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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 2^nd-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!   

Editor’s Note: As Hillsboroughsports.com expands its umbrella into middle school sports, we’re also opening our doors to college sports commentary. Each week, Curran Campbell will provide his insight into ACC football and basketball, Curran graduated from Cedar Ridge in 2018. He is the former play-by-play voice of the Red Wolves who is now a freshman at Syracuse University.

It is 5 weeks into this college football season, and we are officially into conference play in the ACC. For the remainder of this season, I will be giving you my no holds barred thoughts on where every ACC team stands on a weekly basis. Every team that played a game the previous week will get a blurb, and at the end I’ll have my power rankings and predictions for this weeks ACC slate. Now that you know the rules, here we go!

Clemson

While still the top dog in the conference after a close call with the Tar Heels, Clemson had some weaknesses exposed in their trip up to Chapel Hill. The Tigers struggled with crowd noise in a rowdy Kenan Stadium, committing 5 false start penalties on the day. Clemson also had trouble dealing with the North Carolina pass rush. The Double A Gap blitz employed by Jay Bateman’s crew frequently led to a lot of hits on Trevor Lawrence. If the Tigers are going to repeat as national champs, they’re going to need to have better blitz recognition and learn how to deal with noise in a hostile road environment.

Duke

Duke continues to roll along after their inevitable season opening loss to Alabama, the 45-10 drubbing of a disheveled Virginia Tech team their most recent victory. Quarterback Quentin Harris has been excellent in taking care of the football for the Blue Devils and also leads the team in rushing yards. For Duke, the team is going to go as far as Harris can take them, and so far, it looks like they can be a competitor for the Coastal crown.

Wake Forest

Dave Clawson’s bunch barely held on against Boston College to win 27-24 on the road, but a road win in the ACC is a road win in the ACC nonetheless. The “holding on for dear life at the end” thing has been a theme for this Wake team all season long, and the Demon Deacons have played such disciplined football, I see no reason why it can’t carry them to a 9 or 10 win season. They are without a doubt the second best team in the Atlantic as of today. Also, if you don’t know about Sage Surratt already, you should now. Surratt leads the conference with 515 reception yards and is tied with his teammate, Scotty Washington, for most receiving touchdowns with 6. Yeah.

Syracuse

Quarterback Tommy DeVito and his fantastic receiving corps of Trishton Jackson, Taj Harris, and Sean Riley beat FCS Holy Cross 41-3 on Saturday. I don’t have a whole lot to say about Syracuse this week, as they did exactly what was expected of them. Going into the bye week, the Orange just need to focus on getting star safety Andre Cisco, who had a tie for the most interceptions in college football last year (7), healthy. 

North Carolina

Mack is back. That has been the story for the Tar Heels all season, and their performance, despite losing 21-20, against Clemson is another indicator of the strides North Carolina has made this season. Under Fedora, the tough loss to Appalachian State snowballs into a prolonged streak of poor play. Brown clearly has his team playing disciplined football, which has been sorely lacking for 3 years in Chapel Hill. The key for Carolina is the play of their trio of tailbacks; Michael Carter, Antonio Williams, and Javonte Williams. If those three keep playing at the level they have so far this season, I expect the November 2nd matchup against Virginia in Chapel Hill to decide the Coastal division.

Virginia

There is no shame in the Hoos 35-20 loss on the road at Notre Dame. Similar to Duke, U.Va. will go as far as their QB can take them. Bryce Perkins is a freakishly good, dare I say, Newtonesque athlete. As mentioned earlier, the November 2nd matchup at North Carolina will be their biggest game of the season.

Florida State

The Noles have rallied well after a rough start, with a solid comeback win over Louisville and most recently a dominant 31-13 win over NC State. The FSU defense has the ability to be dominant, and Cam Akers may be the best tailback in the ACC. The question mark for Florida State comes at the QB position. James Blackman has a fantastic arm, but the team seemingly plays better for Alex Hornibrook, who has thrown 5 TDs to zero picks in a game and a half as the Seminole starter. Will FSU go back to Blackman, or will they stick with Hornibrook? Either way, the Seminoles are definitely trending up right now.

Pitt

Pitt barely survived against FCS Delaware, squeaking by in a 17-14 game at Heinz Field, albeit with starting QB Kenny Pickett out with an injury. Pitt is a competitor for the Coastal title, only if Pickett can get healthy again. Otherwise, it’s going to be a long season for the Panthers, as backup Nick Patti is certainly not Pitt’s version of Kyle Allen.

