Month: September 2022

Cross Country: The Cedar Ridge men’s and women’s cross country teams were both victorious in its first tri-meet of the season at Northwood, one of the most storied courses in North Carolina.

In the men’s race, the first six runners to cross the finish line were Red Wolves. Senior Roman Morrell earned his second victory of the season, finishing first with a time of 19:07.89. Freshman Ryan Matthews finished second at 19:25.10. Another Cedar Ridge freshman, Michael O’Melia, finished third at 20:45.24. Sophomore Edgar Ibarra (4th), senior Jacob Miller (5th), and freshman Henry Alexander (6th) paved the way for the Red Wolves to finish first as a team with 15 points. Walter Williams came in second with 45 points while Northwood finished third at 70 points.

Cedar Ridge’s Naomi Dyreng claimed her first-ever win in the women’s race. Dyreng finished first among a field of 31 runners with at time of 22:50.61. Red Wolves sophomore Abigail Klaitman came in second at 23:04.35. As a team, the Red Wolves finished with 25 points. Northwood came in second with 59, Walter Williams had 64 and Western Alamance came in fourth at 89 points.

Cedar Ridge freshman Peyton Decker finished sixth while sophomore Anna Peterson finished seventh. Red Wolves freshman Rebecca Fullwood came in 9th (27:11.79) while senior Sarah Fenwick finished tenth.

Women’s Tennis: Orange 7, Northwood 2: The Orange women’s tennis team remain in second place in the Central Carolina Conference after a victory over Northwood on Tuesday at Orange High Tennis Courts.

Erin Sollars had two wins on the night. She claimed her match at #1 singles 6-2, 6-2. Later in the day, Sollars teamed with her younger sister Erin to win at #1 doubles 8-1. The Lady Panthers’ Makayla Davis and Sydney Rogers also had two wins on the day. Davis won her match at #3 singles 6-2, 6-0. At #2 doubles, Davis teamed with Rogers at #2 doubles for an 8-6 win.

Rogers won her singles match 6-1, 6-0.

Orange’s Madelyn Horn won at #6 singles 6-2, 6-2. At #3 doubles, the Lady Panther tandem of Isabel Jones and Katelyn Van Mater prevailed 8-0.

Orange is now 7-2 overall. They will host Riverside on Wednesday.

Cedar Ridge 5, Eastern Alamance 1: In a match shortened by rain, the Cedar Ridge women’s tennis team improved to 5-3 overall with a victory over the Eagles in Hillsborough. Junior Cameron Mayhew, the younger sister of Central Carolina Conference Men’s Player of the Year Josh Mayhew, won at #2 singles 6-0, 6-0. Sophomore Ella Caltabiano won at #3 singles 6-1, 6-0. At #4 singles, Cedar Ridge junior Catherine Ballenger prevailed 6-0, 6-0. Cedar Ridge juniors Annabeth Lundberg and Raven Mowles-Aring both won their matches at #5 and #6 singles, respectively.

Cedar Ridge had a match against Eno River Academy last week. The Red Wolves were winning all of the singles matches before rain came down and forced the match to be canceled.

Men’s Soccer: Cedar Ridge 8, Eastern Guilford 0: Chris Mendez earned the second hat trick of his career as the Red Wolves rolled to a victory over the Wildcats on September 1. Evan Marty added two goals for Cedar Ridge, which improved to 2-3-1. Junior Iliah Babchenko, Landon Williams and Soloman Hernandez also scored goals for the Red Wolves. Babchenko added two assists, while Rudy Fuentes, Tristan Loguidice and Mendez added assists.

Erik Galunas, a freshman goalkeeper, had a clean sheet for Cedar Ridge.

After the victory over Eastern Guilford, Cedar Ridge had a 10-0 win over Person in its Central Carolina Conference opener. Tonight, the Red Wolves will travel to crosstown rival Orange for the opening leg of the Hillsborough Derby.

STEM–Stem, North Carolina has been good to DeVante’ Pettiord.

It was where he won his first game in his senior year as an Orange football player in 2010. 12 years later, it was where he won his first game as a head coach.

Though Orange’s 45-0 win over Granville Central was the polar opposite of dramatic, there were tears in Pettiford’s eyes as his first win as a head coach quickly became apparent. It was a milestone moment for him, his assistants and many of his players.

Afterwards, defensive assistant Erick Villines dumped a cup of water over Pettiford’s head, which would have to do in place of the obligatory Gatorade bath. The team presented Pettiford with a commemorative game ball for his first win.

