Cedar Ridge Football

Football: The Gravelly Hill Middle School football team won its first game of the season last Wednesday, defeating Culbreth 34-8 in Efland.

Kayden Bradsher rushed for over 150 yards and four touchdowns as the Grizzlies improved to 1-0. Kamaal Smith had a receiving touchdown and a rushing touchdown. Gravelly Hill is scheduled to host Southern Roxboro on Wednesday afternoon in Efland. They will travel to Orange Middle School on October 5.

Boy’s Soccer: Orange Middle 6, Northern Middle 0: Lachlan McPherson scored five goals as the Chargers earned a victory in Roxboro. Nikola Henry added another goal. Eunko Newell earned the clean sheet in net. Orange Middle will return to action at Stanback on Thursday in the Orange-Person Athletic Conference.

To all coaches, parents and students at middle schools, we want to increase our coverage of middle school athletics here on Hillsboroughsports.com. In 2019, our coverage was starting to pick up with consistent response from coaches–then the pandemic hit.

My contact information is hamlin37@hotmail.com.

What we’re looking for is pretty simple.

1. The final score of a game, meet or cross country event.
2. The names of the players who scored touchdowns, rushing yards, receiving yards, goals, points, assists, kills, blocks, etc.
3. Any other performers who stood out in a particular game or meet.

We’re looking for results after games for Orange Middle, Stanback and Gravelly Hill. If coaches, parents or students could reach out to us after games, we can get our coverage back to where it was before COVID-19. That helps everyone because it accomplishes the goal of this website, which is complete coverage of Hillsborough sports across the entire northern Orange County area.

Again, our email is hamlin37@hotmail.com. If we could hear from coaches after every game with the information above, that would meet our goal.

Good to see the local middle schools off to a good start for this academic year. Let’s make Middle School Review a regular thing again.

Editor’s note–(We’re a little behind in posting The Magnificent 7. We try to write this column weekly. So for this edition, we’re going to focus on the week of August 21-27. We’ll play catch up for the next few weeks).

Summer isn’t over yet.

Of course, the prevalent line of thinking is that Labor Day marks “the unofficial end of summer,” as the television anchors like to put it. However, the official end isn’t until September 21 (look it up on your calendar).

The week of August 21-27 will be remembered locally for the Cedar Ridge football team ending its 11-game losing streak against East Chapel Hill in a game that had more coincidences than humanly believable. The Cedar Ridge marching band performed “Master of Puppets,” the Metallica-classic, at halftime as part of its season-long tribute to “Stranger Things.” Naturally, the losing streak ended at eleven, which happens to be the name of the title character of the show.

Cedar Ridge’s football win was a wonderful note on a season that started with some promise. Just the fact that the Red Wolves are fielding a team will bring the wonderful amenities that this Cedar Ridge senior class deserves. It’s the things that past Red Wolves classes lacked. There will be a Homecoming game, with a King and Queen crowned on a Friday night. Two of the past four classes have had Homecoming night on Thursdays during junior varsity games. There will be a Senior Night in late October. Regardless of what the Red Wolves record is once fall rolls around (it starts September 22), this senior class of football players deserve full credit for making sure those things that other schools take for granted will be front and center this year in the western part of Hillsborough.

So here it is, our seven standout performers from the second week of the high school sports season from August 21-27.