Boston College

This is not a good football team up at Chestnut Hill. Steve Addazio’s teams in the past have been known to boast a strong defense. Despite playing decent against Wake Forest in their 27-24 defeat, giving up 28 points in a win over Va Tech and 48 in a loss to Big 12 bottom dweller Kansas is a sign of major concern for the Eagles. It’s hard to see BC going to a bowl game this season.

NC State

I’m sorry Wolfpack fans, I know there are definitely a few of you reading this, but this NC State team has been dreadful. Almost all of the blame however, can be placed on the offensive side of the football. Matthew McKay and Bailey Hockman have both been underwhelming at quarterback, and because of that, receivers Emeka Emezie and Thayer Thomas haven’t been able to make the difference they are capable of. With Ricky Person sustaining an injury in the 31-13 loss to Florida State, that leaves Zonovan Knight as the only reliable tailback. And unless the Wolfpack defense can hold their opponents to less than 20 points, I have a hard time seeing the Pack having much success against ACC competition.

Virginia Tech

The Hokies are a team that have quit on their coach, and on their season. If it wasn’t already obvious after the close call with Furman, it is after the 45-10 beatdown at home against Duke, the worst home loss in 45 years. I see 2, maybe 3 wins left on the schedule. One of those wins left is FCS Rhode Island, which a win against would not count towards bowl eligibility. There is almost no way that Justin Fuente comes back next season as the head man for the Hokies.

Georgia Tech

Yes, Georgia Tech is the worst team in the conference, and a 24-2 loss, yes, 24-2 loss to Temple doesn’t help their case at all. I strongly believe that Georgia Tech will not win any more games this season. That being said, this is Geoff Collins’ first year with the Jackets, and he is still stuck with Paul Johnson’s players. Because of that, Collins’ is stuck using players recruited to run the triple option in a spread scheme. It’ll be a while before Georgia Tech is competitive again. 

Power Rankings1. Clemson2. Wake Forest3. Virginia4. Florida State5. North Carolina6. Duke7. Syracuse8. Miami9. Pitt10. Boston College11. NC State12. Louisville13. Virginia Tech14. Georgia Tech

Predictions

Boston College at Louisville (-4.5): Louisville, 28-24

Virginia Tech at Miami (-13.5): Miami, 21-10

North Carolina (-10.5) at Georgia Tech: North Carolina, 31-7

Pitt at Duke (-5): Duke, 28-14

Article by Tim Hackett

For Orange High School volleyball, last Thursday was pretty unusual. The Panthers are pretty used to playing Cedar Ridge, their cross-town rivals, but they’re also used to beating them: the Red Wolves’ victory at Orange on Thursday was their first in the series in five tries. That’s pretty unusual. The five-setter was the first time Orange had to go the distance in a match since last August. That’s pretty unusual. Cedar Ridge hit .175 as a team in the match and still won. That’s pretty unusual. And that Cedar Ridge victory came just days after their historic win over Chapel Hill, a team that hadn’t lost a match to another team from North Carolina all year. It doesn’t get a whole lot more unusual than that. 

But on Tuesday night in Hillsborough, everything was pretty much back to normal. Back at home in their first game since Thursday’s thriller, the Panthers (7-4, 2-1 Big 8) eked out a close first set before dispatching the Northwood Chargers (6-7, 1-3) in straight sets, 26-24, 25-15, 25-21. It’s the third straight win in this in-conference series for Orange after the Panthers won both matchups in four sets a year ago. 

The two teams went toe-to-toe to start the tilt. The Chargers served well to start and got out to a 13-10 lead, and Orange had little luck getting the left-side attack in gear. The solution? Switch the offense to the right side. It’s an uncommon strategy at any level of volleyball, but Orange’s Lottie Scully was the girl for the job. Facing that three-point deficit, Kaitlyn Werden back set for a right-side kill, sparking an 8-3 that vaulted Orange into the lead. But the Chargers wouldn’t die: the teams battled to ties at 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24 before, fittingly, a Scully ace gave Orange set point and a Scully set for a Werden kill on, you guessed it, the right side, gave Orange the set at 26-24. 

“We’ll feed the right side especially if they don’t have the defenders to block it,” Orange head coach Kelly Young said. “A lot of teams aren’t used to a strong right side attack from a defensive standpoint, so we’ll definitely go to it when we can.” 

