn’t want to leave that until Mack, Sam and I got older and went on to high school.”

After one season as an assistant under former Orange football coach Bill Hynus in 2001, Geary was chosen by Cedar Ridge Athletic Director, Jim Pappas, to become the first head football coach at Cedar Ridge High School. Naturally, he would also be the Red Wolves’ first wrestling coach. In the midst of the summer of 2002, as officials prepared for the opening of Cedar Ridge, Geary and baseball coach Andy Simmons would pick up rocks off the field that would eventually become Cedar Ridge Stadium.

“It was a huge change of pace being at a higher level,” Jake said of his father’s transition to Cedar Ridge. “They started the program from scratch. Over that summer, I was right out there picking up rocks with my dad. One of his former players texted me the other day to remind me about that. He literally had to build that program from scratch.”

Geary took over the Cedar Ridge program in 2002 without any seniors. Within three years, they captured its first football conference championship.

At Cedar Ridge, Geary coached the greatest running back in school history, Devon Moore, who would go on to be a featured back for Appalachian State’s 2006 Division I National Championship team. Moore rushed for 86 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries as Appalachian defeated Massachusetts 28-17 in Chattanooga, TN to win the national championship. Moore rushed for nearly 6,000 yards and 42 touchdowns in his Cedar Ridge career, though Appalachian State and Wofford were the only schools to offer him a Division I scholarship.

In 2006, Cedar Ridge went 10-4 and reached the third round of the 2-AA State Playoffs. After playoff wins over Swansboro and Northwood, the Red Wolves lost to Bunn in the regional semifinals.

“That was one of the highlights of his career,” Jake said. “All those kids that stuck together and reaching the third round of the playoffs was high on his list.”

“He meant so much to this school,” said Simmons, now Cedar Ridge’s Athletic Director. “I came over with him from Orange. Just as incredible person. He touched so many lives in Hillsborough and surrounding places. Sometimes, there are just no words to describe what a person meant to so many. I think Coach Geary is one of those people.”

Jake was the 2010 2A North Carolina High School Athletic Association Shot Put champion at Cedar Ridge. He played football at East Carolina under head coach Ruffin McNeill after being recruited by Skip Holtz, now the head coach at Louisiana Tech. Jake Geary currently teaches at North Carolina Virtual Public Schools after four years at Broad Creek Middle School in Newport.

“He coached me just like he would anyone else on the team,” Jake said. “I always told people that I had to have it tougher because if I didn’t, people would say I was getting playing time just because I was the coach’s son. It was hard but I enjoyed having him as my coach. I didn’t just get it at practice, I got it at home, too.”

Geary left Cedar Ridge in 2010 to coach at Person High School, partly to get closer to a lake house that the family owned near Roxboro. They held annual Super Bowl parties there every winter, including Super Bowl XLIII, where Geary’s Steelers defeated the Arizona Cardinals 27-23.

Even after all the championships he won in Hillsborough, Geary never forgot that the greatest place on earth is home. In 2015, he returned to West Virginia as an assistant coach for East Fairmont High School’s football team, serving with his brother, John, the head coach. The following year, Lou became the head coach for the 2016 season before resigning and returning to North Carolina.

“He wasn’t even looking for a job,” Jake said. “His brother wound up calling him and asked if he wanted to do with him. He jumped all over that and they worked together. It was a young team and they were trying to build something together.”

In recent years, Geary had kept up with Cedar Ridge athletics. Jake says it was a topic of one of their final conversations at a memory care facility in New Bern, where Geary stayed since July.

“Over the last few weeks, I’ve heard from people from West Virginia to North Carolina to Virginia,” Jake said. “Old coaches and teammates that I’ve never met before. All of them said the same thing. He loved the game and he took everybody under their wing and treated them exactly the same. He always had a smile on his face. It was amazing reading how many people he impacted.”

