Cedar Ridge High School

Kevin Wright: The 2018 Cedar Ridge graduate made his season debut for Division III North Carolina Wesleyan on Saturday. Wright, a sophomore safety, made five tackles as the Battling Bishops defeated LaGrange 52-35 in LaGrange, GA. It was Wesleyan’s USA South Conference opener. Wesleyan is 2-2. Next week, they face Greensboro College in its first-ever on campus game in Rocky Mount.

Adam Chnupa: For the second week in a row, Chnupa saw action for FCS Elon University. Chnupa, another 2018 Cedar Ridge graduate, entered as a reserve as the Phoenix lost to New Hampshire 26-10 at Wildcat Stadium in Durham, NH. Elon falls to 2-4, 0-2 in the Colonial Athletic Association. They host Delaware at Rhodes Stadium in Elon next Saturday.

Rodney Brooks: The Division II Livingstone football team lost to Virginia Union 44-0 at Alumni Stadium in Salisbury on Saturday. Brooks recorded a tackle for the Blue Bears, who suffered its first loss of the season. Livingstone is 4-1, 2-1 in the CIAA. They travel to St. Augustine’s next weekend.

Taylin Jean: Jean recorded her third clean sheet of the season as goalkeeper for the Division II Limestone women’s soccer team on Saturday. The Saints defeated Erskine 2-0 at Huggins Field in Due West, SC on Saturday. Jean, a 2018 Cedar Ridge graduate, made two saves for her fourth win of the season. Limestone is 4-4, 3-2 in Conference Carolinas. The Saints travel to Queens University in Charlotte on Wednesday.

Brittany Daley: The Division III Greensboro College women’s soccer team played to a 1-1 tie with Methodist University at Pride Field in Greensboro on Saturday. Daley started her eleventh game of the season at centerback. Greensboro is 8-3-1 overall, 2-0-1 in the USA South Conference. The Pride host Meredith on Wednesday.

Jordan Rogers: Marymount (VA) University defeated Division III William Peace University 3-0 in Arlington, VA on Saturday. Rogers started her eleventh game of the season for the Pacers at wingback. Peace falls to 4-4-1 overall, 1-1 in the USA South Conference.

Lili Henry: The Division III Methodist volleyball team split two matches in a tri-match at Meredith College at Weatherspoon Gymnasium in Raleigh on Saturday. The Monarchs ended the day with a sweep of Mary Baldwin. Against the Fighting Squirrels, Henry registered 22 assists and five digs. In the first match of the day, Meredith swept Methodist 3-0. Henry had 18 assists and eleven digs against the Avenging Angels. Methodist is now 3-11, 2-4 in the USA South Conference.

Bailey Lucas: In the aforementioned tri-match at Meredith, Lucas saw action for the Avenging Angels. Meredith won both of its matches against Mary Baldwin and Methodist. In the opening match against the Fighting Squirrels, Lucas played two sets. She had one kill, 14 assists and three digs. Against Methodist, Lucas played one set and had two assists. With the two sweeps, Meredith is 10-6 overall, 4-1 in the USA South.

Mia Davidson: The Mississippi State softball team started its fall schedule on Friday against East Mississippi Community College in Starkville, MS. Mia Davidson had a two run homer in the second inning, plus a RBI single in the first as the Bulldogs won 7-0. On Saturday, the Bulldogs swept a doubleheader. They defeated Meridian 14-1, a game where Davidson had an RBI double. Mississippi State completed the day with a 17-0 win over Meridian. Davidson had a pinch-hit, RBI double in the fourth. Mississippi State is under a new head coach in Samantha Ricketts.

By Curran Campbell

Six weeks have passed in the ACC football season, and I still don’t know who’s good and who’s bad. In a week of only 4 conference games, two of which were some of the most #goacc games I’ve ever seen, I’ll attempt to analyze what went down for the winners and losers this past Saturday.

Louisville

Scott Satterfield can coach a football team, that we know so far. He has turned the team that Bobby Petrino attempted to run into a ditch and made them competitive in every game. The Cards look like they have finally figured out their quarterback situation, albeit in an unfortunate way. Week 1 starter Jawon Pass has missed three straight for the ‘Ville and Malik Cunningham has seized the opportunity. In a thrilling 41-39 victory over a struggling Boston College, Cunningham went 13/18 for 288 yards and a touchdown. If the Cards keep rocking with Cunningham, they very well may be bowling in December.

