After receiving offers from Appalachian State, Lehigh and several other Division I schools, Orange forward Connor Crabtree officially signed with UNC-Asheville on Tuesday. He talked about his aspirations for the upcoming season and the future.
It was Signing Day for many local athletes on Wednesday. Orange center Logan Vosburg signed with Roanoke College in front of Coach Greg Motley, parents and students in Jim King Gymnasium. Logan discussed with HillsboroughSports.com why he chose the school located in Salem, Virginia, and his goals for his senior year.
This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is cross country runner Elizabeth Zarzar. The senior finished third in the 3-A Mideast Regional Cross Country meet at Northwood High School last Saturday with a time of 20:05. That followed a third place finish at the Big 8 Conference Championships at Chapel Hill High School. It was a strong meet for the Big 8 Conference, as eight of the top ten runners were from Big 8 schools. Cedar Ridge’s Julie Averette finished 8th. Elizabeth also competes in indoor and outdoor track under Cedar Ridge track coach Larry Faucette. Her personal best in the 800 meters is 2:40.20.
On Saturday afternoon, Elizabeth, Averett and fellow Cedar Ridge Red Wolf Ian Elliott will compete in the 3-A State Championship meet at the Ivey M. Redmond Sports Complex in Kernersville.
This week Orange Panther of the Week is senior quarterback Jackson Schmid. Last week, Schmid threw for three touchdowns as the Panthers defeated J.F. Webb 49-0. Jackson finished the season throwing 13 touchdowns and 831 yards. He will go down as the quarterback for the first Orange team to go undefeated in the regular season in 38 years.
The North Carolina High School Athletic Association released its newest Average Daily Membership numbers on Thursday afternoon, which will be used to set up the upcoming state football playoffs.
The numbers show that Orange High has the lowest ADM of any Big 8 Conference school that will make the playoffs (1,201). The only schools in the Big 8 that have lower ADMs are Cedar Ridge (1,159), Northern Vance (840), and J.F. Webb (875). Northern Vance and Webb will drop down to 2A at the conclusion of the academic year.
The new numbers mean Orange could find themselves playing for the 3-A state championship, or the “Little 3 title,” instead of the 3-AA state championship that Orange has played for each of the past three seasons.
For those unfamiliar with the playoff process, 64 3A teams make the state playoffs. The ADM of those 64 teams are totaled, then divided to finalize an average. Schools whose ADMs fall above the mean qualify for the 3-AA state playoffs. Schools that fall below it compete for the 3-A state playoffs.
Orange hovers near the borderline.
Based on projections from WRAL, if these 64 teams make the playoffs, the mean will be 1,287.
Of course, there’s still two weeks to go in high school football’s regular season because of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association extending the campaign by one week due to Hurricane Matthew’s flooding delaying games for school in the southeast.
Orange finished its regular season last week with a perfect 11-0 record and the Big 8 Championship. It’s the first time the Panthers have gone undefeated during the regular season since 1978.
Don’t forget, things can change. Some of the teams WRAL has slated to make the playoffs, in either the east or west region, may miss out. A school with a much smaller ADM could get in, which may lower the average and vault Orange into the 3-AA playoffs. It won’t take very many alterations since Orange is only 86 students below the borderline.
Time will tell with Selection Saturday coming up on November 12th.
If Orange goes to the 3A bracket, they won’t face Southern Durham in the playoffs. Or Northwood, for that matter.
Instead, the Panthers will likely find themselves in the same tournament as the top six teams in 3A football, according to the most recent poll from the Associated Press.
Among the squads likely to play for the 3A championship: Lenoir Hibriten (ranked #1 in the state with an ADM of 1,014); Southern Nash (ranked #3 with an ADM of 1,101); West Craven (ranked #4, ADM: 971); Havelock (ranked #5, ADM 1, 077);
Orange is currently #2 in the state after receiving three first place votes in last week’s poll.
While ADM changes from year-to-year, it’s worth noting that Orange and Cedar Ridge have the lowest ADMs among the schools that will comprise the new Big 8 conference starting next year. Hillside, who claimed its 7th consecutive 4-A PAC-6 championship last week and will drop down to 3-A in 2017, has the highest at 1,589. The Hornets are just ahead of Northern Durham (1,562) and Chapel Hill (1,532). Northwood, which competed in the 3-A playoffs in 2013, has ballooned to 1,407, ahead of East Chapel Hill (1,376).