“It feels amazing,” Pettiford said. “I’ve seen these guys bust their butts, show up every day and go to work. They had a tough three games, but it all came together tonight. It was exactly what this team needed. We work hard everyday. We just needed to taste something good. Hopefully, it just gets keep rolling.”

It was a career night for several players. Sophomore quarterback Hank Nunnery threw for five touchdowns, a career-high. Running back Nathan Sorrells rushed for a personal best 157 yards and scored three touchdowns. Wide receiver Shaun Beasley made caught three touchdowns and finished with 103 yards receiving, his second straight 100-yard receiving game.

The Orange defense, led by returning senior linebacker Jabari Albright, held Granville Central to 55 yards total offense and two first downs. Senior Amare Morgan had a strong night on both sides of the ball. As a linebacker, Morgan had two tackles for loss. On offense, Morgan took a slip screen pass from Nunnery and dashed 33 yards down the Orange sideline for his first career touchdown.

“This is a team that, when we play with confidence, we’re pretty good,” Pettiford said. “Our issue is when something goes wrong, how do we respond? We do respond and we keep fighting, but we still take the hit and play bad for about five minutes. If we can start withstanding the blow better and being more resilient, that’s what will get us back on track.”

Orange scored touchdowns on each of its first five possessions and finished with season-best 498 yards. From the time that Sorrells took the opening handoff of the game for 21 yards, Orange wasn’t seriously challenged. After Beasley took an end around for 44 yards around left tackle, Sorrells scored on a three-yard carry up the middle. Sydney Rogers’ extra point put Orange ahead 7-0.

After a botched punt attempt by Granville Central, Orange inherited its second possession at the Central 20-yard line. Nunnery threw a tap pass to Sorrells for a seven-yard score.

Orange needed only one play to strike for its third score. Nunnery hit Beasley down the middle for a 55-yard score, Beasley’s second touchdown of the season to increase Orange’s lead to 19-0.

On the fourth Panther possession, Nunnery hit Beasley for 26 yards, then found Morgan for the screen pass and a 33-yard touchdown.

To open the second quarter, Nunnery hit Beasley again, this time for a 31-yard touchdown. Senior wide receiver Wynston Brown, who scored last week against Burlington Cummings, added another touchdown with a 25 yard touchdown catch in the left corner of the end zone.

The second half, which was played with a running clock, opened with Orange’s most lengthy drive of the night. After Sorrells started with a 16-yard carry, DeAndre Brown rumbled up the middle for a 21-yard gain. After a holding penalty deep in Granville Central territory, Sorrells scored his third touchdown of the game on a 24-yard run.

“This is definitely a memorable moment,” Pettiford said. “It was special seeing these guys win. It ain’t even about me. It’s about these guys that show up everyday and put the work in.”

It was Orange’s first road win since beating Northern Durham at Durham County Stadium in March 12, 2021.

The Panthers (1-3) start Central Carolina Conference play against Western Alamance on Friday night at Auman Stadium.

“We have a tough conference,” Pettiford said. “It’s full of good teams. Hopefully, we hit the ground running and we’re trying to get hot at the right time.”

ORANGE 45, GRANVILLE CENTRAL 0

ORA–25 13 7 0-45

GCN–0 0 0 0-0

ORA–Nathan Sorrells 3 run (Sydney Rogers kick)

ORA–Sorrells 7 pass from Hank Nunnery (kick blocked)

ORA–Shaun Beasley 55 pass from Nunnery (run failed)

ORA–Amare Morgan 33 pass from Nunnery (kick blocked)

ORA–Beasley 31 pass from Nunnery (run failed)

ORA–Wynston Brown 25 pass from Nunnery (Rogers kick)

ORA–Sorrells 24 run (Rogers kick)

RUSHING–ORANGE 23-295 yards 2 TD (Sorrells 9-157 2 TD, Jabari Albright 5-59, Beasley 1-44, Jaylan Starks 1-21, Deandre Brown 4-17, Nunnery 1-0, team 1-(-1), Brown 1-(-2))

GRANVILLE CENTRAL 21-(-11 yards): (Jamar Starter 5-10, Tashad Kearney 9-5, Uzias Cid-Sanchez 2-4, Fletcher Harvey 1-4, James Thorppe 1-(-4), Luke Sharon 3-(-30))

PASSING: ORANGE 10-13 203 yards 5 TD (Nunnery 9-12 196 yards 5 TD, Ty Walker 1-1 7 yards) GRANVILLE CENTRAL (Sharon 5-18 64 yards)

RECEIVING: ORANGE (Beasley 4-112 2 TD, Brown 2-32 TD, Sorrells 2-13 TD, Morgan 1-33 TD, Brandon Cummings 1-13)