North Carolina

Not much to say about the Tar Heels this week. They beat a bad Georgia Tech team in relatively easy fashion, 38-22. Sam Howell continues to sling the ball and the tailback tandem of Michael Carter and Javonte Williams provide a jolt in the run game. Carolina has some injuries in the secondary, most notably to safety Myles Wolfolk that has forced younger guys like Don Chapman and Storm Duck to get more action than Jay Bateman had likely hoped to see. However, they’re playing well enough to win, and headed into a bye week, that’s all the Heels needed.

Virginia Tech

I know Va Tech won 42-35 at Miami, but I still have no faith in this team. A 28-0 first half lead disintegrated and Justin Fuente’s seat is still as hot as ever. Like Louisville, Tech has a quarterback it seems now in Hendon Hooker. If Bud Foster can somehow get the Hokie defense to just be mediocre, they can win a few more games, but giving up 45 to Duke and 35 to Miami in back to back weeks doesn’t inspire a whole lot of confidence in the Virginia Tech defense.

Pitt

The Pitt defense forced 6 turnovers against Duke, which is good. They also gave up 27 second half points, which is not nearly as good. Pitt seems to have a problem closing out games at this point in the season, and they can’t expect Kenny Pickett, Maurice Ffrench, and Taysir Mack to bail them out every time. A 33-30 win on the road at Duke is objectively hard to come by, but it seems like the Panthers made it a lot more difficult than they needed to.

Miami

The defense is terrible, the passing game is weak. At least Deejay Dallas is good out of the backfield? Miami lost 42-35 to Va Tech as mentioned earlier, and it shouldn’t have been close. This is more an indicator as to how bad Va Tech is this was a close game. Miami is definitely regretting the “retirement” of Mark Richt about now.

Duke

I said last week that Duke will go as far as Quentin Harris can take them, and good lord was he bad in the 33-30 loss to Pittsburgh. 18/43 for 165 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 picks, and 3 fumbles lost. It was a performance on the level of Jake Delhomme in the NFC Divisional playoffs against the Cardinals in 2009. Not a single team in the country will win with quarterback play like that, and Harris would be the first guy to tell you that.

Boston College

Same story for Boston College as it was last week. No defense whatsoever, the 41-39 loss to Louisville the latest misstep for the Eagles. Starting QB Anthony Brown also went down with an injury in the matchup at Cardinal Stadium. Things looking pretty grim in New England right now.

Georgia Tech

What is there to say about Georgia Tech really. They lost 38-22 at home to North Carolina. Not a good result, but hey, it’s an improvement from the 24-2 loss to Temple. This is a bad team, and I wish there was more I could say. Alas, there is not.

Power Rankings

1. Clemson

2. Wake Forest

3. Virginia

4. Florida State

5. North Carolina

6. Syracuse

7. Pitt

8. Duke

9. Louisville

10. NC State

11. Boston College

12. Virginia Tech

13. Miami

14. Georgia Tech

Predictions

Syracuse at NC State: 20-13, Syracuse

Virginia at Miami: 35-24, Virginia

Georgia Tech at Duke: 38-21, Duke

Florida State at Clemson: 42-17, Clemson

Rhode Island at Virginia Tech: 55-10, Virginia Tech

Louisville at Wake Forest: 33-30, Wake Forest

Last week’s predictions: 2-2

Season total: 2-2

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!   

Kayla Hodges: The Elon women’s soccer team had a thrilling 3-2 win over William & Mary at Rudd Field in Elon on Thursday night. Former Orange High star Kayla Hodges opened the scoring with a goal in the 47th minute. It was the 2nd goal of her career. Hodges headed in a cross from the five yard box on a cross sent in by Beky Myers. Elon scored the game-winning goal in extra time from Jessica Carrieri in the 101st minute. Hodges, a sophomore, finished with three shots, two of them on net. She has started in all 12 of the Phoenix’s games this year. Elon is 8-3-1 overall, 2-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association. Hodges also started in Sunday’s 5-0 loss at Hofstra in Hempstead, N.Y. on Sunday. Elon hosts Drexel at Rudd Field on Sunday.