The Department of Public Instruction defines ADM as ” The total number of school days within a given term – usually a school month or school year – that a student’s name is on the current roll of a class, regardless of his/her being present or absent, is the “number of days in membership” for that student.”
The Cedar Ridge Red Wolves boys soccer team will open the 2016 3A State Playoffs in Wendell against Corinth Holders on Saturday.
The winner of the game between the Red Wolves and the Pirates will face either Lee County or J.F. Webb.
Cedar Ridge finished 2nd in the Big 8 Conference behind Chapel Hill. The Red Wolves enter the playoffs 10-5-4. In their final regular season game, Cedar Ridge lost to Heritage High 5-0. That loss ended a two-game winning streak where the Red Wolves defeated J.F. Webb 4-0 and Wake Forest 4-0.
Elmer Trujillo, Rene Castellanos, Jessee Flores and Trent Gill all tallied goals for the Red Wolves against the Warriors. Gill also had an assist. Justin Callemyn, Brandon Garcia and Seth Malie had assists, as well.
Against Wake Forest, Tatha Hso, Castellanos, Jake Brown and Gill all had goals.
Gill led Cedar Ridge with 16 goals and 42 points this season. Hso added 13 goals and four assists.
Corinth Holders finished 9-1 in the Two Rivers Conference and tied Cleveland for the league championship. The Pirates earned the top seed from the Two Rivers with an overall record of 15-5-2.
Corinth Holders goes into the state playoffs on a two-game losing streak after dropping consecutive games to rival Cleveland. On October 26th, the Rams defeated the Pirates 1-0. On Tuesday, the Rams defeated CHHS 1-0 in overtime. Before the consecutive losses to Cleveland, the Pirates were on an 11-game unbeaten streak, going 44 days without a loss.
The Cedar Ridge Girls Tennis team is moving on to the 3A State Quarterfinals after winning its 18th consecutive dual match on Wednesday.
The Red Wolves defeated Burlington Williams 5-3 in the 2nd round of the 3A state playoffs on a brisk Tuesday afternoon at Red Wolves Tennis Courts. Cedar Ridge (19-1) advances to face Cape Fear Valley Conference Co-Champion Terry Sanford on Thursday at 4:0o in Hillsborough.
As usual, the 3-6 singles players carried things for the Red Wolves. Senior Co-Captain Leah Thompson defeated Emily Rothsburg 6-1, 6-1. Serena Sauers put away Hannah Sumnter 6-1, 6-4. Alana Lutz put Cedar Ridge ahead for good with a 6-1, 6-1 win oer Maddie McHugh. Kate Milner put the Red Wolves ahead 4-2 in singles with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Hannah Higgins.
After never having claimed a conference championship in school history, the Red Wolves not only won the Big 8 Conference this year, but swept longtime power Chapel Hill. It was no surprise to head coach Lennie Corbett.
“I expected big things from this team,” said Corbett. “I felt something extra from this squad right from the start of this season. I thought they could win the conference.”
Increased expectations led to an increased workload. During a sultry summer where temperatures were still in the mid-90s in the early evening, Corbett had his team doing extra footwork drills and more running.
“It’s paid off,” said Corbett. “They’ve done everything I’ve asked them to do and they haven’t complained. Our stamina has been better than anyone we’ve faced this year. We had a solid two weeks of 2 hour sessions before our first match with Eastern Alamance.”
The addition of freshman Olivia Ward at #2 singles was another benefit. Freshman usually don’t start until later in their careers. Ward, the daughter of Person High tennis coach Lynn Ward, was ready to contribute immediately.
“That helped tremendously,” said Corbett. “She was ready to play right away. Plus, we had our girls coming back. We got to push down girls who would have been playing singles a little higher. Alana Lutz have moved in to the 5 position and that has made us stronger. It’s worked out really well.”
The doubles team of Thompson and Lutz captured the victory with a 10-3 victory, sending the Red Wolves into the 3rd round of the state playoffs for the first time in school history.
The depth of Cedar Ridge’s singles play continued to pay dividends. 3-through-6 singles, usually comprised of Thompson, Sauers, Hanna Spear and Milner, are now a combined 56-1 this season.
Thompson improved to 15-1 on the season, while Sauers is now undefeated at 16-0. Milner is now 15-0.
Cedar Ridge will face a Terry Sanford team on Thursday that has only lost to Cape Fear Valley Conference rival Union Pines and Pinecrest.