The success on the opposite end finally opened up the traditional attacking avenues as the match progressed – Avery Miller and Emma Clements got their looks from the left side, and Erin Jordan-Cornell added a few kills out of the middle. Orange’s offensive diversity was on display in the second set as the Panthers scored the first five points and never looked back. Miller was clinical from both sides all set before Ella Van Tiem appropriately finished it off at 25-14 with another kill from the right side. 

But the Chargers still had some juice left in them. The visitors won five of the first six points and, after Scully responded with back-to-back kills from each pin, Northwood generated a run to establish a 16-13 lead. Young called a timeout, and the Panthers responded by rattling off the next six points to take a 19-16 lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Clements cleaned up the rebound on one of Northwood’s few blocks of Scully for match point, and then the Chargers bump-set a free ball wide to hand Orange the set 25-21 and the match three sets to none. 

Northwood’s serving, especially from Kaela Harris, kept the Chargers in the match early. Young conceded that her players might have been a little unsettled in their first match since Thursday’s events, but said that once they cleaned up their serving and passing in the second set things went a lot smoother. As for Scully, the sophomore setter/right side had a splendid showing in all phases – serving, setting and swinging. Afterward, Young said Scully has been playing through injuries all year and we might just be seeing the beginning of how good Scully could be. 

“She’s not even at her full potential,” Young said. “I’m just waiting for her to be as good as she can be.”

But things won’t get any easier for Scully and the Panthers, as Chapel Hill, the three-time defending conference champs, loom on Thursday. After Orange was able to get back to business as usual on Tuesday, if the Panthers were able to tame the Tigers on Thursday, that would be unusual indeed. 

Article by Tim Hackett

Silent in Sanford: Cedar Ridge Suffers Second-Straight Shutout at Hands of Southern Lee

Friday the 13^th with a full moon in full effect – Friday night seemed like a great night for a team named the Red Wolves to transfigure some meteorological magic into their first varsity football win in more than two years. Instead, the Cedar Ridge Red Wolves (0-3) were bewitched and bedeviled all evening on this, the unluckiest of evenings, by the Southern Lee Cavaliers (2-2), falling 44-0. It’s the second week in a row that Cedar Ridge failed to score a single point. 

It’s also the second week in a row that mistakes cost Cedar Ridge dearly. After they mostly shirked the responsibility for their turnovers and missed opportunities against Carrboro, Bartlett Yancey made the Red Wolves pay for their turnovers last week – and the Cavaliers did too. Cedar Ridge moved the ball to midfield on its opening possession, but quarterback Will Berger miscommunicated with his two tailbacks on an attempted handoff, and Southern Lee fell on the dropped change. A few plays later, the Cavaliers were in the end zone for the opening score. 

But Cedar Ridge didn’t waver. Berger rebounded to help spearhead a drive deep into Cavalier territory, but the drive stalled in the Southern Lee red zone when Torrean Hinton correctly elected to attempt to convert a fourth-and-medium rather than try a 35-yard field goal with an inexperienced kicker. The gamble failed, leaving Southern Lee the ball on their own 18-yard line. Two plays later, the Cavaliers were at the other 18-yard line, and a few plays after that, they were back in the end zone. 

Cedar Ridge never had another prolonged drive. On Cedar Ridge’s next three possessions, the Red Wolves punted. On Southern Lee’s next three drives, the Cavaliers found the end zone, and the home team headed to halftime on top 35-0. There was only more trouble in store after the break, as Zach Holmes had to scramble to recover a poor snap on a punt attempt, hustling after the loose ball and tossing it through the back of the end zone for a safety. The Red Wolves did force a trio of Southern Lee punts in the second half, but the Cavs were able to strike once more to switch on the running clock and seal the deal at 44-0. 

Southern Lee entered Friday night’s contest with a lot of questions. Could its defense, which surrendered more than 60 points two weeks ago against Pinecrest, get back in shape? Was its offense, which put up 47 in a rout of Northwood last week, for real? On this night, at least, the answer to both of those questions seemed to be yes. The Cavs’ defensive front bottled up Isaiah McCambry for the first time this year, while a loaded secondary rendered ineffective a passing attack that was without top wideout KJ Barnes. 

On the other side of the ball, Southern Lee showcased just what its new-era, modernized pseudo I-formation offense can do. Running backs Keshaun Mays and Nick Locklear were excellent up the middle, allowing for halfback Tanoah Lockley to ravage the Cedar Ridge perimeter defense with sweeps and pitch-based runs all evening – Lockley had four all-purpose touchdowns in the first half alone before Locklear added his in the second. 

