Adalyn Flemming has been setting school records since she was a cross country runner at Cameron Park Elementary. Now, she’s a junior at Orange High. Last week, she finished first at a meet at Chapel Hill High that also featured Southern Durham. On Tuesday Adalyn was set to finish first overall in the senior day meet that also featured Chapel Hill, Oxford Webb and Northern Vance. Instead of crossing the finish line, she opted to wait and finish the race with her fellow seniors, who ran their final race at the OHS course.

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An old axiom in football is 12 plays decide every game. With that in mind, we here at Hillsboroughsports.com introduce a new feature: the Dire Dozen. We’ll look back at the game of the week for Orange and Cedar Ridge, examine the situations and why they were so pivotal in victory or defeat.

We’ll start with Monday’s victory by Cedar Ridge’s 21-19 over Chapel Hill. It seemed that the Red Wolves were headed down a familiar path to its 50-7 loss to Cardinal Gibbons at halftime. The Tigers led 13-0 at the half, outgaining the Red Wolves 263-88. Yet Cedar Ridge used huge plays from its special teams and the experience of Peyton Pappas and Marquez Hunter, along with strong kicking from Trenton Gill for its first victory over the Tigers since 2011.

Play 1: 1st quarter, Chapel Hill leads 7-0: Issac Armistad recovers a muffed punt returned at the Chapel Hill 48-yard line. 

Chapel Hill had roared down the field on its opening possession with quarterback Connor Stough completing a 40-yard pass to Connor Korfas, leading to Stough scoring on a sneak on the next play. After CRHS went 3-and-out, Armistad pounced on a fumble following a 41-yard punt from Gill. Though Cedar Ridge fumbled at the Tigers 4-yard line two plays later, it still flopped field position on a rainy night.

Play 2: 1st quarter, Chapel Hill leads 7-0. London Saunders recovers a fumble at at the Red Wolves 33-yard line. 

Get the theme yet? This was a sloppy game, which was only natural given the soggy conditions. The Tigers had already completed a pair of 3rd downs on this drive. Stough and Korfas hooked up for a 18-yard completion to invade Red Wolves territor before Saunders recovered a fumble by Chapel Hill’s Ricki McDowell, who finished with 104 yards on 22 carries. The Tigers led 13-0 at the half after Stough launched a 31-yard touchdown pass to Korfas with 1:07 remaining in the 2nd quarter. That’s when Chapel Hill’s domination ended.

Play 3: 3rd quarter, CHHS leads 13-0. Peyton Pappas converts a 4th-and-7 on Cedar Ridge’s opening drive of the 2nd half. 

As mentioned earlier, Chapel Hill outgained Cedar Ridge 263-88 in the first half. In the second half, the Red Wolves outgained the Tigers 181-95. Part of the disparity came from longer Cedar Ridge drives. The opening CRHS series lasted 15 plays. Rule #1 of the Dire Dozen is any drive that goes 15 plays or longer, yet doesn’t score any points in automatically defined “A Griswald Drive.” Kids, if you don’t get that reference, seek out the movie “National Lampoon’s Vacation” from 1984. And please don’t see that horrid remake that came out this summer. While this drive would be defined a Griswald Drive, it helped set the tone for the 2nd half. It wouldn’t have continued without Pappas cutting away from Chapel Hill’s Baxter Sobolewski and netting a first down that ended at the Chapel Hill 8-yard line.

Play 4: 3rd quarter: CHHS leads 13-0. Justin Terrell makes his 1st interception of the season at the Chapel Hill 9-yard line. 

Field position dictated the Red Wolves turnaround, and this was a major development for the Tigers. Both sides had chances for interceptions throughout the first half because of the torrential rain, but Terrell’s pick led to…..

Play 5: 3rd quarter: CHHS leads 13-0. Shemar Miles scores on a 4-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 13-7. 

Simple blocking up the middle by Dy-Mon Riggsbee and Nate Lewis put Cedar Ridge on the board and started a string of 21 unanswered points.

Play 6: 3rd quarter: CHHS leads 13-7. Pappas hits Marquez Hunter for a 14-yard gain on a 3rd-and-10 from the Cedar Ridge-36 yard line. 

If the sloppy play caused by rain in the first half was the theme of the 1st half, the theme of the 2nd half was Marquez Hunter dominating on both sides of the ball. In his first career victory over Chapel Hill, Hunter finished with 8 receptions for 84 yards, along with another huge play later. This 3rd down conversion sustained a 10-play drive and kept the Cedar Ridge defense off the field.

Play 7: Same drive, Pappas runs for 11 yards on a 3rd-and-1 to bring the ball to the Chapel Hill 30-yard line. 

Another long drive that ended without points, but another instance where Pappas seemed determined to beat Chapel Hill in his senior year. He would rush for 38 yards in the 2nd half and was never sacked. Chapel Hill led 13-7 going into the 4th quarter, which is when the Red Wolves came up with the biggest plays.

Play 8: 4th quarter, Chapel Hill leads 13-7, Marquez Hunter makes an interception at the Tiger 34-yard line. 

Arguably the play of the game. Hunter caught an underthrown ball thrown by Stough and returned it 15 yards, and the Tigers would pay immediately.

Play 9: Pappas throws to Hunter on 2nd-and-8 for a 47-yard touchdown. 

Hunter made a living on catch-and-runs during the second half because no one from the Tigers could contain him. While everyone else seemed to have trouble finding their footing in the mud, Hunter streaked down the sideline for a touchdown and the Red Wolves never trailed again.

