Cedar Ridge High School

Trenton Gill: In his first year playing for the N.C. State football team, 2018 Cedar Ridge graduate Trent Gill has been put on the watch list for the Ray Guy Award, presented to the college punter of the year. This season, as a sophomore, Gill has averaged 47.1 yards per punt. Of his 40 punts, eleven have been downed inside the 20-yard line. He’s had eighteen punts of over 50 yards, along with five touchbacks. Gill also handles kickoffs for the Wolfpack. At Cedar Ridge, Gill was an All-Big 8 Conference performer in football and men’s soccer. The Wolfpack will host #4 Clemson this Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh.

Kayla Hodges: The Elon women’s soccer team had its season come to an end on Sunday in the semifinals of the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament. Top-seeded Hofstra defeated the Phoenix 3-1 on Sunday at Hofstra Soccer Stadium. Hodges started at midfield at fired one shot. After winning only three games in 2018, Elon went 12-6-2 this year. Hodges was named second-team All-CAA. She finished the year with four goals, two assists and ten points. Hodges, a sophomore, started all 18 games that she appeared in for Elon.

Taylin Jean: The Division II Limestone women’s soccer team ended the regular season with a 2-0 victory over King University at Parks Field in Bristol, TN on Sunday. Jean started as goalkeeper for the Saints and earned the win by making one save. She played 77 minutes. Limestone finished the regular season 9-8, 8-3 in Conference Carolinas. Limestone is the #4 seed in the Conference Carolinas Tournament, which starts on Friday. In the opening round, Limestone will host North Greenville University. In the regular season, Jean started all 17 games for the Saints in net. She went 9-8 with a 1.37 goals against average. She had six shutouts.

Lionel Reid-Shaw: The Division III Dickinson men’s soccer team finished its regular season on Saturday. Johns Hopkins defeated the Red Devils 4-1 at Homewood Field in Baltimore. Reid-Shaw, who scored the first goal of his four-year career last week, started for the Red Devils at centerback. Dickinson ended the regular season 10-7 overall, 6-3 in the Centennial Conference. The Red Devils earned a #3 seed for the Centennial Conference tournament, which starts Saturday at Franklin & Marshall University in Lancaster, PA. Dickinson will face Johns Hopkins, once again, in the opening round.

Madison Wardlow: Now playing for the Guilford Technical Community College women’s basketball team, Wardlow scored 28 points for the Titans in an exhibition game in Apex. Interestingly enough, one of the officials for the game was Felton Page, who was Wardlow’s high school coach. Page resigned as Cedar Ridge women’s coach in March. On a totally and completely unrelated note, Wardlow finished the game with one foul. Wardlow will officially start her career on Wednesday night at Methodist College in the Riddle Center in Fayetteville.

Lauren Cates: The 2019 Orange High graduate started her college career with the Wake Technical Community College Eagles on Monday night. Cates started and scored nine points as the Eagles defeated Caldwell Community College 57-47 in Raleigh. Cates was 3-of-11 from the field. All of her field goals were 3-pointers. Wake Tech continues its season at Fayetteville Technical Community College on Wednesday night.

by Curran Campbell

In this week’s edition of the ramble, I think I finally have an idea of what the true pecking order in the coastal is. Let’s find out together next week when it turns out I actually have it all wrong again! Also, we will have basketball power rankings and predictions but only for conference games. There will also be no basketball analysis until football season is over.

Note: Since neither Clemson nor Virginia Tech played conference games this past weekend, I will not have analysis on them.

Wake Forest

Pure dominance over an inferior opponent is what the Demon Deacons displayed last Saturday against the Wolfpack in a 44-10 victory. The Wake defense took advantage of a freshman QB in Leary much like they did with Sam Howell earlier this season, and Wake continues their quest towards an Orange Bowl bid.