Cedar Ridge’s wrestling season couldn’t have started better on Wednesday night. The Red Wolves hosted Person, Jordan and Panther Creek in the Cedar Ridge quad at Red Wolves Arena. Cedar Ridge started its Central Carolina Conference schedule with a 42-33 win over Person. Sophomore Joe O’Melia clinched the win for Cedar Ridge with a pin over Victor Rodriguez at 220 pounds in 5:44. It was the first of three wins for O’Melia on the night. Freshman Leo Oguntoyinbo earned a forfeit win over the Rockets. Cedar Ridge defeated Jordan 60-24. Oguntoyinbo earned his first pin at the high school level with a victory over Josh Zacharias in 1:43. O’Melia pinned Daniel Maxwell in 1:38. To end the long night, Cedar Ridge defeated Panther Creek 52-24. Oguntoyinbo pinned Nasir Henderson in 3:18. O’Melia earned his third pin of the night with a victory over John Dude in 59 seconds. After starting 3-0, Cedar Ridge will host many teams from across the area for the Red Wolves Invitational at Red Wolves Arena on Saturday.

Growing up in the community of Schley in northern Orange County is a long way from playing college volleyball in New York. But that’s exactly what Orange senior Lottie Scully has signed a letter of intent to do. On Monday afternoon in the trigonometry classroom of head volleyball coach Kelly Young, Scully formally signed to play with the Binghamton Bearcats volleyball team, who play in the America East Conference. Scully was the 2020 Big 8 Conference Player of the Year after leading Orange in kills, aces, and assists. Scully played volleyball, softball, soccer and ran track in her early years before deciding to make volleyball her future. Scully was surrounded by her teammates inside Coach Young’s classroom as she formally signed on Monday. She will enroll at Binghamton in January after a successful career at Orange.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is junior libero Grace Young. The Red Wolves captured the 3A State Championship with a 3-1 win over North Iredell at Reynolds Coliseum on November 6. It was the Red Wolves first state championship in eight years in any sport. Young may have had the play of the game with a diving dig that sailed over the net and landed on the Raider end of the floor in the third set. It was one of Young’s 14 digs in the match, which led the team. Young also had an ace. This season, Young led Cedar Ride with 305 digs. Her high for the season was 24 against Western Alamance on September 14. The day after Cedar Ridge won the state championship, Young was right back on the court playing for the Chapel Hill Area Volleyball Club. Not only that, but last week Young started practicing for the upcoming women’s basketball season under new Cedar Ridge coach Megan Skouby, a former player at Iowa. Skouby was also an assistant coach for volleyball this season. Young and fellow volleyball starter Julie Altieri will suit up for the women’s basketball squad this season. This season, Cedar Ridge volleyball finished with a school-record 31 wins and the first state championship in team history. Young was a big reason why.

Photo by Averett University

Braden Homsey: Braden Homsey captured the 197-pound championship for Division III Ferrum College during the Averett Cougar Open at the Grant Center in Danville, VA on Saturday. Homsey defeated Jackson Shumate 16-1 in the 2nd round. In the quarterfinals, Homsey grabbed a major decision over Austin Suess of Southwest Virginia 11-2. In the semifinals, Homsey pinned William Headley of Liberty in 2:12. Homsey scored another technical fall in the championship match over William Baldwin of Averett 21-4. In a field of 20 teams, the Panthers finished third with 127 points.

Joey McMullin: The Sandhills Community College men’s basketball team defeated Hosanna Bible College 99-76 at The Hangar in Pinehurst last Monday. McMullin, who scored over 1,000 points in his Orange High career, scored a career-high 27 points for the Flyers. He shot 12-of-15 from the field, including two 3-pointers. On Wednesday, the Flyers defeated Guilford Technical Community College 106-99 in Greensboro. McMullin, who started, had 17 points and six rebounds. On Saturday, Wake Technical Community College defeated Sandhills 126-109 in Pinehurst. McMullin, who started and played 16 minutes, scored six points. He also added two rebounds and an assist. The Flyers are 4-2, 0-2 in Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association. They will play the Methodist University junior varsity squad in Fayetteville on Tuesday.