Play 10: Tyrek Jennings blocks a Jose Escobedo punt and returns it 8 yards for a touchdown. 

After Hunter’s touchdown, the Tigers went 3-and-out. If there was an area where the Red Wolves had a clear advantage, it was the kicking game. Trenton Gill was a steady three-way kicker for the Red Wolves, something CHHS lacked. Jennings shuffled past an upback to score easily and give Cedar Ridge a 21-13 lead.

Play 11: 4th quarter. After Chapel Hill gets a touchdown on a quarterback sneak by Stough, Lucas Baldwin breaks up the 2-point conversion pass in an attempt to tie the game. 

Baldwin made a break on the ball on a pass intended for Korfas.

Play 12: Cedar Ridge ices the game on a 4-yard run by Dahnte Scott to get a first down and run out the clock. 

Scott carried the ball three times on the final drive as Coach Loosemoore wanted the ball in the hands of a steady, sizeable back. It worked.

The Red Wolves rally from a 13-0 deficit to top the Tigers and win the Big 8 Conference opener. Coach Loosemoore and Marquez Hunter discuss the win.

Coach Loosemoore and Marquez Hunter discuss Cedar Ridge’s win over Chapel Hill

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Ivan Carbajal scored his first goal of the season while Lachlan McGrath added his third goal as Cedar Ridge defeated Northwood 2-0 on Wednesday night.

Carbajal notched the opener on an assist from McGrath. Later, Carbajal returned the favor, sending a low pass to McGrath for his third goal of the season.

With the win, the Red Wolves remain one game back of Chapel Hill for first place in the Big 8. The Tigers won at Cedar Ridge on Monday night 2-0.

Goalkeeper Brandon Boss notched his 2nd clean sheet of the year.

Cedar Ridge improves to 6-4-1 on the season, 4-1 in the Big 8.

The Orange Panthers volleyball team has won 7 in a row after downing Oxford Webb 3-0 on Wednesday night at Jim King Gymnasium. The Panthers captured the three sets by scores of 25-18, 26-24 & 25-19.

With the win, Orange remains a game back of Cedar Ridge for first place in the Big 8 with a 5-1 conference mark. The Red Wolves are 6-0.

Against the Warriors, Andie McKinnon finished with 18 kills and 20 digs. Julia Lovingood registered 20 assists, a dig and an assist.

McKinnon leads the Big 8 with 156 kills, 52 assists and 221 digs.

It was a short turnaround for Orange, who played its second game in two days after a 3-0 victory over Northwood in Pittsboro on Tuesday. Against the Chargers, McKinnon finished with 7 aces, 9 kills, 2 blocks and 9 diggs. Kayla Durham, HillsboroughSports.com Orange Panther of the Week #3, finished with 8 aces, 5 kills, and 8 digs. M’Lynn Dease had 7 kills, while Lovingood had 2 aces and 15 assists and Caroline Compton had 14 assists and 2 digs.

Overall, the Panthers are 10-5.

The Red Wolves top Orange for the 2nd time this season. The latest victory came on a cool Monday afternoon at Cedar Ridge. CRHS coach Lennie Corbett discussed the victory, his recent trip to the U.S. Open, and his hopes of getting into the 3-A dual team tennis playoffs.

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Orange Panther of the Week #4: Jordan Lloyd.

Jordan is a junior volleyball player who helped Orange notch 3 victories last week. Orange improved to 8-5 by defeating East Chapel Hill, Southern Durham and Chapel Hill. The victory over the Tigers came at Tiger Gymnasium on Thursday night in five sets. Jordan is the daughter of Joel and Sherri Lloyd of White Cross. Since she didn’t want to speak by herself, Jordan invited her friend Eva Porter to talk with her. Orange faces Northwood tonight in Pittsboro.

Orange Panther of the Week #4: junior volleyball player Jordan Lloyd

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Cardinal Gibbons roared out to a 22-0 lead and never looked back as the Crusaders defeated Cedar Ridge 50-7 in Hillsborough on Friday night at Red Wolves Stadium.

The only positive note for Cedar Ridge came in the 2nd quarter. On a 4th-and-24, quarterback Peyton Pappas threw to Demetrius Liles for a 27-yard touchdown.

Aside from that, it was all Crusaders from beginning to end. Gibbons opened the game with a 8-play, 72 yard drive where running back Dalen Spruil carried the ball the first five plays, racking up 27 yards. After quarterback Wesley Wagner threw to Sean Nalesnik to the Red Wolves 1-yard line, fullback Brendan Schult scored on a 1-yard plunge, and the rout was on.

After a Cedar Ridge 3-and-out, the Red Wolves appeared to be cruising to another touchdown drive, only to have Spruil fumble at the 2-yard line. Montae Kee recovered for the Red Wolves. It was the only Gibbons turnover in the game. The only other drive where Gibbons didn’t score came at the very end, long after the game had been decided.

Pappas finished 13-for-30 for 117 yards and a touchdown. Cedar Ridge falls for 2-3 and travels to Chapel Hill next week in its Big 8 Conference opener. Chapel Hill retained the Hodgin Cup on Friday night for the 12th straight year by defeating East Chapel Hill 41-12.

Cedar Ridge interim head coach Loosemore discusses Cardinal Gibbons 50-7 win over the Red Wolves on Friday night in Hillsborough.

A long night for Cedar Ridge

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