Cedar Ridge Football

Random thoughts regarding high school sports as we enter September.

–This Tuesday will mark the first big conference volleyball match of the season between Cedar Ridge and Orange inside Red Wolves Gymnasium. Watching 90,000 fans fill Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, NE on Wednesday night to see Nebraska face Omaha led to me quipping on Facebook “I hope no one yells when Omaha serves or else someone from J.H. Rose will complain.” It was a joke from last year when they was a controversy regarding fans yelling during serves during the 3A Eastern Regional Final match between Cedar Ridge and Rose. That post led to a lengthy thread where local referee Chris Andrews weighed in saying “It’s up to the opposing coach to come to the official to complain. The official can judge whether or not proceed and have the Game Day Admin handle the situation. But the official can’t tell the fans to be quiet.” This will most likely become an issue at various matches over the next two months, so please keep that in mind.

–There will be a larger column on this issue later, but the North Carolina High School Athletic Association will go to seven classifications in 2025. It’s been four months since athletic directors across the state voted to pass a measure to expand classifications, yet many questions remain unanswered by the NCHSAA. One of them is: will there be conferences? I’m waving the banner to keep conferences alive. Not every team is a state championship team, even with more of them being legislated. So there needs to be secondary levels of achievement. Otherwise, the regular season becomes too narrow. To use a pro wrestling term, you need some Interconential Champions and U.S. Heavyweight Champions because there can be only one Roman Reigns or Hulk Hogan. For instance, Orange volleyball hasn’t won a conference title in 18 years. If this current group can win the Central Carolina Conference title this year, it will mean a lot to them.

–There was quietly a landmark occasion on Friday night as the Person Rockets football team defeated Northern Durham. It was the final game between the two teams at Durham County Stadium. In the 1980 and 1990s, Durham County Stadium was the modern-day equivalent to Bryant-Denny Stadium for the Alabama Crimson Tide (The Knights will have an on-campus stadium when they open their new school this week). Northern was every bit the juggernaut back then that Georgia and Alabama are now. They won 17 consecutive PAC-6 Conference championships between 1984-2001 and didn’t lose to another team from Durham County from 1976-2000. Person won there in 1990, then went decades without a victory over the Knights, in Roxboro or Durham. While the modern Northern Knights are hardly similar to the powerhouse teams of the past, winning the final tilt in Durham County had to bring some satisfaction to those in Roxboro, who remain loyal to their high school teams in the stands and in the media. You would think that Northern Durham’s potential final game inside DCS would draw some media attention after they were the center of the high school football universe for decades, but alas, it went largely ignored. I guess Mack Brown losing 60 pounds was more important to the Herald-Sun.

Those are my thoughts. Now on to the Magnificent 7 for week 2 of the season, ranging from August 21-26. Seven great local performances in no particular order.

1. Ella Wimsatt, Orange, Sr. The Orange volleyball team hasn’t had a home game since their season-opener on August 15, but it hasn’t impacted them in the slightest. Against Seaforth on August 21, Wimatt had 18 kills and ten digs. Three days later, Wimsatt had a career-high 24 kills in a 3-1 win at Falls Lake in Creedmoor. Falls Lake entered the match #1 in the 1A East Region RPI rankings.
2. Naomi Dyreng, Cedar Ridge, Jr.: Dyreng finished tenth for the Cedar Ridge women’s cross country team in the Early Bird Challenge on August 19. She finished at 20:58.90. Last year, Dyreng was the top finisher among Hillsborough female runners in the 3A State Cross Country Championships in Kernersville. She also won three regional championships at the Mideast Track and Field Championships last May.
3. Dominic McNerney, Cedar Ridge, Jr.: The Cedar Ridge men’s soccer team is 4-0-1, it’s best start in at least 13 years. McNerney assisted on a goal in the Red Wolves 3-1 win over Vance County on August 21. Against Northwood, McNerney scored the Red Wolves’ only goal in a 1-1 tie in Pittsboro. McNerney is a co-Captain for a Cedar Ridge team aiming to make the state playoffs for the first time since 2016.
4. Ryker Stein, Orange, Sr. : With 54 seconds remaining against Carrboro on August 23, Stein scored the equalizing goal as Orange tied the Jaguars 1-1. For Stein, it was the fifth goal of his career. Last year, he scored three for a Panther team that reached the state playoffs for the first time in five years.
5. Mason Cates, Cedar Ridge, Sr.: Had eight tackles for the Cedar Ridge football team in its loss to Granville Central on August 18. Cates also had 40 yards rushing. A two-sport athlete, Cates also was an All-Conference pitcher for the Cedar Ridge baseball team last spring on a Red Wolves team that made the state playoffs.
6. Makayla Davis, Orange, Sr.: Won both of her matches for the Orange women’s tennis team in a 5-4 loss to the Durham School of the Arts on August 22. Davis teamed with Molly Kruse to defeat Yunah Park and Nina Goffney 6-4. In her singles match, Davis defeated Sadie Miller 6-4, 6-4. This season, Davis has a 9-1 record in singles and doubles matches.
7. Addie Reid, Cedar Ridge, Sr: Reid had nine kills in Cedar Ridge’s 3-1 win over East Chapel Hill on August 21. She also had two blocks and two digs. Reid also had eight kills in a 3-1 loss to Carrboro where the Jaguars won two sets by a score of 25-23. Reid, a member of Cedar Ridge’s 2021 3A State Championship team, also had a block.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior running back/linebacker/wrestling James Este Wittinger. Last season, Este Wittinger scored the game-winning safety as the Red Wolves football team defeated East Chapel Hill at Red Wolves Stadium. Este Wittinger scored all eight points for Cedar Ridge in the game. In the second half, he scored the Red Wolves’ only touchdown of the game. He notched the safety when he tackled an East Chapel Hill running back in the end zone. Last February, Este Wittinger qualified for the 3A State Wrestling Championships for the first time. He had the prestigious honor of ending his season wrestling at the Greensboro Coliseum. Competing at 195 pounds at Cedar Ridge High School, Este Wittinger finished fourth in the 3A Mideast Regional. Este Wittinger opened with a win over Triton’s Alex Parrilla in 3:53. In the consolation round, Este Wittinger edged Western Alamance’s Cameron Pettigrew 3-2. In the next round, he went to overtime to defeat Adaris McBride of West Johnston. He defeated Victor Rodriguez of Person via pinfall in 4:44 to earn a trip to the state championships. This week, Este-Wittinger will start his final football season when Cedar Ridge journeys to Chapel Hill to face the Tigers at Culton-Peerman Stadium.