GRANVILLE CENTRAL (James Thorpe 2-56, Kearney 2-10, Alex Terry 1-(-2))

It was a career night for many Orange Panthers in the football’s team first win of the season against Granville Central. The Panthers shut out Granville Central 45-0 in Stem on Friday night. It was DeVante Pettiford’s first win as the head coach of the Panthers. Sophomore quarterback Hank Nunnery threw five touchdown passes, all in the first half. Senior wide receiver Shaun Beasley had his second career 100-yard receiving game, going for 112 yards and two touchdowns. Junior running back Nathan Sorrells rushed for a career-high 157 yards and scored three touchdowns. Sorrells had a receiving touchdown and opened the scoring with a 3-yard touchdown run. The game also marked the return of senior linebacker Jabari Albright, who had a sack. Albright also rushed for 59 yards as the Panthers cruised to victory in its final nonconfence game of the season. Afterwards, the team presented Pettiford with a game ball to commemorate his first win as head coach. 

Photo courtesy of NBC Sports

Trenton Gill: On Sunday, Gill became the first Cedar Ridge Red Wolf to play in the National Football League. It was certainly a memorable debut as the Bears defeated the San Francisco 49ers 19-10 in the midst of dreadful conditions at Soldier Field. Heavy rain floods the field and Gill actually received a bizarre 15-yard personal foul penalty for bringing out a towel to dry a small area of the field prior to holding for a field goal attempt by Cairo Santos. Despite playing in a quagmire, Gill still averaged 46.2 yards over six punts. One was downed inside the 20-yard line and another went for a touchback. It was the Bears first win under new head coach Matt Eberflus.

Keshawn Thompson: William & Mary, ranked #20 in FCS, defeated Campbell 37-21 in Watler Zable Stadium in Willamsburg, VA. Thompson had three tackles for the Camels, who fell to 1-1. Campbell will travel to East Carolina on Saturday.

Darius Satterfield: Satterfield was all too busy for Elizabeth City State in the Down East Viking Classic on Saturday in Rocky Mount. The Blue Bears defeated the Vikings 19-0. Satterfield had nine punts for an average of 35.3 yards. His longest was 49 yard. He had only one kickoff for 55 yards. The Vikings are now 0-2 and will face Winston-Salem State in its CIAA opener next Saturday in Elizabeth City.

Braxton Mergenthal: Mergenthal got the most extensive playing time in his Hampden-Sydney career as the Tigers dropped a heartbreaker to Widener College 31-27 in Lewis Everett Stadium in Hampden Sydney, VA on Saturday. Mergenthal had a career-high four tackles. Hampden-Sydney, now 0-2, will host Greensboro College this Saturday.

Bryse Wilson: Wilson came out of the bullpen to throw six innings of middle relief as the Pittsburgh Pirates lost to the New York Mets 5-1 at PNC Park last Wednesday. Wilson surrendered four runs off seven hits with three strikeouts. He did not factor into the decision. Wilson will start for the Pirates against Cincinnati in the second game of a doubleheader on Tuesday.

Mia-Davidson Smith: After her first professional softball season with Athletes Unlimited, Davidson-Smith has joined the Mississippi State coaching staff as a graduate student coach. Davidson-Smith, the all-time leading home run hitter in Southeastern Conference history, is in graduate school at Mississippi State.

Kayla Hodges: The VCU women’s soccer team held Virginia, ranked #5 in the country, to a scoreless tie on Sunday at Klockner Stadium in Charlottesville. Hodges came off the bench to play 24 minutes. The Rams defeated Pitt 3-2 in its prior game. VCU is 2-1-5 and will face Massachusetts in its Atlantic 10 opener on Thursday.

Emerson Talley: The Division II Lenoir-Rhyne women’s soccer team had two wins last week. The Bears defeated Lincoln Memorial 1-0 at LMU Soccer Field in Harrogate, TN last Wednesday. Talley came off the bench to play 30 minutes for the Bears. On Saturday, the Bears improved to 2-0 in the South Atlantic Conference with a 2-0 win over Tusculum at Pioneer Field in Greenville, TN. Talley played 23 minutes as a reserve. Lenoir-Rhyne is 2-1-1 and will host UNC Pembroke in Hickory on Wednesday.