For Torrean Hinton and Cedar Ridge it was another evening of finding the silver linings in the many clouds, literal and metaphorical, that covered the Sanford sky on Friday. The defense was solid, though not perfect in the second half, even if Southern Lee might have lifted its foot off the gas somewhat. The secondary was pretty solid even without Barnes and albeit against a team that doesn’t throw very much. Elijah Whitaker was excellent in the return game in Barnes’ absence, consistently giving the offense good and even great field position to work from. The highlight though for Cedar Ridge was easily the blocked field goal in the second half when someone reached up their right arm and redirected Daniel Pisano’s bid from about 34 yards away. The next step, once again, is learning from those moments and turning it into better, more consistent play in all phases. The Red Wolves will need to be much better next week than they have been the last two, but the good news is there are eight more chances for that first win in more than two years, and the next chance comes on the road next week against Providence Grove at 7 PM. 

Article by Tim Hackett

Two weeks ago, Cedar Ridge High School fans saw something they hadn’t seen in nearly two years: a varsity Red Wolves football game. For a school that’s hoping to rebuild, revitalize and renew its football program, that was Step One. This week, Cedar Ridge was searching for success at Step Two: winning a varsity football game for the first time in exactly 750 days. 

But instead of Step Two, the Red Wolves (0-2) took a big step back, falling 42-0 to the Bartlett Yancey Buccaneers (3-0) Friday night in Hillsborough. After Cedar Ridge was unable to capitalize on seven Carrboro turnovers in the game two weeks ago, the Buccaneers showcased how to convert mistakes into points – five of the six Bartlett Yancey touchdowns came immediately off Cedar Ridge turnovers, and the sixth came courtesy of a muffed snap that the Buccaneer defense fell on in the end zone. 

The Red Wolves began their first Friday night game of the season with a three-and-out but quickly got back on offense as KJ Barnes soared to pick off a pass from Chase Johnson, the senior quarterback’s first giveaway this season. But just a couple of plays later, Cedar Ridge quarterback returned the favor with an undercooked pass down the right sideline that Shahiem Boyd nabbed, and the Buccaneers converted that into a 22-yard touchdown run by standout junior running back Michael Slade, who was averaging 12 yards per carry heading into Friday. Berger’s muffed snap led to the defensive score and a 12-0 lead for the visitors early in the second quarter, and before Cedar Ridge could escape the shadows of its own goal posts Boyd picked off Berger again to set up the Buccaneers inside the red zone and allow Johnson to scamper in on a QB keeper for a 20-0 lead. 

That’s when the wheels came off for the Red Wolves. After that touchdown, Miles Jefferson kicked off for the visitors and KJ Barnes received it. But somewhere during the return he coughed the ball up and Bartlett Yancey recovered it. A few plays later, Johnson found Boyd for a score. After that touchdown, Miles Jefferson kicked off for the visitors and Jaikel Gibbs received it. But somewhere during the return he coughed the ball up and Bartlett Yancey recovered it. The next play, veteran back Jacob Scales took it to the house for a score. After that touchdown, Miles Jefferson kicked off for the visitors and Elijah Whitaker received it. But somewhere during the return he coughed the ball up and Bartlett Yancey recovered it. A few plays later, Johnson hit Davon Lipscomb for a touchdown and the Buccaneers had a 42-0 lead. Three virtually identical plays with three identical outcomes: treasure buried in the end zone, unearthed by the Buccaneers. 

Something changed for Cedar Ridge after halftime. Sure, the visitors were able to coast somewhat with a massive lead the Red Wolves never threatened to reduce, but the Buccaneers played their starters, including Johnson, for the entire third quarter and much of the fourth. Sure, he mercy rule running clock went into effect after halftime, meaning neither team had to run nearly as many plays, but the Red Wolves still shut out Bartlett Yancey after the break. After a slow start, Isaiah McCambry had a strong second half on both sides of the ball, proving the week one suspicion that he is someone Cedar Ridge can build around. Braxton Mergenthal was a tackling force and clearly showed himself as the best defensive player wearing the dark uniform. And though they benefitted from more than a few Buccaneer drops in the second half, the Cedar Ridge secondary also improved as the game went on. Still, after a frustrating loss to Carrboro and this lackluster loss to Bartlett Yancey sandwiching the team’s only bye week, new head coach Torrean Hinton must turn the page quickly as his team gets set to head to Sanford to face Southern Lee for the first of three straight road games next week.

