Cedar Ridge High School

While most people around Cedar Ridge know Amy Stutzer from playing left field for the Red Wolves softball team, this year she opted to try a new sport: golf. She qualified for the 3A Mideast regionals for the Cedar Ridge women’s golf team earlier this month. Interestingly enough, she took up golf in August so Cedar Ridge women’s golf coach Clay Jones could have enough players to field a team. Stutzer shot a 47 in a nine-hole meet to propel Cedar Ridge to a victory over Person. Now, she’ll spend the winter gearing up for softball season, where the Red Wolves are the defending Big 8 Conference champions.

No Title

While most people around Cedar Ridge know Amy Stutzer from playing left field for the Red Wolves softball team, this year she opted to try a new sport: golf. She qualified for the 3A Mideast regionals for the Cedar Ridge women’s golf team earlier this month.

Brittany Daley: As a true freshman, Brittany Daley completed a perfect regular season on Saturday as the Division III Greensboro College women’s soccer team defeated Averett University 5-0 at Pride Field in Greensboro. Daley, who graduated from Cedar Ridge in June, started at centerback. It is the first perfect regular season in school history. The Pride captured the USA South Athletic Conference regular season championship last week after beating Meredith 3-1 on October 17. This season, Daley has played in all 16 of the Pride’s wins, making 13 starts. Greensboro College is 16-0 and starts play in the USA South Athletic Conference Tournament on Wednesday.

Stone Edwards: The 2017 Orange High graduate played his sixth game of the season for Vanderbilt, who lost to #14 Kentucky 14-7 at Kroger Field in Lexington, KY. Edwards, a redshirt freshman, didn’t make a tackle against the Wildcats. Through six games, Edwards has six tackles and one sack.

Lili Henry: The Division III Methodist volleyball team faced off against Meredith, the leaders in the USA South Athletic Conference on Saturday at the Riddle Center in Fayetteville. Meredith defeated the Monarchs 3-2 (19-25, 13-25, 25-18, 25-19 & 15-11). Henry, a Cedar Ridge graduate, finished with 37 assists and 17 digs. It was another tri-match for the Monarchs, who started the day with a 3-0 win over Mary Baldwin (25-5, 25-4 & 25-16). In the win over the Fighting Squirrels, Henry had 24 assists, one kill, and four digs. Methodist is now 14-7 overall, 8-5 in the USA South. On Wednesday, Methodist defeated Pfeiffer 3-0 (25-21, 25-21 & 25-16). Henry finished with 33 assists, two aces, and ten digs. Henry has played in all 21 of Methodist’s matches, starting in 19. She has 644 assists. Methodist is in 5th place in the USA South, one-and-a-half games behind Salem for 4th.

Bailey Lucas: The former Orange High star played for Meredith in its win over Methodist on Saturday, where she faced off against Henry. Lucas played in three sets and had five digs. Against Mary Baldwin, Lucas had two aces and one dig. Meredith is 14-0 in the USA South, 19-3 overall.

Lindsay Thompson & Caroline Compton: On Thursday in Jamestown, the Cape Fear Community College volleyball team swept Guilford Technical Community College 3-0 (25-17, 25-14 & 25-19). Thompson, who graduated from Cedar Ridge in 2017, led the Sea Devils with 12 digs. She also had five aces. Compton finished with one kill, seven digs and 23 assists. On Friday, the Sea Devils were swept in a doubleheader at Louisburg College. Catawba Valley Community College defeated CFCC 3-0. Louisburg College also swept the Sea Devils 3-0. Statistics for those games weren’t released. On Saturday at Laney High School in Wilmington, Cape Fear swept Davidson County Community College 3-0 in a tri-match. The Sea Devils dropped the subsequent game 3-1 to USC Lancaster.

Chandler Compton: The Wofford men’s soccer team defeated Belmont 3-2 at Snyder Field in Spartanburg, S.C. on Saturday. Compton came off the bench and recorded a shot on net as the Terriers improved to 3-10-1 overall, 2-3 in the Southern Conference. Compton, a sophomore who graduated from Orange in 2017, has played in nine games this season for the Terriers, starting three.