Lottie Scully: The Binghamton Bearcats volleyball team finished 2-1 in the Georgetown Invitational over the weekend. The Bearcats started with a 3-0 sweep of George Washington at the Charles E. Smith Center in Washington, D.C. Scully finished with four kills, 30 assists, two aces and nine digs. The following day, the Bearcats suffered its only loss of the weekend. Georgetown defeated Binghamton 3-2 on scores of 16-25, 25-22, 28-30, 25-23 and 15-13. Scully had three kills, 45 assists, one ace and 16 digs. Later on Saturday, the Bearcats swept Rider 25-16, 25-20 and 25-15. Scully registered two kills, 26 assists and six digs. Binghamton is 7-2 overall and will start play in the West Virginia Tournament on Thursday. They open with Delaware State on Thursday at the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, WV.

Avery Miller: The Pitt Community College volleyball team won both of its matches at Davidson-Davie Community College in Thomasville on Saturday. The Bulldogs opened with a 3-0 win over USC-Salkehathie on scores of 25-17, 25-14 and 25-14. Miller started for PCC and finished with two kills, one ace and six digs. Later in the day, Pitt defeated Davidson-Davie Community College 3-0 (25-22, 26-24 and 25-19). Miller started and finished with two digs. Pitt CC is 6-2, 0-2 in Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association.

Orange 3, Person 0: During the 2001-2002 UNC men’s basketball season, generally considered by all Carolina fans as the nadir of the program that finished 8-20, they lost to Ohio University in the Smith Center.

It was a fact brought up to then-Bobcats Coach Tim O’Shea in the postgame press conference, who responded “Yeah, but it’s still Carolina. And this win will be on the front of our basketball program next year.”

And it was.

Likewise, the Person volleyball team may have lost nine players from last year’s squad that reached the state quarterfinals. But it’s still Person volleyball, and that fact alone makes Orange’s win on Thursday night special.

The Lady Panthers swept the Rockets 3-0 on scores of 25-19, 25-13 and 25-19. It was the first time that Orange won in Roxboro since 2014.

Going into Thursday night, the Rockets had beaten the Lady Panthers in nine of its previous ten matches.

Senior Allie Wilkerson finished with ten kills and five digs. Junior Ella Wimsatt came away with ten kills and 14 digs as Orange won its fifth match in seven attempts. Senior Caitlin Carden had 19 assists, 16 digs and four aces.

The opening set was tied 13-13 when Orange went on a 6-1 run. It started when junior libero Josie Crawford led Wimsatt for a kill at the net, which kept the Lady Panthers in the lead for the rest of the frame. Allie Wilkerson got a kill from an assist from Carden. Later, Carden scored her own kill off a feed from Wimsatt, while Wilkerson served up an ace to give Orange its largest lead of the set at 19-14. Carden clinched set point with her third ace.

Orange broke up the second set with a 10-1 run to go ahead 17-8. Wilkerson and Wimsatt each had five kills in the frame, while Aubrey Jordan has four. Allie Wilkerson had an unassisted dunk at the net to vault the Lady Panthers’ ahead 19-9. Jordan’s kill, off an assist from Carden, put the Lady Panthers ahead 24-13.

Orange never trailed in the final set, which started with back-to-back kills from Wimsatt. Freshman Ava Wilkerson dunked home a point, them immediately followed with a block to put Orange ahead 9-4.

The Lady Panthers (8-5 overall, 3-1 in the Central Carolina Conference) host Northwood on Tuesday in Hillsborough.

Cedar Ridge 3, Eastern Alamance 0: Cedar Ridge got creative with its celebrations during the third set of Thursday’s win over Eastern Alamance at Red Wolves Gymnasium. The Red Wolves won its 29th consecutive conference match on scores of 25-12, 25-6 and 25-11.

It was the ninth straight win for the Red Wolves this season, not having lost a set since its season-opener against J.H. Rose, a 3-1 Rampants win. Cedar Ridge remains atop the CCC at 4-0.

Senior Cameron Lloyd finished with eight kills and six digs. Julie Altieri had 12 assists, six digs and two aces.

Lloyd and Lanier didn’t play in the third set, so reserves got their opportunities to show their stuff while many of the starters watched on. Graylinn Serge, normally a regular on defense, came away with a career-high four kills. After every successful kill, several Cedar Ridge players did the worm (which became fashionable around the mid-1980s) on the bench. The consensus was that Addie Reid had the best form on her worm (By the way, Form on her Worm will be opening for Heim next summer).

When junior Cecilia Kenan scored two kills in the third set, each Cedar Ridge reserve ran a lap around on the sidelines around acting head coach Megan Skouby, who was in for Fiona Cunningham.

Cedar Ridge (9-1, 4-0) will travel to Western Alamance on Tuesday night. The Red Wolves will host Southern Alamance on Wednesday as part of three games in three days. Cedar Ridge will also face Walter Williams in Hillsborough on Thursday.