Plenty has happened to Torrean Hinton since football season ended in November.

Last month, his North Carolina Central Eagles won the HBCU National Championship in the Celebration Bowl over Jackson State in Atlanta. Hinton, who attended Central and Alabama A&M after graduating from Hillside High School in 1999, proudly wore various Eagles sweaters for three days afterward.

Beside that, his days have been filled with his standard job working as an accreditation manager with the Durham Police Department and taking his daughter for training twice a week to the North Carolina Football Club Academy in Apex.

In a nutshell, it’s life. And that’s why Hinton’s tenure as Cedar Ridge football coach has come to an end.

Hinton formally submitted his resignation as the Cedar Ridge football coach on January 6, three days before his 42nd birthday.

“Life just happened as far as my family,” Hinton said. “My wife got a promotion. I’m a full-time soccer dad. My daughter started playing soccer for the North Carolina Football Club. My wife can’t take her. She has two practices a week. It was just a family decision. I had to put football down for awhile. My wife has been supporting me for 14 years while I coached.”

A job vacancy was posted to the Orange County Schools website last week. Cedar Ridge Athletic Director Andy Simmons says he’s already received several resumes.

Choosing to resign was a tough pill to swallow for Hinton. In the days after the season ended, he looked as his day planner and realized there was only so much he could do with 24 hours in a day.

“I didn’t talk to anyone about it,” Hinton said. “I didn’t discuss it with anyone as far as Cedar Ridge is concerned. After the New Year, I thought I’d just rip the band-aid off and give Cedar Ridge a fresh start with somebody who will have enough time to do what they need to do.”

Hinton emphasized that his decision wasn’t centered on whether the Red Wolves would have enough players to field a team next season. Cedar Ridge didn’t field varsity teams in 2018 and 2021 because of a lack of participation.

“Absolutely not,” Hinton said when asked if participation was a factor in his decision. “I think that we had a lot of juniors on our team. Our senior class is going to be really, really big. The issue with Cedar Ridge is going to be finding rising juniors. We only had three sophomores on the team. That was the issue this year. Just trying to get more guys to come out from that class and get them to participate in spring ball. I don’t think they will have a junior varsity squad. If they do, it will be surprising. But definitely a varsity squad.”

Hinton just completed the second season of his second stint at Cedar Ridge’s head coach. His first stint started suddenly when Antonio King, a former Hillside coach who recently became the head coach at South Garner, gave notice on the first day of August training camp in 2019 in order to become a running backs coach at North Carolina Central.

In an interim role, Hinton coached Cedar Ridge to a 1-10 season in 2019 after they didn’t field a varsity team in 2018. Hinton’s first win as Cedar Ridge coach was memorable. For starters, it was Cedar Ridge’s first varsity win in 785 days. Isaiah McCambry, a freshman who would transfer to Walter Williams, scored two touchdowns, including a score in the fourth quarter that cut Chapel Hill’s lead to 19-18. K.J. Barnes took a handoff from Will Berger and scored on a handoff for a 2-point conversion that put the Red Wolves ahead 20-19 with 4:00 remaining.