Boston College

AJ Dillon is the best tailback in the conference, and his performance led the Eagles to a 58-27 annihilation of Syracuse. 691 total yards of offense, with 496 of those coming on the ground from the likes of Dillon and David Bailey is generally a good formula for success.

Miami

The Miami defense was dominant in a 27-10 rivalry victory over Florida State, and I think Miami finally has the QB situation ironed out with Jarren Williams cementing his role as the starter. His play has been huge in Miami’s resurgence and will be critical for the Canes success down the stretch.

Pittsburgh

Not much to say here, Pitt did enough to beat a god awful Georgia Tech team 20-10, and they will go into the bye week looking to improve before playing a solid North Carolina team next Thursday night.

Virginia

Bryce. Perkins. I think that says enough about UVa’s performance in a 38-31 win over in Chapel Hill. UVa is now the clear favorite to win the coastal division. Assuming they win out going into the final week of the season, it’ll be a Commonwealth Clash for the ages that would theoretically decide the coastal.

NC State

State has played 3 quarterbacks so far this season, and they have all been bad with all 3, the most recent dumpster fire performance coming from Devin Leary. Leary went 17-45 for 149 yards to go along with a touchdown and two picks. That kind of play is unacceptable and with all the talent on that NC State roster, you have to think if they just had a QB they could be competing at the same level as Wake. Alas, they don’t have a QB.

Syracuse

Syracuse’s most recent performance was enough to get defensive coordinator Brian Ward fired a year after he was nominated for the Broyles Award. Simply put, when you lose 57-28 and give up nearly 700 total yards to Boston College, some sort of change has to be made, and Ward was the sacrificial lamb.

Florida State

After the 27-10 loss to Miami, FSU pulled the plug on the Willie Taggart era. I never thought that Taggart was the right hire for Florida State in the first place, that being said, Florida State never gave him enough of a chance. Let’s see how the Seminoles ruin their next coach!

North Carolina

The 38-31 loss to UVa killed the Tar Heels chances at a coastal crown, but the Heels still have a ton left to play for. With 3 games left in the season, the Heels need 2 more wins to go to a bowl game. They have 1 pretty much guaranteed with the Mercer game, but how will the Heels steal one on the road at Pitt, or win what is always a tough game at Carter-Finley stadium. Logic would indicate that the Heels shouldn’t have a problem against this NC State team in a few weeks, but we all know that logic doesn’t exist in that football game outside of 2015 when that dominant Carolina team just took care of business easily. Every other time, it’s a grinder of a football game, so it will be a tough, but very much doable climb for the Heels to go bowling for the first time since 2016.

Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech is bad, their players on offense still don’t suit the system that Geoff Collins is trying to run. A 20-10 loss to Pitt is a pretty solid result for GT as they continue a massive overhaul in Atlanta.