Brittany Daley: The Division III Greensboro College women’s soccer team defeated Averett University 4-1 on Tuesday at Campbell Stadium in Danville, VA. Daley, a sophomore who graduated from Cedar Ridge in 2018, started her eleventh game of the season at center back. Greensboro is 8-3, 2-0 in the USA South Conference. The Pride will hosts Methodist University on Saturday in Greensboro.

Jordan Rogers: On Tuesday, the Pfeiffer women’s soccer team shut out William Peace University 5-0 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary. Jordan Rogers started at wingback for the Pacers, who are now 4-5-1, 1-1 in the USA South Conference. Rogers, a sophomore who graduated from Orange in 2018, has started in all ten of Peace’s games this season. Peace hosts Trinity Washington University on Friday night in Cary.

Lionel Reid-Shaw: On Wednesday night, Franklin & Marsh defeated the Division III Dickinson men’s soccer team 2-1 in Lancaster, PA. Franklin & Marsh came into the match ranked #4 nationally in Division III. Former Orange star Lionel Reid-Shaw started for the Red Devils. Dickinson is now 5-5, 2-1 in the Centennial Conference. Reid-Shaw has played in all ten of the Red Devils’ games this year, starting five. Dickinson host Ursinus on Saturday in Carlisle, PA.

Bryse Wilson: As the Atlanta Braves started its National League Divisional Series against the St. Louis Cardinals at SunTrust Park on Thursday night, Wilson’s season officially came to an end earlier this week. Wilson was left off Atlanta’s 25-man playoff roster. It marks the second year in a row that Wilson finished the regular season with Atlanta as they wrapped up a National League East Division Championship. Wilson ends the year with a 10-7 record with the AAA Gwinnett Braces of the International League. He had a 3.42 ERA in 21 starts and 121 innings. He had 118 strikeouts and 26 walks. Wilson started the season with Atlanta and was recalled from Gwinnett five times during the course of the season. In Atlanta, Wilson made four starts and six overall appearances. He had a 1-1 record with a 7.20 ERA in 20 innings.

Lili Henry: The 2018 Cedar Ridge graduate started for the Division III Methodist volleyball team on Tuesday night. Pfeiffer swept the Monarchs at the Riddle Center in Fayetteville. Henry had 15 assists, six digs and two aces. The Falcons won on scores of 28-26, 25-14 and 25-23. Methodist falls to 2-10, 1-3 in the USA South Conference. The Monarchs travel to Methodist College on Saturday for a tri-match with Meredith and Mary Baldwin University.

There was no five sets thriller for Cedar Ridge volleyball on Wednesday night. The Red Wolves promptly defeated North Carolina School of Science and Math in a sweep at Red Wolves Gymnasium as they prepare for a showdown with Chapel Hill for 1st place in the Big 8 Conference on Thursday night. Layne Foster scored a kill on match point as the Red Wolves improved to 14-2. They won on scores of 25-20, 25-21 and 25-19. There was also a battle within the battle as Coach Anna Seethaler offered free ice cream to the player that scored the best kill, an honor that Foster wound up winning. She chose chocolate. Senior Co-Captain Tori Dalehite played five sets as the Red Wolves remained undefeated at home this season. The Red Wolves will travel to Chapel Hill on Thursday night at 6:30 with first place on the line in the Big 8 and a possible home game in the 3A State Playoffs on the line. 

As volleyball season continues, the Cedar Ridge Red Wolves continue to win. The Red Wolves maintained their share of first place on Tuesday night with a thrilling five-set win over Northwood at Red Wolves Gymnasium. Cedar Ridge prevailed 25-14, 21-25, 25-13, 22-25 and. 15-11 to remain tied with Chapel Hill for 1st place in the Big 8 Conference. Cedar Ridge is now 13-2 overall, 7-1 in the Big 8 Conference and ranked #15 in the MaxPreps 3A standings. Not only that, but the Red Wolves set up a showdown with Chapel Hill on Thursday night at Chapel Hill with first place on the line in the conference. Before that can happen, the Red Wolves will host the North Carolina School of Science and Math on Wednesday night at Red Wolves Gymnasium. The Unicorns are 11-2, but Cedar Ridge defeated NCSSM earlier this year. 

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