Connor Crabtree: The Richmond Spiders started its men’s basketball season with a a 70-60 victory over North Carolina Central in the Robins Center on Tuesday. Crabtree came off the bench and scored two points, grabbed one rebound and dished out two assists. On Friday, Utah State defeated Richmond 85-74 in the opening game of the Veterans Classic at Alumni Hall in Annapolis, MD. Crabtree had a stickleback basket to put Richmond in the lead 65-63 with 5:38 remaining, but the Aggies went on a 18-3 run to take control of the game. Crabtree scored six points and four rebounds in 14 minutes. Richmond hosts Georgia State on Tuesday night.

Trenton Gill: Former Cedar Ridge All-Conference punter Trenton Gill was named a co-Captain for #21 N.C. State’s game against #13 Wake Forest at Truist Field in Winston-Salem. In the highest-scoring game in 115 all-time matchups, the Demon Deacons defeated the Wolfpack 45-42. Gill had six punts for an average of 45 yards. Two punts were downed inside the 20-yard line. His longest was 52 yards, one of two punts over 50-yards. Gill also had seven kickoffs, six of which were touchbacks. The Wolfpack, who are now ranked #25 by the Associated Press, will host Syracuse at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh on Saturday.

Keshawn Thompson: For the fifth time this year, Thompson led the Campbell football team in tackles. Thompson had ten tackles in the Camels’ 28-21 loss to Hampton at Barker-Lane Stadium in Buies Creek on Saturday. It was Thompson’s senior day. Campbell has lost five in a row and is now 3-7 overall, 2-4 in the Big South Conference. They will wrap up the season at Robert Morris on Saturday.

Adam Chnupa: The Elon football team defeated Towson 37-14 at Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, MD on Saturday. It was the Phoenix’s fourth road win of the season. Chnupa played special teams and defense for the Phoenix, who improved to 5-5, 4-3 in the Colonial Athletic Association. The Phoenix will wrap up the regular season against #25 Rhode Island at Rhodes Stadium in Elon on Saturday.

Emerson Talley: The Lenoir-Rhyne women’s soccer team received an at-large birth for the Division II NCAA Tournament. The Bears, which includes former Cedar Ridge forward Emerson Talley, will face Catawba in the opening round in Salisbury on Saturday at 6PM. Last week, the Bears lost to Queens 1-0 in double overtime in the semifinals of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament in Matthews. The Bears will enter the NCAA Tournament 11-5-2 overall.

Kate Burgess: The UNC rowing team finished its first official race of the season at the Rivanna Romp in Charlottesville, VA on Sunday afternoon. Burgess was aboard the 2V8+ boat, which finished 21st at 15:02.00. In the Varsity Four race, Burgess was aboard the 4V4+, which finished 24th at 17:21.8.

Bailey Lucas: Bailey Lucas’ career with the Meredith volleyball team has come to an end. The Avenging Angels were snubbed from the NCAA Division III volleyball tournament despite a 23-8 record and reaching the championship match of the USA South Athletic Conference tournament. This season, Lucas was 2nd on the team with 506 assists. She had 24 aces.

The all-time home run leader in Cedar Ridge softball history is officially headed to North Carolina Central. Senior Takia Nichols formally signed with the Eagles during a ceremony inside the J-Wing at Cedar Ridge High School on Wednesday night. Takia has been a four-year starter for the Red Wolves. In her freshman year, she was part of a Big 8 Conference championship team that journeyed to the 3rd round of the 3A State Playoffs. Takia had eight home runs in her freshman year, including a blast against West Carteret in the 2nd round of the state playoffs that went deep into a forest in Morehead City. Last season, despite being walked 17 times, she still hit 13 home runs to bring her career total to 26. She was the 2021 Big 8 Conference Player of the year. Takia has a .618 career batting average. In addition to being a Cedar Ridge student, she is a faithful devotee to all of Red Wolf athletics. Nichols was present for each and every home game this season for the 3A State Championship Cedar Ridge volleyball squad. She also frequently attends football games and played women’s basketball in her freshman and sophomore year. At North Carolina Central, Nichols plans to major in Criminal Justice. Though she could have played with virtually any team in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and largely any HBCU, she decided to remain close to home with her mother and family. Takia will start her senior season this March. 