Kayla Hodges: The Elon Women’s Soccer team finishes its regular season this weekend. On Thursday, James Madison defeated the Phoenix 3-0 at Sentara Park in Harrisonburg, VA. Hodges, who graduated from Orange in June, came off the bench to fire a shot on net, one of five for Elon against the Dukes. Last Sunday, UNC Wilmington defeated Elon 4-3. Again, Hodges fired a shot after entering the game as a reserve. Elon goes into Sunday’s game against Drexel in Philadelphia with a 3-9-3 overall record, 1-6 in the Colonial Athletic Association.

Lionel Reid-Shaw: The Division III Dickinson College men’s soccer team had a six-game unbeaten streak come to an end on Saturday, losing to Haverford 2-0 in a showdown for 1st place in the Centennial Conference in Haverford, PA. Reid-Shaw, who graduated from Orange, started at centerback for the Red Devils, who are now 10-4-2 overall, 5-2-1 in the Centennial. On Wedensday, Reid-Shaw got another start as the Red Devils defeated Muhlenberg 3-0 in Allentown, PA.

Jordan Rogers: The Division III William Peace women’s soccer team concluded its regular season on Saturday with a 2-0 loss to Salem at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary. Rogers, who graduated from Orange in June, started for the Pacers. On Thursday, Averett defeated William Peace 1-0 in Cary, another match that Rogers started. This season, started all 12 of William Peace’s matches, scoring one goal and two assists.

Story by Curran Campbell

The Cedar Ridge Red Wolves JV football team took a quick trip down I-85 to face the newly named Southern School of Energy and Sustainability Spartans, who were previously the Southern Durham Spartans. Coming off a tough loss against the Chapel Hill Tigers, the Red Wolves bounced back in a big way against the Spartans.

Cedar Ridge received the opening kickoff and got off to a blazing start. On the first play from scrimmage, quarterback Will Berger connected with KJ Barnes on a deep pass for 65 yards to set up a first and goal, the drive would conclude with an Isaiah McCambry 1 yard touchdown scamper on fourth down would make it 6-0 Red Wolves a minute and a half into the game. Southern went 3 and out on the following possession, and the Red Wolves marched right down the field again, this time with Elijah Whitaker executing the read option perfectly and waltzing into the endzone for an easy six points and a 12-0 Cedar Ridge lead.

Still in the first quarter, Southern quarterback Jeremiah Lynch was picked off by Drew Carlson, and Cedar Ridge carved up the Southern defense for a third time already on the day as Alwin Garcia Mendez would punch it in on the ground this time, following the two point conversion, Cedar Ridge had a 20-0 lead.

Southern would bounce back however, as tailback John Brown Jr. took a 60 yard run to the house and cut the Red Wolves lead to 20-7. In the ensuing possession, a Will Berger pass was intercepted by Jewalace Holmes and Southern would turn that pick into points on a touchdown pass from Lynch to John Paulino. The seemingly insurmountable early Red Wolves lead was now only 20-15 after the two point conversion as the clock on the first quarter hit triple zeroes.

With the seemingly endless opening frame behind them, Cedar Ridge would get back on track to start the second quarter of play. Isaiah McCambry had a 60 yard touchdown run to extend the Cedar Ridge lead to 26-15 on the opening drive of the quarter. Later on in the quarter, Cedar Ridge head coach Antonio King was ejected from the game due to use of foul language.

When asked about the ejection, Coach King admitted his fault and said that “The two guys I left in charge did a very good job and the kids kind of responded to it, they knew what was happening, but it’s not fun. I’ve got the kids running wind sprints for acting the same way. They’ve got to be accountable, and I’ve got to be accountable.”

To start the third quarter, the Red Wolves came out with even more energy, the Cedar Ridge defense forced a three and out on the opening possession, and the offense drove down the field to score another rushing touchdown by way of Isaiah McCambry. A fumbled punt and a third McCambry rushing touchdown later, it was 38-15 Cedar Ridge.