Football Power Rankings

1. Clemson

2. Wake Forest

3. Virginia

4. Virginia Tech

5. Louisville

6. North Carolina

7. Pitt

8. Miami

9. Duke

10. Florida State

11. Boston College

12. NC State

13. Georgia Tech

14. Syracuse

Football Predictions

Florida State at Boston College (-1.5): Boston College, 38-28

Georgia Tech at Virginia (-15): Virginia, 48-20

Wake Forest (-2.5) at Virginia Tech: Wake Forest, 31-27

Louisville at Miami (-6.5): Louisville, 35-24

Clemson (-31.5) at NC State: Clemson, 52-10

Notre Dame (-8) at Duke: Notre Dame, 21-17

Last week’s predictions: 3-3

Season Total: 16-12

Basketball Power Rankings

1. North Carolina

2. Duke

3. Virginia

4. Louisville

5. NC State

6. Florida State

7. Syracuse

8. Miami

9. Notre Dame

10. Pitt

11. Clemson

12. Georgia Tech

13. Virginia Tech

14. Boston College

15. Wake Forest

Basketball Predictions

Louisville at Miami: Louisville, 73-69

Virginia Tech at Clemson: Clemson, 64-58

Georgia Tech at NC State: NC State, 83-70

Notre Dame at North Carolina: North Carolina, 87-72

Wake Forest at Boston College: Boston College, 61-55

Florida State at Pitt: Pitt, 81-75

Virginia at Syracuse: Syracuse, 65-62

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is men’s cross country runner Levi Draughon. At the Big 8 Cross Country Championships at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, Draughon was the highest placer among Cedar Ridge male runners with a time of 17:47.30. He finished 17th overall to qualify for the Mideast Regionals. On Saturday at the Regionals at Northwood High School in Pittsboro, Draughon finished 34th among 134 runners, again the highest among Cedar Ridge runners.  Cedar Ridge finished eighth among 20 teams at the Mideast Regionals. Draughon is only a sophomore and still has plenty of years left to compete as he prepares for indoor track & field season for Cedar Ridge. 

It isn’t really news that Cedar Ridge High has the lowest enrollment in the Big 8 Conference, according to the latest Average Daily Membership figures released by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association on Monday afternoon.

However, enrollment is up at Cedar Ridge compared to last year, while Orange High’s ADM had a minor drop.

Cedar Ridge’s ADM is 1076 for the 2019-2020 academic year. Last year, it was 1025. Both figures were easily the lowest in the Big 8 Conference.

On the other side of Hillsborough, Orange’s ADM was 1,306. That’s down slightly from last academic year, when it was 1,326.

In the 2017-18 academic year, Cedar Ridge’s ADM was 1,145. Orange was at 1,324.

Of the 109 3A schools in the state of North Carolina, only eleven have a lower ADM total than Cedar Ridge. Those schools are Eastern Wayne (891), Hunter Huss (1,046), Monroe (1,006), White Oak (1,057), Montgomery Central (a new school that is the only 3A member of the 3A/2A Rocky River Conference with 1,060), South Brunswick (1,033), Havelock (1,036), East Rowan (939), Tuscola (948), Southwest Randolph (1,026), and Stuart Cramer (1,032).

Among Big 8 Conference schools, Northern Durham has the highest ADM (1,707). Southern Durham was second with 1,575. Chapel Hill finished with 1,536, followed closely by crosstown rival East Chapel Hill (1528), and Northwood (1,306). Vance County, which consolidated Northern and Southern Vance in 2018, had 1,245.

The ADM numbers are released just in time for the state football playoffs. The brackets will be released on Saturday.

The Orange football team finishes its season against Chapel Hill on Friday night. The Panthers currently have a MaxPreps ranking of #69, placing them on the bubble to make the state playoffs. Chances are, if the Panthers do make the postseason, it will be in the 3A State Tournament, as opposed to the 3AA.

These figures will also be used by the NCHSAA Board of Directors when discussions continue regarding realignment this winter.

In May, NCHSAA President Que Tucker announced that the association would delay the realignment process by one year to pursue a fifth class. A proposal to allow the NCHSAA to add a 5A class is expected sometime next spring. Tucker was quoted as saying that if a fifth class is added, it would end the practice of awarding eight state champions in football. Instead, the NCHSAA would crown five state champions.

The new realignment plan would take effect in August 2021.

The subdivision of the four classifications started in 2002 in North Carolina.

Some Cedar Ridge parents and graduates want the Red Wolves to return to the 2A classification. The Red Wolves were members of the 2A/1A Carolina 10 Conference until the end of the 2012-13 academic year. In 2010, the Cedar Ridge football team reached the 2AA Eastern Regional Championship game, where they lost to traditional power Elizabeth City Northeastern.

For comparison’s sake, there are other neighboring schools that have an ADM in the same ballpark as Cedar Ridge. That includes Orange’s former PAC-6 Conference rival Person, which had 1,095. Rockingham County, who competes against Cedar Ridge in several sports, had an ADM of 1082. Southern Guilford, West Rowan, West Carteret (who Cedar Ridge has defeated each of the last two years in the state softball playoffs), Forestview, North Gaston and North Henderson all had ADMs of under 1,100.