Women’s Tennis: Orange 7, Cedar Ridge 2: Evidently, various members of the Orange women’s tennis team have stayed up way past their bedtime to watch some of the marathon matches during the U.S. Open this week and decided to emulate them.

On Tuesday night, Orange’s Shannon Sollars and Cedar Ridge’s Cameron Mayhew engaged in a four-hour marathon match at #2 singles–and they didn’t even play a third set tiebreaker. Sollars emerged from the struggle with a 7-5, 7-6 (9-7) victory to improve to 5-2 in singles matches this year. The length of Sollars’ singles match didn’t stop her from teaming with her older sister, Erin, in the only doubles match of the night. Erin and Shannon won 6-4 under the lights at Orange High Tennis Courts.

Cedar Ridge sophomore Adeline Cummings continued her impressive season with a victory at #1 singles. Cummings, who is now 7-1 in singles play this season, won 6-4, 6-3. Ella Caltabiano, another Cedar Ridge sophomore, captured her match at #3 singles 6-1, 6-4.

In addition to Sollars, Orange senior Sydney Rogers won for the Lady Panthers. Rogers, who became the first female to score a point for the Panthers football team last month, won 6-4, 6-4 at #5 singles. Orange’s Isabel Jones captured her match after her opponent retired. Madelyn Horn and Cedar Ridge’s Raven Mowles-Aring had the only three-set match of the night. Horn, an Orange senior, squeezed out a victory 5-7, 7-5, 10-5.

Orange has now defeated Cedar Ridge in six straight meetings.

Orange 9, Person 0: On Thursday, the Orange women’s tennis team rolled past Person 9-0 in Roxboro. The Lady Panthers lost only four games in the nine matches.

Erin Sollars captured her match at #1 singles 6-1, 6-0 to improve to 6-3 in singles matches this year. She has won ten matches overall. Shannon Sollars was victorious at #2 singles 6-0, 6-0.

Makayla Davis won at #3 singles 6-0, 6-0. At #4 singles, Isabel Jones won 6-0, 6-0. Madelyn Horn and Grace Allred finished out the singles sweep for Orange.

in doubles play, Erin and Shannon Sollars won at #1 9-0. Davis and Jones teamed together for a win at #2 doubles. Horn and Allred won at #3 doubles.

Orange is 6-2 overall. More importantly, they maintained second place in the Central Carolina Conference behind Walter Williams with a 3-1 mark. The top two teams at season’s end in the CCC receive an automatic bid to the 3A State Dual Team Playoffs.

Men’s Soccer: Western Alamance 2, Orange 1: The Orange men’s soccer team went toe-to-toe with the defending 3A State Champions on Tuesday night, asked no quarter and gave none.

The Warriors would emerge from Orange Soccer Field with a 2-1 victory. The Warriors scored the opener within the first ten minutes. With Orange trailing 2-0, the Panthers knifed the lead in half after Dylan Silverman scored off a feed from senior Darius Corbett. So far this year, Corbett has been responsible for all three goals for Orange this year. He scored the game-winner in Orange’s only victory thus far, a 1-0 victory over Knightdale. It was Silverman’s first goal of the season.

Orange (1-5, 0-1 in the Central Carolina Conference) will travel to Burlington to face Walter Williams on Monday. On Wednesday, the Panthers will host Cedar Ridge for the first leg of the Hillsborough Derby.

Cedar Ridge 8, Eastern Guilford 0: On September 2, senior Chris Mendez notched the first hat trick of the season for Red Wolves soccer as the Red Wolves rolled past Eastern Guilford 8-0 at Cedar Ridge Stadium. Mendez also scored two goals for the Red Wolves in a 6-3 loss to East Chapel Hill on August 30.

The Cedar Ridge volleyball team has now won 28 consecutive conference games. The Red Wolves defeated crosstown rival Orange 3-0 on Tuesday night at Orange High Gymnasium on scores of 30-28, 25-9 and 25-23. Cedar Ridge had to fight off four set points in order to capture the initial frame. Junior Addie Reid notched the first point of the match with a block, then slammed home set point with a kill to end the longest set of the season for Cedar Ridge. In the third set, Orange had a 19-16 lead before Cameron Lanier earned a Red Wolf side out with a kill set up by Julie Atliteri. Lanier took over service and delivered three straight aces to give Cedar Ridge a 21-19 lead. Lanier finished the night with ten kills, three aces and one block. Reid had six kills and two blocks. Cedar Ridge has won eight in a row, all of them 3-0 sweeps. They are also atop the Central Carolina Conference with a 3-0 record. The Red Wolves, the defending 3A State Champions, will return home to face Eastern Alamance on Thursday night.