Third-year Bartlett Yancey head coach Jason Brumfield said this summer his main goal was to win more games than last year. After a 3-8 campaign a season ago, the Buccaneers seem primed to plunder one their most prosperous seasons in recent history. As for Cedar Ridge, their quest for their first varsity win since August 2017 will have to wait at least another week.

By Alexandria Hopkins

The holidays are here, and a great present has been presented to the Panther’s wrestling team; Orange winning against Northwood High School in last night’s wrestling match.
In a considerably short dual, only lasting about thirty minutes from it’s start at 6 PM, Panthers wrestling won 69 – 9 against the Chargers in a game that served easy for Coach Bobby Shriner and his team.

However, while playing a fair match, the game itself became burtal, with many of Northwood’s kids holding a posisiton for a longer amount of time than needed and keeping their match going longer than possibily needed too.

Jason Amy, wresling coach and Physical Education teacher for Northwood, said that a game like this will not hurt their previous worth toward the Panthers, and they are staying quite optimistic about future outings.
“With injuries mounting and many kids out with sickness Northwood was unable to fill a complete team for our match. Last year we were a one point difference between the Northwood and Orange. We will be excited to have the opportunity later to compete at full strength next year!”
Still, Orange was able to give their all in that night’s game Using teamwork and the guidance of Coach Shriner and his assistant Coaches, wrestlers like Brandon Hensey, Avery Jenkins, Jamar Dons, and Luke Riley still outshined amongst the rest of the forefits of other players. Players served and scored amongst takedowns, near falls and a few reversals to help the team win their individual matches. Not only did families of the members cheer on, but the rest of the team themsleves gave their absolute support from the bleachers, bringing all the noise in the big gymnansium in consideration next to a quiet audience.
Coach Shriner says that last night’s game was more than worth it, and even with all the forfits, were still glad to be a part of the night.
“Last night, the other team had multiple forfeits, so it made it a little easier for us. And I thought the guys on the team wrestled well next to some tough guys, anf they lost two matches, which was a bummer, but altight in the end. Like anything, we prepare for every match like it’s the same, and in the end it just all works out.”
The Orange wrestling team will be playing their next match at Eastern Alamance High School, starting Saturday afternoon at 5.

By Alexandria Hopkins
Last Tuesday not only saw the start towards the five-day long weekend for Thanksgiving at Orange, but another victory for their sports team.
Orange played and later won between three competing teams from out of Orange County – Southern Alamance from Graham, Walter Williams from Burlington, and Northern Durham from Durham – on Tuesday night before students were off for Thanksgiving break.

The team first went against Northern Durham. Orange treated this Durham team the toughest of the night, with an abundance of takedowns and pins, though leading to some caution points, even if very few. Northern, however, were able to take a stand in some of the matches, earning takedowns, reversals and pinning down some of Orange’s wrestlers. However, this was no match for the Durham wrestling team, eventually winning with 48 – 24.
Next was Orange against Walter Williams High School from near-by Burlington. This was partially due to more members in Orange’s team than the smaller amount of Williams, though the matches played were fair, with some near falls and takedowns filling out the tense atmosphere of the game. Williams also were able to score a few takedowns, though very few as the rest was filled with penalty points and eventual defeat from Orange’s rougher players. However, Orange yet again won, and winning in an absolute landslide with 73 – 6.
Finally rounding out the night was Southern Alamance. Alamance played against some members of the wrestling teams who had not previously played against Durham or Williams; however, the match was cluttered, with these members playing Alamance while other wrestlers from Orange also matched against Walter Williams players. Still, when collected, both sides were tough to beat, with Orange having the most takedowns of the night and very few certified pin downs. Both sides, however, also had many near falls and escapes between each side. Although both sides played strong, Orange again came out strong with the closest scoring of the night at 46 – 35.
As far as any impressive wrestlers roughing up the competitors on Tuesday’s match, there were some few that should be mentioned for their standout performance. From Northern Durham’s match, notable players include Joey Petrucelli, who went for the fastest pin down of the match at just 1:25 in; Bailey Hawkins was also a extraordinary player who pinned down his opponent at with 1:05. However, the most impressive match was Williams: not only because half of the match was filled with defeats due to few wrestlers to fight, Orange should great times of pin downs and lots of takedowns that showed the overwhelming power of the Panthers wrestling match. Southern Alamance, as aforementioned, were also very rigid in tackling down the competition, including Josiah Ramirez and Charlie Wilechase.
The next game for Orange Wrestling is a Jim King/Orange Invitational, next Friday and Saturday on December 2nd and 3rd, with 21 team invited to play against Orange.