The largest 3A school was Clayton with 1,951. Eastern Wayne was the smallest.

The largest 2A school was Atkins at 1,138. The smallest 4A school was West Mecklenburg at 1,262. Myers Park has the largest public school enrollment in the state at 3,688.

Payton Wilson: It was another long day for the N.C. State football team on Saturday. #23 Wake Forest handled the Wolfpack 44-10 at BB&T Field in Winston-Salem. For the first time in his college career, Wilson led the Wolfpack with eleven tackles, including one for a loss. Wilson also had a pass breakup. A redshirt freshman, Wilson is now third on the team with 46 tackles. He’s also tied for third with 4.5 tackles for loss. N.C. State will face #4 Clemson next Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh.

Trenton Gill: The 2018 Cedar Ridge graduate was busy for N.C. State on Saturday. Gill had eight punts averaging 46 yards per boot. Three of the punts went over 50 yards and two were downed inside the 20-yard line. His longest punt was 61 yards. Gill also had three kickoffs, two of which were touchbacks.

Adam Chnupa: Many people know Virginia Tech and UNC played the first college football game ever that ended with dueling two-point conversions in the fifth and sixth overtimes two weeks ago. On Saturday, Adam Chnupa played in the second for the FCS Elon Phoenix. William & Mary defeated Elon 31-29 in five overtimes at Rhode Stadium on the Phoenix’s Homecoming. Chnupa played special teams for Elon. The Phoenix are now 4-5, 3-3 in the Colonial Athletic Association. They host Maine next week.

Keshawn Thompson: The FCS Campbell Camels loss in heartbreaking fashion at North Alabama 25-24 at Braly Stadium in Florence, AL on Saturday. The Lions’ Joe Gurley kicked a 20-yard field goal as time expired. Thompson played the game on special teams for the Camels, whose six-game winning streak was snapped. Campbell is still undefeated in the Big South Conference (North Alabama will officially join the Big South in 2020. They’re a provisional FCS program this season after jumping up from Division II). Campbell hosts Kennesaw State next Saturday.

Rodney Brooks: Division II Fayetteville State defeated Livingstone 32-0 at Alumni Memorial Stadium in Salisbury on Saturday. Brooks made three tackles for the Blue Bears, including one for a loss. Livingston falls to 4-5, 1-5 in the CIAA. They end the season next week against Johnston C. Smith for Senior Day.

Kevin Wright: Division III North Carolina Wesleyan defeated Methodist 48-24 at Monarch Stadium in Fayetteville. Wright, a 2018 Cedar Ridge graduate, had two tackles for the Battling Bishops. Wesleyan is 4-4, 3-2 in the USA South Athletic Conference. They travel to Huntingdon next Saturday.

Taylin Jean: Mount Olive defeated Division II Limestone 2-1 at Saints Field in Gaffney, S.C. on Saturday in a showdown for first place in Conference Carolinas. Jean started as goalkeeper for the Saints once again and made two saves. Limestone is 8-8, 7-3 in Conference Carolinas . The Trojans wrapped up the Centennial Conference regular season championship with the victory.

Brittany Daley: The Division III Greensboro College women’s soccer team advanced to the USA South Conference Tournament semifinals on Saturday. The Pride defeated Huntingdon 2-0 at Pride Field in Greensboro. Daley started her 18th game of the season at center back. Greensboro will face Covenant in the semifinals at Maryville College in Tennessee on Friday.

Lili Henry: The Division III Methodist volleyball team ended its regular season on Saturday in a tri-match at the Riddle Center in Fayetteville. William Peace defeated the Monarchs 3-0 on scores of 25-20, 25-20, and 25-15. Henry had 13 assists, five digs and one ace against the Pacers. Earlier in the day, Greensboro College edged the Monarchs 3-2 on scores of 16-25, 25-22, 11-25, 25-16 and 12-15. Henry led the team with 29 assists, eleven digs and one ace. Methodist concludes the regular season 6-19, 5-11 in the USA South Conference. The Monarchs still play in the USA South Conference tournament with a road trip to William Peace on Tuesday.