The final frame only had one scoring play, a three yard rush on the read option play by Spartan wildcat quarterback and receiver Jewalace Holmes. The 2 point conversion was good to make it 38-23, but the ensuing onside kick failed to go ten yards and the Red Wolves just had to run out the clock en route to their third victory of the season.

Even after the win though, Coach King still says there are still fundamental aspects of the game that need to be worked on. “Tackling, blocking, all the basic, fundamental stuff that still seems to elude us in these types of situations. We’re going to keep working at it and keep getting better everyday.”

The 3-3 Red Wolves will take on their archrival Orange Panthers this Thursday, October 25th at Cedar Ridge Stadium.

Jack Schmid: The former Orange High quarterback made his season-debut for Division III Wheaton on Saturday. Schmid, who plays safety for the Thunder, entered the game as a reserve and was credited with a tackle. Washington University of St. Louis defeated Wheaton 17-10. The Thunder, who came into the game #12 according to D3football.com, are now 4-2.

Stone Edwards: In a fierce, fiery game at Vanderbilt Stadium which featured a near brawl during the second quarter, 2017 Orange graduate Stone Edwards recorded his first college sack for Vanderbilt. Edwards had a career-high four tackles. #14 Florida, which trailed 21-3 in the second quarter, came back to defeat the Commodores 37-27 in Nashville, TN.

Jordan Lloyd: The Division III Brevard Volleyball team earned its first two win of the season on Saturday, sweeping Berea 3-0 (25-21, 25-13, 25-20) at Boshamer Gymnasium in Brevard (25-21, 25-13, 25-20). Former Orange star Jordan Lloyd had ten kills, three aces, and 14 digs. Earlier in the day, Huntingdon defeated Brevard 3-1 (25-22, 25-22, 22-25 and 25-18). Lloyd had eleven kills, one ace and a team-high 22 digs. On Wednesday, Piedmont defeated Brevard 3-0. Lloyd had three kills, one ace and 12 digs in the loss to Lions.

Lili Henry: The 2017 Cedar Ridge graduate started for Division III Methodist volleyball team in a tri-match at Averett University in Danville, VA on Saturday. Methodist opened the day with a 3-1 win over N.C. Wesleyan (26-24, 21-25, 25-19 & 25-12). Henry had a career-best 48 assists, two kills, one ace and seven digs. It was the sixth time that Henry has set a personal best for assists this season. Later in the day, Averett defeated Methodist 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-21). Against the Cougars, Henry registered 19 assists, one ace and 13 digs. On Wednesday, Methodist swept Salem 3-0 (25-18, 25-20 & 25-19) at the Riddle Center in Fayetteville. Henry finished with 29 assists, nine digs and one kill.

Caroline Compton & Lindsay Thompson: The Cape Fear Community College volleyball team had a dramatic 3-2 victory (18-25, 16-25, 25-21, 25-20, & 15-13) over Pitt Community College in Winterville on Wednesday. Former Orange star Caroline Compton started for the Sea Devils and finished with 46 assists, one kill and five digs. 2017 Cedar Ridge graduate Lindsay Thompson finished with one ace and 17 digs. Because of Hurricane Michael, Cape Fear’s tri-match scheduled for Fayetteville Tech Community College on Thursday was postponed.

Bailey Lucas: The 2018 Orange graduate came off the bench as the Meredith volleyball team defeated Greensboro College 3-0 in a tri-match on Saturday at Hanes Gymnasium. Meredith has now won eleven straight matches and is now 16-3.

Chandler Compton: The 2016 Orange graduate came off the bench for the Wofford men’s soccer team on Tuesday as the Terriers defeated UNC Greensboro 2-1 in double overtime at Snyder Field in Spartanburg, S.C. On Saturday, Mercer defeated Wofford 5-2 in Macon, GA. Wofford

Rachel Shinnick: On Friday, the Mercer women’s soccer team defeated Wofford 3-0 in Snyder Field. Shinnick, who graduated from Orange in 2015, made her ninth start of the season. She has appeared in 15 games this season for the Terriers, who are 3-11-1 overall, 1-6 in the Southern Conference.