On Wednesday afternoon at Orange softball field, Lady Panthers Mary Moss Wirt formally signed with Elon. On hand for the ceremony were many of Wirt’s teammates, along with her father Todd and mother Kelly. Last season, Wirt played three different positions for an Orange team that had an undefeated run through the Big 8 Conference. Wirt played second base, shortstop and third base as she hit .457 with three home runs and 14 RBIs. She was named to the All-Big 8 Conference team as the Lady Panthers completed its first undefeated regular season in school history. The selection of Elon is only fitting for Wirt. Her father was a first and third baseman for the Elon baseball team. Wirt plans to play catcher with the Phoenix. During her time at Orange, Wirt played her freshman season with the women’s basketball team, where she was part of a squad that reached the 3A State Tournament in 2018. Among the highlights in her freshman year came when she knocked down a game-winning 3-pointer with :02 seconds remaining, off an assist from her friend Aaliyah Harris, to win at Chapel Hill. Wirt and her teammates will return to the softball field this March in the new Central Carolina Conference against longtime powers Western Alamance, Eastern Alamance and Cedar Ridge.

By most standards, the orange men’s cross country season with a unparalleled success.

However, there were higher expectations around the program this year under new coaches Hannah Hribar and Brian Schneidewind. In the 3A State Championships at the Ivey Redmond Sports Complex in Kernersville on Saturday, the Panthers finished third, tied for the best finish in team history.

Yet the top runner for the Panthers, senior Spencer Hampton, felt like they left some money on the table.

“Our goal from the beginning of the year was to win states,” Hampton said. “Based on how we were doing at the beginning that was our goal. But North Lincoln just had an amazing meet. I think with the team we had, the best we could have done was second. I look forward to seeing how Orange does next year, though I won’t be here.”

Hampton finished eighth overall in the state meet with a time of 16:10.88. Stuart Cramer’s Zachary Willer was the individual state champion, crossing the finish line at 15:42.61.

North Lincoln claimed the 3A State Championship with 106 points. Croatan was second with 125 points. Orange finished with 151 points, edging out South Central, who had 156 points.

Instrumental in Orange’s best-ever finish in the state championships was sophomore Gabriel Schmid, who came in 12th overall at 16:20.47. Another sophomore, Alden Cathey, came in 53rd. Senior Ethan Horton finished 57th overall. Senior Nick Pell, who was the Homecoming King and a backup tight end for the Orange men’s cross country team, finished 61st.

“Spencer and Gabe are amazing athletes and people,” Hribar said. “They help propel the team forward by being an example of the famous quote, “excellence…is not an act but a habit”. They have shown the team how much repeated efforts result in repeated success.”

The strong showing in the State Championships came a week after Orange captured the 3A Mideast Regional championship at Northwood High School in Pittsboro. Hampton finished 2nd in the region. The Panthers also won the Central Carolina Conference championship, where Hampton again paced the Panthers with a runner-up finish.

Last summer in outdoor track & field, Hampton won the 1,600 meter Mideast Regional Championship at Southern Lee High School in Sanford. A week later, Hampton finished 2nd in the 3,200 meters at the 3A State Track and Field Championships at North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro.

“This is a truly incredible group of students,” Hribar said. “They are not only dedicated to running, but to creating a culture of excellence on the team. They run together outside of workouts, meet up for breakfast before school, and show up for each other.”

Cedar Ridge’s Roman Morrell was the top finisher in the men’s meet for the Red Wolves. Morrell, a junior, came in 26th overall at 16:59.46.