Lionel Reid-Shaw: The 2016 Orange graduate picked quite a time to score his first career goal for the Division III Dickinson men’s soccer team. In the 65th game of his career, Reid-Shaw scored off a header in the 76th minute for the game-winning goal as the Red Devils defeated Muhlenberg in the final home game of the regular season for Dickinson at Miller Memorial Field in Carlisle, PA on Wednesday night. Reid-Shaw is a senior. The goal secured either a #2 or #3 seed for Dickinson in the upcoming Centennial Conference Tournament. Dickinson will travel to Johns Hopkins on Saturday.

Kayla Hodges: The 2018 Orange High graduate was named 2nd team All-Colonial Athletic Conference in women’s soccer on Thursday. This season, Hodges started all 17 games for Elon. She scored four goals and tallied two assists. Towards the end of the regular season, Hodges scored goals in consecutive games against William & Mary and Drexel. Hodges, a sophomore, helped Elon go from 3-10-4 in 2018 to 12-5-2 in 2019. On Friday night, the Phoenix defeated Northeastern 2-1 in the opening round of the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament at Hoftra Soccer Stadium. Hodges started at midfield as Elon advanced to the semifinals of the CAA Tournament for the first time in program history. Elon will face top-seeded Hofstra on Sunday afternoon.

Taylin Jean: The Division II Limestone women’s soccer team dropped a tough 1-0 overtime decision to Catawba on Wednesday at Saints Field in Gaffney, S.C. Hodges, a 2018 Cedar Ridge graduate, started in net for the Saints and made five saves. She is now 8-7 this season. Limestone is 7-2 in Conference Carolinas, two games behind Mount Olive for 1st place. Jean has started every game for the Saints. They return home on Saturday to face Mount Olive.

Jordan Rogers: The Division III William Peace University women’s soccer team ended its season on Wednesday. Methodist defeated the Pacers 1-0 at Monarch SoccerPlex in Fayetteville in the opening round of the USA South Athletic Conference Tournament. Rogers started at wingback for the Pacers, who ended the season 7-11-1. It set a new program record for wins in a season. The team also made the USA South Tournament for the first time in team history. Rogers, a sophomore, started all 19 games this season for Peace and moved from midfielder to wingback. Last season, Rogers played 14 games for Peace.

Brittany Daley: The Greensboro College women’s soccer team didn’t play this week. They earned a bye to the quarterfinals of the USA South Athletic Conference Tournament after the Pride finished as the top-seed from the Eastern Division. Greensboro hosts Huntingdon on Saturday afternoon at Pride Field.

Lili Henry: The Division III Methodist volleyball team lost to Guilford College 3-1 at the Riddle Center in Fayetteville. Henry, who graduated from Cedar Ridge in 2018, led the Monarchs with 23 assists. She also had two aces and six digs. Methodist is 6-17 overall, 5-9 in the USA South Athletic Conference. They will host Greensboro and William Peace in a tri-match on Saturday.

Bailey Lucas: On Friday night, the Meredith volleyball team ended its regular season with a 3-1 win over Salem College at Varsity Gym in Winston-Salem. Lucas had a team-high 28 assists and 18 digs. The Avenging Angels finished the regular season 19-8, 13-3 in the USA South Conference. In a packed Weatherspoon Gym in Raleigh on Wednesday, William Peace defeated Meredith volleyball team 3-1 on scored of 17-25, 25-20, 25-23 and 25-19. Lucas, who graduated from Orange in 2018, played in all four sets for Meredith. She finished with a team-high 23 assists, 12 digs, and two kills. The loss knocked Meredith out of first place in conference play. They will go into the USA South Conference Tournament, which starts Tuesday, as the #2 seed.