Kayla Hodges: The Elon freshman fired a shot on goal in the Phoenix’s 2-0 loss to Northeastern at Parsons Field in Brookline, MA last Sunday. Hodges has played in four games this season. Elon is 3-7-2 going into Sunday’s game against Hofstra.

Lionel Reid-Shaw: The Division III Dickinson Red Devils are now tied for first in the Centennial Conference. On Saturday, the Red Devils defeated Gettysburg 2-0 at Miller Memorial Field in Carlisle, PA. Reid-Shaw made his 14th start of the season. Dickinson is now 9-3-2 overall, 4-1-1 in the Centennial Conference.

Brittany Daley: The Division III Greensboro College women’s soccer team is still undefeated after beating Salem College 3-1 on Saturday at Pride Field in Greensboro. Daley, who graduated from Cedar Ridge in June, made another start at centerback. On Tuesday, Greensboro edged N.C. Wesleyan 2-1, another match that Daley started. Greensboro is 13-0, 5-0 in the USA South Athletic Conference. Daley has started eleven of the Pride’s 13 matches.

Jordan Rogers: On Saturday, N.C. Wesleyan defeated the William Peace University women’s soccer team 2-0 at Scalf Field in Rocky Mount. Rogers, who graduated from Orange in June, fired the Pacers’ only shot of the game. On Wednesday, Meredith defeated William Peace 3-0 at Meredith Athletic Field in Raleigh. Rogers fired a shot on goal in the loss to the Avenging Angels. This season, Rogers has started all eleven of Peace’s matches, registering one goal and two assists.

Last week, Sarah McCuiston played the final home volleyball match of her three-year varsity career at Cedar Ridge. She finished with 13 kills, four digs, one ace and one block as the Red Wolves swept Southern Durham 3-0. Over her three years at Cedar Ridge, McCuiston has 397 kills. So far this season, she has a career-high 176 kills. Her best effort of the season came on September 20 at Orange, where she had 19 kills against the Lady Panthers. McCuiston has been the leader of the Red Wolves the past two seasons on and off the court. On Tuesday night, Cedar Ridge travels to Northwood in the opening round of the Big 8 Volleyball Tournament. Even if McCuiston’s Cedar Ridge career comes to an end on Tuesday, she’s still pursuing playing at the next level.

IMG_1363.MOV

Uploaded by Hillsborough Sports on 2018-10-09.

Cedar Ridge junior cross country runner Connor Blankfard finished 4th in the Red Wolves’ first home meet of the season on September 25. It was an emotional day for the Red Wolves men’s and women’s cross country teams. The meet came three days after the death of Union Pines cross country runner Samantha Davis, who collapsed during a race in Charlotte. As a tribute, Blankfard and the rest of his teammates  wore light blue and white armbands & headbands, the colors of Union Pines High. Blankfard followed his solid performance at Cedar Ridge with a top ten finish last week at Orange. Now, Cedar Ridge looks forward to its next home meet on Wednesday, which will feature Chapel Hill and Northwood.

Cedar Ridge Cross Country Junior Connor Blankfard Talks #samanthastrong

Cedar Ridge Men’s Cross Country Runner Connor Blankfard finished fourth in the Red Wolves’ first home meet of the season on September 25, which also featured Northwood, East Chapel Hill & Hillside. It was also an emotional day. The meet came just days after the death of Union Pines cross country runner Samantha Davis, who collapsed during a race in Charlotte.

As the fall sports regular season begins to wind down across Hillsborough, there will be important events coming up on and off the field.

