Cedar Ridge boys soccer waited 18 days for its first win of the season. Now they have two in four days.

Henry Mellor scored the only goal on a penalty kick as the Red Wolves defeated Northwood 1-0 on Friday night in Pittsboro. Jesus Yanez posted the clean sheet for the Red Wolves to win its Big 8 opener and improve to 2-5 overall.

If there was a time for results for Chris Walker’s team, it was now. Conference favorite Chapel Hill and archrival Orange are on tap for next week.

Speaking of the Panthers, they dropped a hard-fought Big 8 opener at East Chapel Hill 2-1 on Thursday night. R.J. Pherribo scored the only Panther goal on a penalty kick, set up by a combination play from Jamar Davis and Malcolm Phillips that led to a breakaway. Pherribo was tripped in the box, leading to the goal.

East is now 3-2. Orange falls to 3-3-2 and 0-1. The Panthers host Hillside on Monday.

Our Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is freshman #1 singles player Ivy Garner. On Thursday, Garner defeated Northern Durham’s Chloe Baker 6-1, 6-2 for her fifth win this season. Tennis isn’t even Ivy’s top sport. During the summer, she plays soccer with a club team and is planning to make her debut for the Cedar Ridge girls soccer team next spring. Her play at singles has led the Red Wolves to a 5-2 start in a new, tougher Big 8 conference.

Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week: Ivy Garner

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Evidently, four double bagel victories over Orange weren’t enough for the Cedar Ridge girls tennis team on Tuesday. So on Thursday, they did themselves one better, putting together five double bagel wins over Northern Durham.

The Red Wolves easily put away the Knights 9-0 on Thursday afternoon at Red Wolves tennis courts. Freshman Ivy Garner won the most competitive match of the day, defeating Chloe Baker 6-1, 6-2. After that, it was total Cedar Ridge domination. Olivia Ward, Kate Milner, Nora Sauers, Brianna Cellini and Maddy Werner all won their respective singles matches by a score of 6-0, 6-0.

In doubles play, Milner teamed with Sauternes to capture an 8-3 victory. Cellini partnered with Werner on a #2 doubles victory 8-1. And Rachel Quade won her 2nd doubles match of the week, teaming with Natalie Marochak to record an 8-1 win.

After a heated loss to Chapel Hill last week, the Red Wolves rebounded this week with consecutive 9-0 wins. Cedar Ridge travels to powerful East Chapel Hill Monday. The Red Wolves return home to face Hillside Wednesday.

In its home debut, the Orange JV football team defeated Rolesville 30-0 on Thursday night at Auman Stadium. Cameron White returned two punts for touchdowns. In his 2nd start at quaterback, Wyatt Jones threw for a score. The Panthers are now 2-0 with another home game set against Riverside next week.

Cameron White, Wyatt Jones Discuss Orange JV Football’s 30-0 Win Over Wakefield

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Five games into the Big 8 volleyball season, there’s little question who the team to beat is. Certainly no one in Hillsborough is disputing it after this week.

The Chapel Hill Tigers, the defending 3A Eastern Regional Champions, rolled over Orange 3-0 on Thursday night at CHHS. The Tigers are 5-0 in Big 8 play and haven’t dropped a set against a league foe yet.

Chapel Hill claimed the match with ease on scores of 25-12, 25-21 and 25-23.

The Tigers improved its overall record to 8-3 behind 19 kills from sophomore Kaya Merkler.  Another sophomore, Julia Chaney, finished with six aces. Junior Hanna Wander had 18 digs with sophomore Samantha Breschi came away with 35 assists.

Orange, which has lost consecutive games for the first time this season, had a solid game from senior Caroline Compton, who finished with a kill, eleven assists and eleven digs. Sophomore Emma Clements had two aces, eight kills and nine digs. Senior co-captain Faith Foushee recorded 15 digs.

Orange is now 6-3 after a loss on Tuesday to Northwood. They are in 5th place in the Big 8 with a 2-3 record. On Friday night, the Panthers travel to Roxboro Community School.

It came longer than Coach Chris Walker is used to, but Cedar Ridge found a way to earn its first win of the season on the road.

Seth Maile was the hero on Tuesday night as Cedar Ridge defeated Graham 3-2. Maile notched the game-winning goal on a penalty kick and also assisted on the other two goals.

Dean Allen scored the opener for the Red Wolves. Than Aung notched the equalizer as the Red Wolves improved to 1-5. Cedar Ridge starts its Big 8 Conference slate tonight at Northwood at 6:30. The Chargers, also in its conference opener, are 1-5, as well.