With Schmid and Cathey returning next fall, the Panthers will look to another strong season in defense of their regional championship. Many of these runners have already turned their attention to indoor track & field season.

“The highlight of the season for us was really changing the narrative and the culture around OHS cross country,” Hribar said. “Not only are we now known as being a highly competitive team in the state, but other coaches, teachers, and administrators comment on how our athletes have created a welcoming and supportive environment that students want to be a part of.”

In the women’s State Championships, Cedar Ridge’s Zoe Wade was the top local finisher. Wade, a senior, came in 60th at 21:49.79.

Croatan’s Navaya Zales of Croatan was the individual female state champion. Carrboro’s Hannah Preisser finished 2nd.

North Lincoln also won the 3A State Women’s Championship in the team standings with 59 points. Carrboro was second with 150 points. The top Central Carolina Conference female squad was Northwood, who finished 11th.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is cross country runner Spencer Hampton. Last Saturday, the Orange men’s cross country completed its most successful season in modern team history by finishing 3rd in the 3A State Championships at the Ivey Redmon Sports Complex in Kernersville. It tied for the highest finish in team history. The Panthers also won the 3A Mideast Regional Championship at Northwood High School in Pittsboro on October 30. In that race, Hampton finished 2nd in the region with a time of 16:13.71. It was the second-time ever that Orange men’s cross country won a regional title. On September 27, Hampton won a meet a Central Carolina Conference meet, also at Northwood High School, that included Northwood, Eastern Alamance and Western Alamance. Hampton also finished second in the Central Carolina Conference championship meet last month. In June, Hampton came in second at the 3,200 meters in the 3A State Track & Field Championships at North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro. That meet came after he won the Mideast Regional championship in the 1,600 meters at Southern Lee High School in Sanford. There’s no rest for Hampton. He’s already preparing for indoor track season for Orange.

Cedar Ridge’s amazing run to the 2021 NCHSAA 3A State Volleyball Championship has been by far, the most exciting moment I’ve had the privilege to witness in my almost 28 years of announcing. Even though I wasn’t behind the PA microphone at Reynolds Coliseum, I still witnessed the magic while serving as the color analyst to Jeff Hamlin on HillsboroughSports.com. 

From the numerous dump shots by Julie Altieri, the miraculous fourth set dig by Grace Young, Addie Reed and Cameron Lanier’s block party, the home court advantage created by The Wolf Pack, andthe coup de grace by Cameron Lloyd, I’ll never forget this memorable year as a season of healing.

You see, the healing was for me.

Until this season’s opening game versus Riverside, I had not announced a game at Cedar Ridge since February 10, 2020 – the 2019-20 basketball season finale against East Chapel Hill. Because no one knew how to combat an organism one billionth of our size (and truly still don’t), everything shut down within a few weeks. 

The only thing that filled up my time was working my job in prisons. 

Day after day, I was exposed to inmates and staff that contracted the virus. At one point, the facility I worked at led the nation in the number of inmates infected and the number of inmates to die from the virus. Because the virus affected staff as much as the inmates, the use of Augmentation (otherwise known as using staffers in other positions such as secretaries, cook foremen, maintenance foremen, teachers, etc. – to staff custody posts) and Mandatory Overtime skyrocketed.

Factor that in with mass retirements, promotions, reassignments, and the occasional firings, our staffing numbers dwindled to a low that hasn’t been reached since 2005. The agency had already been into a four-year free fall in not being allowed to hire new staff (except in exigent circumstances). As a result, being called for a mandatory overtime occurred one to three times per week. Working inside of a prison for 16 hours at a time is like being in there for a week.

When this was factored along with those harboring anti-law enforcement, anti-prison sentiments and rhetoric (aka “Abolish Prisons” and “Defund the Police”), the mental anguish became so hard to bear.