On Monday night, the Orange County School Board will vote on a new baseball coach at Cedar Ridge High School. Cedar Ridge Athletic Director Andy Simmons says a name has been submitted to the board. The new coach will replace Jamie Athas, who departed Cedar Ridge in July to become the new head coach at Burlington Williams. Athas, a former recruiting coordinator for UNC-Greensboro who played at Wake Forest, went 35-13 in his final two years at Cedar Ridge. Under his direction, the Red Wolves hosted state playoff games in 2017 & 2018. He went 55-39 at Cedar Ridge over four seasons. Athas’ replacement will be the fourth new baseball coach hired in the Big 8 Conference since the season ended in June.

Also on Monday night, the Cedar Ridge men’s soccer team will host Orange in the second leg of the Hillsborough Derby. On September 21, the Red Wolves defeated the Panthers 3-2 at Orange Soccer Park behind a game-winning goal from Calvin Navaez. It was his first varsity goal. Jose Luna opened the scoring for the Red Wolves. Cedar Ridge, Orange and Northwood are in a race for a state playoff spot in the Big 8 Conference. Cedar Ridge is in third place in the Big 8 with a 4-3 record, while Northwood is 4-4. Orange is 3-4. Chapel Hill defeated the Tigers 5-1 on Thursday night at Culton-Peerman Stadium. Luna scored Cedar Ridge’s only goal. Also on Thursday, Orange defeated Hillside 4-0 in Hillsborough. RJ Pherribo and Drew Jagentenfl each had two goals and two assists. Panther goalkeeper Francisco McKinley had a clean sheet.

Also on Monday, the Orange volleyball team will host senior night against Jordan. It will be the final regular season home match for seniors Liz LaNier, Libby Jones and Meg Gattis. Win or lose against the Falcons, Orange will start play in the Big 8 Conference Tournament on Tuesday night at Northern Durham. The Knights defeated the Lady Panthers 3-1 last week in Hillsborough to complete a regular season sweep. Orange is 10-10 and is still hoping for a wildcard birth for the 3A state playoffs, which starts next week.

Also on Tuesday night, the Cedar Ridge volleyball team will travel to face Northwood in Pittsboro. The Red Wolves concluded the regular season on Thursday with a 3-0 victory over Southern Durham. Senior Sarah McCuiston, in her final match at Cedar Ridge, had 13 kills. Rachel Tucker, another senior, had six kills. Tucker’s classmate, Colby Rabalais, finished with nine aces.

On Wednesday, the Big 8 Conference women’s tennis tournament takes place at East Chapel Hill High School. Participants who reach the semifinals in the singles and doubles tournaments will automatically qualify for the 3A Mideast Regionals.

As for football, Orange will try to rebound from Friday’s 33-0 loss to Northern Durham. They host Hillside at Auman Stadium. Last year, the Panthers defeated the Hornets 31-20, Hillside’s first conference loss since 2009.

The Cedar Ridge junior varsity has the week off. They were slated to face East Chapel Hill, but the Wildcats aren’t fielding a junior varsity team.

Stone Edwards: After missing Vanderbilt’s games against South Carolina and Tennessee State, Edwards returned to action on Saturday night as the Commodores lost to Georgia 41-13. Edwards was credited with an assisted tackle against the Bulldogs. Vanderbilt is now 3-3, 0-2 in the Southeastern Conference. Edwards has played in four games as a defensive end.

Eryk Brandon-Dean: Randolph-Macon defeated Division III Guilford 63-34 in Ashland, VA on Saturday. Former Orange High running back Eryk Brandon-Dean scored a touchdown for the Quakers on a three-yard run with 34 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Brandon-Dean set a college career-high with 70 yards on seven carries. Guilford is now 1-3. They host Ferrum on Thursday night.

Chandler Compton: The 2016 Orange High graduate started as the Wofford men’s soccer team lost to East Tennessee State 2-1 on Saturday afternoon at Snyder Field in Spartanburg, S.C. Compton has played in six matches for Wofford this season, starting three of them.

Rachel Shinnick: Shinnick started for the Wofford women’s soccer team on Friday night. She was credited with a shot on goal as the Terriers defeated VMI 3-1 at Patchin Field in Lexington, VA. It was Wofford’s first Southern Conference win of the season. Shinnick, a senior who graduated from Orange in 2015, has played in 13 matches this season, starting seven of them. She has eight shots in 675 minutes.