Hinton left Cedar Ridge after Corey Lea was hired as head coach during the pandemic-shortened season in 2021. Cedar Ridge went 0-6 and Lea returned to Riverside in July 2021.

Hinton returned as head coach in 2021, but Cedar Ridge didn’t field a varsity team. They played only a junior varsity schedule. Last season upon its return to varsity, the Red Wolves went 1-9. They defeated East Chapel Hill 8-6 in August. James Este Wittinger scored Cedar Ridge’s only touchdown and made a tackle late in the game for the game-winning safety late in the fourth quarter.

Trenton Gill: The first Cedar Ridge player to ever play in the National Football League had his rookie season come to an end on Sunday. The Minnesota Vikings defeated the Chicago Bears 29-13 at Solider Field. In his final game of the season, Gill had three punts for an average of 37 yards. Two of them were downed inside the 20-yard line. His longest punt was 44 yards. To end his rookie season, Gill had 66 punts for an average of 46 yards, which was tied for 23rd in the NFL. His longest punt was 63 yards. 20 of his punts were downed inside the 20-yard line, which was tied for 24th in the NFL. The Bears will have the #1 overall pick in April’s NFL Draft after they finished 3-14. On Saturday night, Gill came home and spun the siren for the Carolina Hurricanes for the third period of its game against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PNC Arena in Raleigh. The Hurricanes held on to win 2-1.

Bryse Wilson: After being designated for assignment, Wilson was traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Milwaukee Brewers last week. He was traded for cash considerations. It will be Wilson’s third Major League Baseball organization. Last season, Wilson went 3-9 with an 5.52 ERA with Pittsburgh. He had 79 strikeouts and 32 walks. Wilson’s son, Levi, was born last month. Wilson will report to spring training next month looking to take a spot in the Brewers’ starting rotation.

Connor Crabtree: On January 4, the Richmond Spiders men’s basketball team held off George Washington 73-63 at the Robins Center. Crabtree played one minutes. He has not played in Richmond’s subsequent three games: a 75-73 win over Duquesne; a 61-57 win at Davidson and  71-63 loss against St. Bonaventure.

Joey McMullin: The Sandhills Community College men’s basketball team has won three in a row. On Saturday, the Flyers defeated New Hope Collegiate 122-87. McMullin came off the bench to lead Sandhills with 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field. He sank both of his 3-point attempts. McMullin also had five rebounds. On Wednesday, Sandhills defeated Johnston Community College 98-77 at Harrison Gymnasium in Smithfield. McMullin scored 16 points in 18 minutes. He finished 7-of-12 from the field and knocked down his only shot from downfield. McMullin also had four rebounds. On January 5, Sandhills rolled past Brunswick Community College 101-87. McMullin scored 14 points and grabbed four rebounds. Sandhills is 15-3 overall, 1-1 in Region 10 of the National Junior College Athletic Association.

Aaliyah Harris: The Division III Randolph-Macon women’s basketball team rolled by Lynchburg 56-30 on January 11 at Crenshaw Gymnasium in Lynchburg, VA. Harris played 15 minutes and shot 1-of-6 from the field. She scored three points and grabbed one rebound. On January 5, Randolph-Macon defeated Eastern Mennonite 65-30 in Ashland, VA. Harris scored three points off 1-of-6 shooting from the field. She had three rebounds. The Yellow Jackets are 10-5 overall, 7-2 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.

Braden Homsey: The Division III Ferrum College wrestling team split a pair of dual matches at the Budd Whitehill Duals at Lycoming Wrestling Center in Williamsport, PA on Saturday. The Panthers defeated Pennsylvania Tech 27-21. Wilkes defeated Ferrum 28-17. Homsey won both of his matches by technical fall at 197 pounds. Against Wilkes, Homsey defeated Hunter Lowe 16-1. Against Penn Tech, Homsey rolled past Gabriel Kennedy-Citeroni 17-2. On Friday, Ferrum dropped three matches at Lycoming College. #21 Ithaca defeated the Panthers 30-12. Chibueze Chukwuezi defeated Homsey by technical fall 18-2 at 197 pounds. Williams defeated Ferrum 20-13. Homsey earned a major decision over Thomas Goodwin 14-1. York College of Pennsylvania edged Ferrum 25-17. 25-17. Homsey won another technical fall over Devon O’Dell 16-0. Ferrum is 3-7 overall on the season, 1-1 in the ODAC. They will return to action against Averett in a dual match on Thursday in Ferrum. On January 27, Ferrum will compete in the Pete Wilson Invitational.