1. Matt Turner, Sr. Cedar Ridge–Had a critical fumble recovery late in Cedar Ridge’s win over East Chapel Hill that set up the game-winning safety as the Red Wolves won 9-7. Turner returned to playing football last year when Cedar Ridge fielded only a junior varsity team and his presence helped the Red Wolves to its first varsity win since October 2019.
2. Darius Corbett, Sr. Orange–Scored on a penalty kick for the Orange men’s soccer team for its first win of the season over Knightdale 1-0 at WakeMed Soccer Park. Corbett has been a reliable centerback for Orange. He also scored Orange’s first goal of the season against Northern Durham on August 15. Was named the Orange Panther of the Week for the second week of the year.
3. Roman Morrell, Sr. Cedar Ridge–Won the Ronald Horton Cross Country Classic at Northwood High School on August 27. Morrell finished with a time of 17:23.7, beating his nearest competitor by 49 seconds. Morrell opened the year with a second-place finish in the Early Bird Challenge at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary on August 20. Qualified for the 3A State Championships last year.
4. Cameron Lanier, Sr. Cedar Ridge–Had eleven kills in Cedar Ridge’s win over Green Level, the defending 4A State Champions, on August 27. During the second week of the season, Lanier had nine kills in a win at D.H. Conley (the 2021 3A State Champions) and four kills against Carrboro (the 2016 2A State Champions). Lanier has committed to play volleyball at Elon.
5. Chris Mendez, Sr. Cedar Ridge–Scored the game-winning goal against South Garner in the Red Wolves’ first win of the season on August 26 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary. The following day, Mendez scored a goal in a 2-1 loss to Wallace-Rose Hill. Mendez was the leading scorer for Cedar Ridge last season with 13 goals and 29 points.
6. Allie Wilkerson, Sr. Orange–Had a strong week for the Orange volleyball team as the Lady Panthers defeated East Chapel Hill and swept Roxboro Community School. Wilkerson has announced that she will play volleyball at Averett University in Danville, VA. She is in her third-year as a varsity player for the Lady Panthers.
7. Erin Sollars, Jr. Orange–Sollars won two matches for the Orange women’s tennis team against Roxboro Community School on August 24. Sollars won her #1 singles match 6-0, 6-1. Later in the day, she teamed with her younger sister Shannon to win at #1 doubles 8-0. The Lady Panthers opened the season 3-1 with wins over the Bulldogs, Southern Alamance and Voyager Academy.

Photo courtesy of NBC Sports

Trenton Gill: On Sunday, Gill became the first Cedar Ridge Red Wolf to play in the National Football League. It was certainly a memorable debut as the Bears defeated the San Francisco 49ers 19-10 in the midst of dreadful conditions at Soldier Field. Heavy rain floods the field and Gill actually received a bizarre 15-yard personal foul penalty for bringing out a towel to dry a small area of the field prior to holding for a field goal attempt by Cairo Santos. Despite playing in a quagmire, Gill still averaged 46.2 yards over six punts. One was downed inside the 20-yard line and another went for a touchback. It was the Bears first win under new head coach Matt Eberflus.

Keshawn Thompson: William & Mary, ranked #20 in FCS, defeated Campbell 37-21 in Watler Zable Stadium in Willamsburg, VA. Thompson had three tackles for the Camels, who fell to 1-1. Campbell will travel to East Carolina on Saturday.

Darius Satterfield: Satterfield was all too busy for Elizabeth City State in the Down East Viking Classic on Saturday in Rocky Mount. The Blue Bears defeated the Vikings 19-0. Satterfield had nine punts for an average of 35.3 yards. His longest was 49 yard. He had only one kickoff for 55 yards. The Vikings are now 0-2 and will face Winston-Salem State in its CIAA opener next Saturday in Elizabeth City.

Braxton Mergenthal: Mergenthal got the most extensive playing time in his Hampden-Sydney career as the Tigers dropped a heartbreaker to Widener College 31-27 in Lewis Everett Stadium in Hampden Sydney, VA on Saturday. Mergenthal had a career-high four tackles. Hampden-Sydney, now 0-2, will host Greensboro College this Saturday.

Bryse Wilson: Wilson came out of the bullpen to throw six innings of middle relief as the Pittsburgh Pirates lost to the New York Mets 5-1 at PNC Park last Wednesday. Wilson surrendered four runs off seven hits with three strikeouts. He did not factor into the decision. Wilson will start for the Pirates against Cincinnati in the second game of a doubleheader on Tuesday.

Mia-Davidson Smith: After her first professional softball season with Athletes Unlimited, Davidson-Smith has joined the Mississippi State coaching staff as a graduate student coach. Davidson-Smith, the all-time leading home run hitter in Southeastern Conference history, is in graduate school at Mississippi State.

