When you’re a number one seed starting play in the opening round of a state tournament, you have to prove your dominance.
That’s exactly what Cedar Ridge did on Saturday.
The top-seeded Red Wolves defeated Swansboro 25-7, 25-9 and 25-13 to advance to the 2nd round of the playoffs. Cedar Ridge will face Eastern Alamance next. The Red Wolves defeated the Eagles in four sets earlier this month.
Asha Barnes, who was named Homecoming Queen on Friday night in Cedar Ridge’s football victory over Oxford Webb, finished with 14 kills. Alexis Dumain registered 16 assists and 5 aces.
In the first set, the Red Wolves Meg Anderson served as the Red Wolves ran off 13 consecutive points to take a 16-1 lead.
The Pirates, who drove four hours on Saturday morning to arrive in Hillsborough, drew closer in the second set. At one point, they trailed 7-4. The service by Dumain and Courtney Eckmann proved too much as the Red Wolves finished the set by winning 18 of the last 21 points.
Cedar Ridge is now 21-3 on the season.
In other volleyball action from Saturday, Orange defeated Eden Morehead in four sets. The Panthers advanced on scores of 22-25, 25-23, 25-20 and 25-17.
Orange will travel to Greensboro to face Northern Guilford on Tuesday night.
Hillsboroughsports.com will continue radio coverage of Cedar Ridge games with the Eastern Alamance contest.
For the seventh straight time, Orange football has defeated Chapel Hill.
Alex Long scored four touchdowns on Friday night as the Panthers defeated the Tigers 40-19 on senior night at Culton-Peerman Stadium. Junior quarterback Jackson Schmid threw three touchdown passes as the Panthers (9-1, 4-1 in the Big 8) won its fourth straight.
The win insured the Panthers will take one of the Big 8 Conference’s three automatic births to the state playoffs, which the Orange coaching staff knew going in. What they didn’t know was how much Northwood would help the Panthers cause—or perhaps hurt it.
The Chargers stunned Southern Durham 26-24 at Spartans Stadium, ending Southern’s 23-game conference winning streak. The Spartans had not lost a conference game since returning to 3-A football and the formation of the Big 8 Conference in 2013. It’s last conference loss was on September 14, 2012 as a 4-A school, falling to archrival Hillside.
The Panthers will finish the regular season next week at Oxford Webb (they will be idle on November 6th). A win guarantees they will tie for the conference championship. Southern finishes with a home game against Cedar Ridge and a road trip to Webb. Northwood plays at Northern Vance next week and hosts Chapel Hill on Nov. 6. If all three schools win out, they will draw for playoff positioning.
That means Northwood’s win may give Orange a top six seed for the state playoffs….or they could draw third and wind up on the road for the opening round, with more road games to follow.
As for the game against Chapel Hill, the Panthers rode its running game again, carrying the ball 62 times. Senior Bryse Wilson led the Panthers with 97 yards. Fellow senior Drew Lemaster, who appeared to be injured during the second quarter after a collision with Chapel Hill wide receiver Connor Korfas, rushed for 68 yards on 12 carries.
Arguably, it was Schmid’s best game of the season. He threw for 214 yards. The most noteworthy possession came late in the first half, when Chapel Hill scored on a 20-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Connor Stough to wide receiver Albert Nyamayaro to narrow the Orange lead to 21-12. With only 47 seconds remaining, it seemed the standard protocol would be to have Schmid take two knees and go to the locker room.
Instead, Schmid aired it out, covering 60 yards in 30 seconds. Consecutive completions to Cody Evans of 25 and 35 yards advanced the ball to the Tiger 13-yard line. Then Schmid found Long for a 11-yard catch-and-run to tack on another touchdown.
“I think Jackson is getting more poised,” said Moser. “Chapel Hill was putting nine men in the box against us, so we had to pass it at some points. Jackson made good decisions out there tonight.”
Long has stepped in for running back Eryk Brandon-Dean, who was lost for the season with a torn ACL suffered against Southern Durham on September 24th. He’s the change of pace runner the Panthers desparately need after a rash of injuries to skill players during the opening two months of the season.
Montee Mitchell also caught a touchdown pass from Schmid (which he set up moments earlier with a 28-yard punt return into Tiger territory), and registered an interception on defense.
This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolves of the week are the tandem of Leah Thompson and Maddie Allen. Leah and Maddie finished 4th last week in the Big 8 Conference Doubles Tennis Tournament at Orange High Tennis Courts. Thus, they qualified for this weekend’s Mideast Tennis Regionals at the Burlington Tennis Center.
Remarkably, last week was the first time the two had teamed together this season.
Junior Tess Johnson of Cedar Ridge will compete in the singles tournament.