When Orange travels to Rolesville for the first-ever football game between the two teams on Friday night, the Rams will be in a similar position that Orange was in during 2016: playing two games within hours of each other.

Rolesville defeated East Wake on Labor Day 13-8 in Wendell, a game that couldn’t have started much worse for the Rams. On its first possession, the Rams threw an interception returned for a touchdown by Jeremy Ethridge. On its second possession, starting quarterback Rasran Amon was tackled for a safety. In other words, the Rams’ offense gave up minus-8 points on its opening two possessions. Then it nearly got catastrophic when Warriors defensive lineman Jonathan Staten forced a fumble that was scooped up by teammate Xavier Williams, who appeared to be in the clear for a touchdown return, except Williams dropped the ball at the end of a 27-yard return. East Wake drove to the Rolesville 14-yard line, but opted to go for it on 4th-and-9 instead of kicking a 31-yard field goal to predictable results.

Trailing 8-0, Rolesville coach Wilson Helms inserted 6-3 sophomore Noah Douglas at quarterback, and the Rams found rhythm for the first time all year (Rolesville opened the season with losses to Cleveland 58-37 and Clayton 41-6.) The Rams relied on running back Kishawn Bobbit, who started the game as a 3rd-down back, then played more since he was easily the most versatile player in a Rolesville uniform. Bobbit finished with the first 100-yard game of his career.

After Douglas’ insertion into the game, Bobbit had more room to run because Douglas’ ball-handling ability on play action was much sharper. That’s where the game turned around as Rolesville scored 13 unanswered points for its first win of the season.

It doesn’t hurt that the Rolesville offensive line, while not agile, could probably lead the Northern Conference in rebounding. Sophomore left tackle Jonathan Adomo stands 6-4, right tackle Bryant Miller is 6-5 and right guard Josh Seats is 6-2. Nonetheless, East Wake gained pressure on the Rams throughout the game.

Coming off a rugged 26-6 loss to Wilmington Hoggard  (ranked #7 in the Associated Press 4-A polls released Wednesday), Orange finds itself in the unaccustomed position of being outmanned. The Panthers played Rodney Brooks, Payton Wilson, Marvante Beasley, Noah Rogers, Hunter Pettiford and Milton Purcell on offense and defense on a roster that isn’t as deep as years past. Coach Van Smith blames the problem on a junior class that’s smaller than other grades, but it could pose a problem against a 4-A Rolesville team that lists 95 players on its roster (Orange has 48). Another 4-A team in Riverside is awaiting Orange next week.

For years, Orange players privately wondered how playing a stiff nonconference test in August would make them better. Now, after suffering its earliest regular season loss since 2012, Orange will finally find out, albeit after a week off to heal the bruises after a physical game where several players rarely got a play off.

Offensively, the question for Orange is can they find another playmaker outside of Wilson and Beasley? Wilson was held to four touches against Hoggard, who did everything in its power (and succeeded) to keep the All-State candidate from beating them. Orange had only five passing yards against the Vikings. They had zero in the 2nd half at a time when the Panthers were desperate to throw the ball since they were trailing the entire way.

PREDICTION: Orange 20, Rolesville 9. 

While lacking the solid pass rush of years past (so far), Orange is still solid up front. Overall, Orange has the better athletes who are used to playing on a big stage for conference championships. It will be interesting to watch how the Panthers deal with early adversity after the last four Orange squads started 4-0.

The term in tennis is “double bagels.” No, it’s not what you order with cheese strata and coffee during Breakfast at Wimbledon. It’s when a singles player wins two consecutive sets 6-0 in a singles match.

On Tuesday, Cedar Ridge had no less than four players take double bagel wins over crosstown rival Orange.

#1 singles player Ivy Garner, sophomore Olivia Ward, senior Kate Millner and sophomore Brianna Cellini all earned 6-0, 6-0 wins as the Red Wolves defeated the Panthers 9-0 at Panther Tennis Courts. At #4 singles, Nora Sauers won her match 6-1, 6-2, while Maddy Werner captured the most competitive battle of the day, earning a 6-3, 6-2 victory.

Red Wolves Coach Lennie Corbett played some reserves in doubles, pairing Hannah Johnson with Cellini at #2 for an 8-2 victory. Rachel Quade played her first match of the year, teaming with Natalie Marochak for an 8-3 win at #3 doubles. Garner and Ward swept #1 doubles 8-0 to make quick work of the Panthers, who were coming off its first win of the season against Hillside the previous Wednesday.

Cedar Ridge is now 3-2, 2-1 in the Big 8. They host Northern Durham on Thursday in Hillsborough. Orange looks to bounce back with a home match against Northwood on Thursday.