Kayla Hodges: The VCU women’s soccer team held Virginia, ranked #5 in the country, to a scoreless tie on Sunday at Klockner Stadium in Charlottesville. Hodges came off the bench to play 24 minutes. The Rams defeated Pitt 3-2 in its prior game. VCU is 2-1-5 and will face Massachusetts in its Atlantic 10 opener on Thursday.

Emerson Talley: The Division II Lenoir-Rhyne women’s soccer team had two wins last week. The Bears defeated Lincoln Memorial 1-0 at LMU Soccer Field in Harrogate, TN last Wednesday. Talley came off the bench to play 30 minutes for the Bears. On Saturday, the Bears improved to 2-0 in the South Atlantic Conference with a 2-0 win over Tusculum at Pioneer Field in Greenville, TN. Talley played 23 minutes as a reserve. Lenoir-Rhyne is 2-1-1 and will host UNC Pembroke in Hickory on Wednesday.

Lottie Scully: The Binghamton Bearcats volleyball team finished 2-1 in the Georgetown Invitational over the weekend. The Bearcats started with a 3-0 sweep of George Washington at the Charles E. Smith Center in Washington, D.C. Scully finished with four kills, 30 assists, two aces and nine digs. The following day, the Bearcats suffered its only loss of the weekend. Georgetown defeated Binghamton 3-2 on scores of 16-25, 25-22, 28-30, 25-23 and 15-13. Scully had three kills, 45 assists, one ace and 16 digs. Later on Saturday, the Bearcats swept Rider 25-16, 25-20 and 25-15. Scully registered two kills, 26 assists and six digs. Binghamton is 7-2 overall and will start play in the West Virginia Tournament on Thursday. They open with Delaware State on Thursday at the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, WV.

Avery Miller: The Pitt Community College volleyball team won both of its matches at Davidson-Davie Community College in Thomasville on Saturday. The Bulldogs opened with a 3-0 win over USC-Salkehathie on scores of 25-17, 25-14 and 25-14. Miller started for PCC and finished with two kills, one ace and six digs. Later in the day, Pitt defeated Davidson-Davie Community College 3-0 (25-22, 26-24 and 25-19). Miller started and finished with two digs. Pitt CC is 6-2, 0-2 in Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association.

This week’s Lineman of the Week is Cedar Ridge senior Louis Tedder. Last Friday night, Tedder played both guards and defensive tackle as the Red Wolves defeated East Chapel Hill 8-6 to win its first varsity game since October 2019. It was an unusual night for Tedder. His father, Louis Tedder Sr., is a defensive line coach for East Chapel Hill. Last season, he coached for Cedar Ridge when the Red Wolves only fielded a junior varsity team. Tedder has been active with Cedar Ridge sports through his first three years. He wrestles for the Red Wolves wrestling team coached by Scott Metcalf. He also competes in track & field in the spring. Tedder and the rest of the Cedar Ridge defense held the East Chapel Hill defense without a point in the final 40 minutes of its win last Friday night. Tedder and the rest of the Red Wolves will journey to Bartlett-Yancey on Friday night to face the Bartlett-Yancey Buccaneers. Last season, Cedar Ridge defeated Barrett-Yancey in a junior varsity game. 

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior football safety Matt Turner. On Friday night, Turner secured a fumble recovery late in the fourth quarter against East Chapel Hill deep in Wildcat territory. Though the Red Wolves didn’t score on the subsequent possession, it did help secure a safety from linebacker James Este Wittinger that provided the game-winning points. It was Cedar Ridge football’s first varsity win in 1,050 days. Turner played football at Gravelly Hill Middle School. He played as a freshman under head coach Torrean Hinton in 2019. He took the following two years off from football, but decided to return for the 2022 season as Cedar Ridge revived its varsity program. Turner has been a steady contributor thus far through two games in the 2022 season. On Friday night, Cedar Ridge rode its defense to victory. The Red Wolves forced turnovers in its last four possessions, including two interceptions by Justin Hartsell. There was another by Mason Cates late in the game. Cedar Ridge will go for its second straight win when they face Bartlett Yancey on Friday night in Yanceyville. You can hear that game on Hillsboroughsports.com. Congratulations to Mattt Turner, this week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week.