Cedar Ridge’s Ian Elliott captured his first conference championship at the Big 8 Champtionships at Northwood High in Pittsboro.
Elliott, a junior, finished with a personal best time of 17:04.6 to finish first overall. Orange’s Hunter Spitzer finished 2nd overall at 17:04.6. The Panthers Spenser Husen came in 4th at 17:12.28
Chapel Hill swept both varsity championships in the boys and girls ranks. CHHS won the boys team championship with 35 points. Orange finished second with 46. Cedar Ridge was third at 69 points. Cedar Ridge’s Colin Bunner came in 5th with a time of 17:12.62. Orange’s Danny Archibald registered an 8th place finish at 17:29.78.
In the girls meet, Chapel Hill was even more dominant, finishing with 16 points. Orange was the runner-up with 62 points, while Cedar Ridge was third with 79.
Cedar Ridge’s Liz Zarzar was the only non-Chapel Hill runner to finish in the top 6, finishing 5th with a time of 20:04.75. Orange’s top finisher was Adalyn Fleming, who crossed the finish line at 20:44.59. Juliana Lester of Orange came in 10th.
Elliott, Spitzer, Husen all qualify for regionals.
It was no secret that the Cedar Ridge Red Wolves would be the #1 seed from the Big 8 Conference. They will host a home match in the first round of the state playoffs on Saturday night.
But there was a question as to who would make the playoffs after three teams tied for 2nd place in the Big 8: Chapel Hill, Orange and Webb. Now, we have the answer.
A drawing was held on Wednesday night. Chapel Hill drew 2nd, Orange 3rd. They’re both in the state playoffs. Webb was the unlucky one, drawing 4th. That doesn’t mean the Warriors are out of the postseason, but they will need an at-large birth in order to make the field of 64.
We’ll have coverage of Cedar Ridge, including possible radio broadcasts, here on HillsboroughSports.com. Check here for more information.
Orange Volleyball could have made its playoff life simple on Tuesday night. Win at Webb, and they finish 2nd in the Big 8 Conference.
It didn’t work out that way.
The Warriors shut out the Panthers 3-0 by scores of 25-21, 25-19, and 25-19. With the loss, Webb, Orange and Chapel Hill finish tied for 2nd at 8-4 in the Big 8, all behind undefeated conference champion Cedar Ridge.
The playoff field is set to be announced on Wednesday, with 1st round matches set for Saturday. Cedar Ridge will have a home match, and will likely be a top seed.
We’ll have coverage of Cedar Ridge, and possibly Orange, here on HillsborughSports.com
Get ready to listen to some of the game for the Red Wolves starting next month here on Hillsborough Sports.com. Here’s the schedule released by boys basketball coach Clay Jones.
Typically, we don’t like repeating winners of the Orange or Cedar Ridge Players of the Week. But Drew Lemaster’s game was too good on Friday night. In Orange’s 41-6 win over Cedar Ridge, Lemaster rushed for a career-high 124 yards on 18 carries and intercepted a pass for a touchdown. Plus, he tipped a punt that led to a 58-yard touchdown return for Montavious Beasley. Congratulations to Drew Lemaster, our Orange Panther of the Week for the second straight week!.
The Orange boys soccer team picked a good time to pull an upset.
The Panthers defeated Chapel Hill 2-1 on Monday night in Hillsborough, handing the Tigers its first loss in Big 8 play this season. The Panthers improve to 9-8-1. More importantly, they’re 5-4 in the Big 8 Conference, good enough for 3rd place. The top three finishers in the Big 8 automatically qualify for the state playoffs.
“I am extremely proud of our group tonight,” said Orange coach Palmer Bowman. “They played with great energy and effort, and were able to come out on top. Chapel Hill is an incredibly strong side. They are very skilled, well-coached, and play quality soccer. We were fortunate enough to catch some breaks and make the most of the opportunities that we got during the game.”
Orange opened with a goal from Henry Guevara-Alfaro in the 42nd minute. The Panthers received insurance from Malcolm Phillips during the second half.
It was Guevara-Alfaro’s seventh goal of the year. Phillips earned his 2nd goal of the season.
Chapel Hill responded with a goal in the 74th minute, but Orange goalkeeper Noah Miller stood strong down the stretch to pave the way for a Panther result.
“You have to tip your hat to Chapel Hill,” said Bowman. “They played a man-down for 3/4 of the game and continued to create chances. We were fortunate to put a few away and hold on at the end. Malcolm Phillips and Henrry Guevara scored some very timely goals, and our defense weathered the storm to ensure the win.”
In its last three games against Chapel Hill, the Tigers had outscored the Panthers 21-0, including a 6-0 loss earlier this year.
The Orange soccer program started in 1988. MaxPreps.com doesn’t list any past Orange teams having defeated the Tigers.