Over the past year, I encountered manipulative inmates superficially cutting themselves because they didn’t get their way on a certain issue. I encountered suicidal inmates as one broke off a camera (used to observe them), fashioned a noose out of the fiber-optic cable and the camera receptacle, and then stand on a ledge and jump after placing the noose around their neck. I along with other prison staff had to breach the secure door to wrestle them to the ground and restrain them to prevent their demise. 

I also encountered staffers that were so lazy, unmotivated, undisciplined, and unwilling to perform the job they swore to do. Many of these were new hires that came in from other correctional agencies for the pay increase. As a general instructor and new employee trainer for my agency, I did all I could to teach the next generation of correctional staff on how to be a good employee, all to be rebuffed and insulted.

I also had supervisors that served themselves instead of helping their staff. In prisons, a good supervisor will do anything to help their staff so that it maintains good morale and camaraderie. Over the last year, I saw supervisors continually leave their officers hanging on many issues, throw officers under the bus, and themselves break policy all because – in their words, “I’m a supervisor, because I can”. If we had broken policy, we’d all be in front of the Warden facing untold amount of suspension, if not worse. 

But the straw that broke my back was when I had appointments to see a mental health counselor but was forced to work mandatory overtime. Despite showing the documentation that I had an appointment, the supervisors cared little about the mental health of one of their best officers. One supervisor even told me, “Our roster holes are more important than your mental health. So, work the overtime or face a write-up”. 

The inability to receive mental health counseling was so aggravating, I wound up talking to a co-worker that I thought I could talk to. I told her that I’ve gained weight from stress eating, not slept much because of racing thoughts, suffered constant isolation, the inability to announce games, and the aforementioned work issues brought on breakdowns and wasn’t sure if I could overcome them. Instead of being a friend and helping me work through this, I was snitched out to the supervisors. 

I was then reassigned to a never used, cold (then later broiling with the season change), dirty, rain-leaking, human waste smelling tower to monitor phone calls of inmates wanting money, pictures, or phone sex. Our HR department was so pious saying this was done “to protect you”. In reality, it made my issues become more complicated.

Despite serving my country and community for 17.5 years, I had to walk away from law enforcement because it was too hard to bear. Sadly, it’s going to take a lot of time for me to recover. That is, if I can recover.

But some good things happened – I got married and Cedar Ridge Volleyball.

I don’t want to give my wife Sarah any short shrift in this column, but she’s been the rock I’ve leaned on throughout this ordeal. When working in prisons, I came home many days to spend the first 30 to 45 minutes crying my eyes out. She dealt with her issues too with work in the ER and now a surgery center. She was also burdened with planning a pandemic wedding. 

Want to see a blushing bride cry? Tell her she can’t have her dream wedding all because bureaucrats control the rules on who can or can’t come. Despite a very scaled down, yet elegant ceremony, Jon and Sarah became Mr. & Mrs. Franklin. No matter where I go, even if I just go to the store for a gallon of milk, I come home to an effervescent smile, and a sense of warmth that could thaw a glacier. Throughout this whole ordeal, she’s been right beside me as my biggest fan and my best encourager. She’s my spotter during football season and is always at my side during volleyball and basketball. 

I love you Sarah, thank you for always loving me even when I don’t deserve it.

To be told that I could announce, the thing that brings me a lot of joy these days, felt like a weight lifted off of me. To help bring excitement to the players and spectators, was the spark I needed. 

Without Cedar Ridge Volleyball, I wouldn’t have had the ability to hear the Wolf Pack. That’s right, those zany students chanting some of the craziest sayings, making noise to distract the opposing servers, and the “OH YEAH!!” that’s been synonymous with their cheers. 

Their best chant of the year? “Start Your Tractors”.

Normally inside Cedar Ridge Arena, this chant is “Start the Buses”. But when Cedar Ridge led 23-16 on North Iredell in the fourth set at the 3A State Championship game, this chorus broke out in response to the rowdy fans from Olin who came not only dressed in red and blue, but were clothed incowboy hats, jeans, and boots. Following Cameron Lloyd’s exclamation point to win the title, the only noise inside Reynolds Coliseum came from our adoring fans.