The fall sports season is drawing to a close with some playoff intrigue in football and men’s soccer. On Monday night, the Cedar Ridge men’s soccer team dropped a 1-0 decision to Southern Durham on senior night at Red Wolves Stadium. The Spartans scored in the opening minute and largely packed in its defense the rest of the game to hold Cedar Ridge scoreless.

It was a costly loss to Cedar Ridge’s playoff chances. On Tuesday, the Red Wolves’ MaxPreps ranking fell to #68. They’re 7-12-1 overall, 5-9 in the Big 8 Conference. While Southern Durham’s MaxPreps ranking is #67, they can’t make the state playoffs ahead of the Red Wolves because Cedar Ridge finished ahead of them in the Big 8 standings.

Last week, the Orange football team kept its playoff hopes alive with a dramatic 31-30 overtime win over Northwood. Machai Holt scored in overtime for the game-winning score. Sophomore Omarion Lewis scored three touchdowns.

On Saturday, the season ended for the Cedar Ridge and Orange High volleyball teams. Terry Sanford defeated the Red Wolves 3-1 in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs. Clayton swept Orange. Two nights later the Comets stunned previously undefeated Grey’s Creek 3-0 to advance to the Round of 16.

The Big 8 Conference Cross Country Championships were held at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary last Thursday. We’ll have more details on the results in a post coming up later tonight.

Now, here’s the Magnificent 7 from Week 9 of the Fall Sports Season:

Anne Morrell: Finished 10th in the Big 8 Women’s Cross Country Championships with a time of 19:52.70. Helped Cedar Ridge finish 3rd in the Big 8. The Red Wolves will compete in the 3A Mideast Regionals at Northwood High School in Pittsboro on Saturday.

Allison Musty: This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week, Musty was also named to the All-Big 8 Conference team in women’s cross country (Morrell was, as well). Musty finished 15th overall in the Big 8 Championships, crossing the finish line at 20:34.30.

Reese Weaver: Scored a hat trick in Cedar Ridge’s 9-0 win over Vance County on October 23. Weaver has eleven goals for the Red Wolves this season.

Levi Draughon: A sophomore, Draughon finished 19th in the Big 8 Men’s Cross Country Championships for Cedar Ridge. He was the highest finisher among Cedar Ridge runners. Cedar Ridge finished 4th as a team.

Omarion Lewis: The sophomore Orange running back was named the Orange Panther of the Week after rushing for 95 yards and three touchdowns in the Panthers 31-30 win over Northwood in overtime last Friday night. Lewis leads the team in rushing.

Machai Holt: Made an interception in the fourth quarter of the Northwood game. Two plays later, Holt scored off a 32-yard touchdown pass from Wyatt Jones to tie the game against Northwood. Holt scored on a 10-yard touchdown run in overtime. Holt leads the team with eight touchdowns.

McKenzie Hawks: Hawks competed in the 3A Central Regional Women’s Golf Championships at Greensboro National Golf Club last week. Hawks, a senior, shot 107. Sarah Durham, an Orange sophomore, were the only Hillsborough representatives in the Central Regional Championships.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is cross country runner Allison Musty.  Last week, Musty finished 15th at the Big 8 Championships at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary. She made the All-Big 8 Conference team. Musty helped Cedar Ridge finished 3rd as a team in the conference. Musty, a senior, helped set the school record in the 4×400 relay team in outdoor track & field for Cedar Ridge in 2017.  Last year, Musty was part of the Cedar Ridge 4×800 relay team that qualified for the 3A State Track & Field Championships in Greensboro. In cross country,  Musty helped the Cedar Ridge women’s cross country team qualify for the state championships as a team when they finished 2nd in the 3A Mideast Regionals in 2018. This weekend, Cedar Ridge has a goal of repeating its success when they compete in the Mideast Regionals again. It will be held Saturday at Northwood High School in Pittsboro.