by Jon Franklin
As the new public address announcer at Cedar Ridge, I was introduced to the rivalry between Cedar Ridge and Orange High in last Tuesday’s volleyball match. While it didn’t seem like much of a contested rivalry, especially, after a very lopsided 3-0 sweep by the Lady Panthers – I can assure the rivalry is as hot and contested as any I’ve seen.
I grew up in the small foothills town of Marion in McDowell County. In a populated county of approximately 45,000, our rival has and will always be Freedom High of neighboring Morganton and Burke County (population give or take – 90,000). The rivalry between the McDowell Titans and Freedom Patriots have been contested in all sports, most notably in football and basketball.
Year after year and sport after sport, the Titans and Patriots would duke it out for Northwestern Conference supremacy in both regular-season play and in the conference tournament. Many times, the rivalry continued into the state playoffs on the sectional level, and in one case, the 2002 women’s basketball 4A Western Regional championship game. On that day, Freedom defeated McDowell to advance to the 4A State Finals, en route to winning the Patriots’ fourth state championship.
No matter of the combatants, the location, the records, or the circumstances, all a rivalry needs is HEAT.
From what I saw inside Cedar Ridge Arena last Tuesday, the rivalry between the Panthers and Red Wolves have it.
From the beginning, I noticed the fuel in the players’ eagerness. For Cedar Ridge, I saw smiles and saw determined game faces. I was asked, if not closed to being ordered, by many members of the Lady Wolves to make sure I go all in on the mic for this game. On the Orange side, I saw a workmanlike attitude. I didn’t see much conversation, but could tell they came focused and ready to play. They too wanted to claim Hillsborough for their own.
Second, I observed the spark from students’ energy. As they congregated in their respective sections (Cedar Ridge on the home side, and Orange behind Cedar Ridge’s bench), they were loud and proud for their home base. Given my position at the scoring table, I couldn’t make out what the Cedar Ridge students were saying, but I saw them get amped up for their Red Wolves with each dig, kill, and point. I did hear the student section for Orange as they purposely stood behind the Cedar Ridge bench for the first and third sets. During those sets, every time the Panther student section roared to get into the heads of their adversary, the Red Wolf bench howled back at them. Even during the second set when the benches switched areas, the student sections jawed back and forth across the court with each other.
Finally, I witnessed the accelerant of the seating sections filled with fans. For a high school volleyball game in the first week of classes, you might not necessarily get a big crowd. At best, you would a marginal amount of local fans (primarily family and friends of players) with a dusting of guests. Don’t tell that to fans of this rivalry. Normally during volleyball at Cedar Ridge Arena, the visitors’ side of the stands are not extended and open for seating. But in last Tuesday night’s affair, a complimentary crowd of approximately 400, dispersed on both sides of the gym, came to watch another game between these rivals.
Before I came to Cedar Ridge, I was the voice of the Duke Blue Devils in Baseball, Soccer, and Wrestling. I also announced Volleyball and Lacrosse in a fill-in capacity. No matter the sport, when the North Carolina Tar Heels came to Durham, all three factors I previously mentioned – happened. The natural heat between the Blue Devils and Tar Heels and the eight-mile distance between the two schools allowed for the rivalry to burn white hot.
The Orange – Cedar Ridge rivalry is very similar to their ACC counterparts. The distance between the two schools is only 4.5 miles, and the students are well acquainted with each other. Both want localbragging rights, an increased status in conference play; and no matter the sport, they want wins against their rival.
With my first interaction with “Hillsborough HEAT” in the books, I have to say that I am really looking forwards to future installments. There’s not enough water in the Eno River to extinguish the flames between these two schools, and I’m hoping fans of this rivalry will keep fanning it to keep burning.