Without Cedar Ridge Volleyball, I wouldn’t have seen the post-point dillies from the team. For example, a service ace displayed a double arm sweeping motion. For a few games in the playoffs, this prompted a quick set of pushups. When a Red Wolf would attack off of the hands of their opponents, the team responded with their hands in the air (similar to a football referee signaling a safety), and a ballerina twirl. Often called a “tool”, the team displayed a drill motion. When an opponent’s serve went out of bounds, the team would give a nod to softball as the teammate on the end would simulate a swinging motion of a home run, all for the rest of the team turn around simultaneously and watch ball fly by, accompanied by a Ric Flair “WHOO!”.

Without Cedar Ridge Volleyball, I wouldn’t have met Merridith Stutts. Mrs. Stutts, the mother of Carrboro libero Emily Stutts, visited Cedar Ridge Arena for the Dig Pink fundraiser game against the Jaguars. Mrs. Stutts was honored as a “Champion” (a person who fought cancer and won) and amazingly won the 50/50 raffle. As I invited her to come to the scoring table to collect her winnings, Mrs. Stutts graciously returned the $180 prize to Coach Pam Scism. She informed the house that she battled stage 3 breast cancer and had been cancer-free for ten years. She wanted to donate the winnings in honor of those fighting similar battles. With her declination of the winnings, Cedar Ridge was able to donate $500 to the UNC Lineberger Cancer Center.

Despite having a really bad day at a job I was working, I learned from this dear lady that life is short, but precious. It should be spent in the moments enjoying the things that you love and sharing the things you enjoy with the people that you love.

Without Cedar Ridge Volleyball, my father wouldn’t have seen me announce. In the first round of the state playoffs against South Brunswick. My dad, Dale Franklin, and I, were originally at the North Carolina State Fair with our wives until we both made our way to Hillsborough for the game. While it wasn’t the barnburner game of a lifetime, having my dad in the stands next to me is something I’ll always cherish. It’s not the first time he’s heard me announce, but just having him in town to hang out is good enough. Having him next to me as I’m doing something I enjoy, is even sweeter. After we finished and made our way back to Raleigh to pick up our better halves, Dad gave instant validationthat the Red Wolves have a lot of talent and weapons and will be successful. My dad, as always, was right.

That’s major kudos from a guy that really doesn’t know much about volleyball.

Without Cedar Ridge Volleyball, I wouldn’t have enjoyed the friendship from everyone associated with this team. It doesn’t matter if you were a player, coach, athletic director, parent, or just a fan. For you to share your friendship means the world to Sarah and me.

One example is from Jeff Young, Grace’s dad. He told me he appreciated the music selection from our generation. I had played the tune from Living Colour known as “Cult of Personality” – the theme song to former WWE and now AEW star, CM Punk. So as a way of say thank you for that, this song got featured inside Cedar Ridge Arena at the end of the first set during the playoffs. Other songs such as AC/DC’s Shoot to Thrill (Ready to Kill), Cotton-Eyed-Joe, Seven Nation Army and others were played as it created such a raucous environment inside Cedar Ridge Arena. 

Another example is from assistant coach Pam Scism. The first person I normally meet when I arrive is this dear lady. Normally, she’s preparing the junior varsity team for battle, but always has an encouraging word. To be honest, I don’t think Coach Scism has any negativity in her bones, because every interaction with her is always positive. I can tell her positivity spreads to the players.

I could go on and on, but this season was exactly what I needed. The road to the state championship didn’t go through Olin. In so many ways, it went through Hillsborough. Even though I’m jobless and struggling to find another job, my heart is full. While I still hurt inside, there is light at the end of the tunnel. 

Thank you, Sarah, and Cedar Ridge Nation, for guiding me through the darkness.