Lionel Reid-Shaw: On Saturday night, the Division III Dickinson College men’s soccer team tied Washington College 1-1 at Roy Kirby Jr. Stadium in Chestertown, MD. Former Orange High star Lionel Reid-Shaw started his 12th match of the season for the Red Devils. Reid-Shaw, a junior, has played in 43 matches in his Dickinson career. The Red Devils are now 7-3-2 overall, 3-1-1 in the Centennial Conference.

Brittany Daley: The Division III Greensboro College women’s soccer team remains undefeated. On Saturday, the Pride defeated Methodist 4-2 at the Monarch Soccerplex in Fayetteville. Brittany Daley, who graduated from Cedar Ridge in June, made her ninth start of the season. She has played in all eleven of Greensboro’s matches. The Pride is now 11-0, 3-0 in the USA South Athletic Conference.

Lili Henry: The Division III Methodist Volleyball team, displaced because of Hurricane Florence, made their home debut on Saturday with a tri-match against two USA South Athletic Conference foes in the Riddle Center in Fayetteville. Lili Henry, who graduated from Cedar Ridge in 2017, had 27 assists as the Monarchs defeated Greensboro College 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-18) in the opening match of the day. William Peace defeated Methodist 3-1 (19-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-20) in the Monarchs’ final match of the day. In the loss to the Pacers, Henry finished with one kill, 33 assists, 12 digs and two aces. Methodist is 9-5, 2-3 in the USAS.

Jordan Lloyd: The Division III Brevard College Tornadoes lost to Covenant on Saturday in Boshamer Gymnasium 3-1. (25-12, 19-25, 25-13, 28-26). Jordan Lloyd, who graduated from Orange in 2017, tied for the team lead with 21 digs. She also had seven kills. Lloyd has played in all 16 of Brevard’s matches this season.

Lindsay Thompson & Caroline Compton: After missing nearly a month because of Hurricane Florence, the Cape Fear Community College volleyball team finally returned to action last week. On Wednesday, Wake Tech defeated the Sea Devils 3-1. Lindsay Thompson, who graduated from Cedar Ridge in 2017, finished with 22 digs. Caroline Compton, who graduated from Orange last summer, had a team-high 46 assists, along with 13 digs. This weekend, Cape Fear took part in a quad match at Catawba Valley Community College in Hickory. On Friday, South Florida State College swept the Sea Devils 3-0. Later that day, Lansing Community College swept CFCC. On Saturday, Wallace State Community College-Hanceville defeated the Sea Devils. Spartanburg Methodist also swept CFCC. Cape Fear is now 1-6. On Wednesday, Cape Fear travels to Winterville to face Pitt Community College.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is women’s cross country runner Jill Myler. On September 25, Myler finished 3rd in a cross country meet that also included Northwood, East Chapel Hill and Hillside. It was the first home cross country meet at Cedar Ridge this season. It was also an emotional day at Cedar Ridge and for cross country runners everywhere. The race happened three days after the death of Union Pines cross country runner Samantha Davis, who collapsed during the Hare & Hounds Invitational at McAlpine Park in Charlotte. To pay tribute  to Davis, every Cedar Ridge cross country runner wore a blue or white headband/armband, which are the colors of Union Pines. Cedar Ridge won the women’s meet on September 25, then followed with a victory on October 3 at Orange.

(Editor’s note: This Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week Award is retroactive to the week ending September 15, which was the week of Hurricane Florence. Since school wasn’t in session the last two days that week, athletes weren’t available for interviews. This award is to make up for that week. We’ll have another Orange and Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week announcement on Monday morning)

Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week: Jill Myler

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is women’s cross country runner Jill Myler. On September 25, Myler finished 3rd in a cross country meet that also included Northwood, East Chapel Hill and Hillside. It was the first home cross country meet at Cedar Ridge this season.