Month: August 2023

Tonight’s season opener for the Orange football team will feel like a family affair, even if it’s the first game in Southeast Alamance history.

It will be the first football game for Southeast athletic director B.J. Condron, who won over 100 games as the Orange women’s basketball coach over ten years. Southeast’s first principal is Eric Yarbrough, who traveled across the state to watch Orange football in its glory days from 2010-2017 when he was the Panthers’ principal.

And there are more parallels. Southeast’s public address announcer for its first home game next week will be Jerome James, known as “Florida,” who played at Orange. Another former Orange player is a Stallions assistant. Throughout the week, there’s been friendly banter through text messages between current Orange staff and members of the new kids on the block within Haw River as the hours before kickoff wind down.

For Orange head coach Devante Pettiford, the Southeast Alamance game is a chance to get the sour taste of the 2022 season out of his mouth. The Panthers went 2-8, including a 70-0 loss at Walter Williams, the most lopsided defeat in school history.

A win over a school playing its first-ever game won’t ease the pain of last year, but it would be Orange’s first win in a season-opener since 2017 when the Panthers routed Northern Nash in Rocky Mount.

Those were the days of Payton Wilson and Marvante Beasley, the last Orange football conference championship team. The Panthers haven’t had a winning season since. Northern Nash played for the 3A State Championship last December.

It used to be that a first-year high school would wait years before winning its first game. But Alamance County is a fertile ground for raising football players, even if there are only just four seniors on its roster.

“It’s going to be a good matchup,” Pettiford said. “It’s a little weird to have so many people from Orange over at Southeast Alamance now. I think it will be a packed, exciting game.”

The Stallions hired longtime Eastern Guilford head coach Tony Aguilar as head coach in March. Aguilar compiled a 37-17 record with the Wildcats over six seasons and has a reputation that precedes him.

“The minute I found out that Tony Aguilar was the head coach, I knew what time it was,” Pettiford said. “He’s a seasoned coach. He has very good connections in Alamance County. I knew what type of product he was going to put on the field.

Orange returns quarterback Hank Nunnery, a junior who threw for five touchdown passes in the first half of last year’s win over Granville Central. Running back Nate Sorrells also returns. Sorrells, who originally had a career in men’s soccer mapped out before he ventured into football, rushed for 201 yards in last year’s win over Cedar Ridge.

“Nate is the guy,” Pettiford said. “He’s play from cornerback for us. He’s the hardest worker I have on my team. He shows up. He communicates. He shows great leadership. He does all I ask him. He has been here everyday this summer for workouts. The only days he missed was so he could attend a camp.”

Nate’s brother, Jaylan, will play both sides of the interior line.

There are also new pieces to the puzzle. Jaydan Medley will line up beside Jaylan Sorrells and senior Malachi Justice along Orange’s 3-3-stack defensive front. Deandre Brown and Starks looked strong during Orange’s scrimmage against Jordan-Matthews and Winston-Salem Carver last week in Siler City.

“Last year was a big learning experience,” Pettiford said. “I was learning on the go. This year, my expectations are 100% in place. These guys know what I want and what I expect. We have a chip on our shoulder.”

Nonetheless, it’s a new, steeper Central Carolina Conference. With the addition of Southern Alamance into the league after the departure of Northwood, half of Orange’s ten regular season games will be against Alamance County schools.

“My goal this year is for us to turn the corner,” Pettiford said. “I think we can definitely have a successful non conference campaign. I want people to come away thinking that Orange is showing up, fighting and competing. I think sometimes you say Orange to other teams and they may giggle or laugh about it. My thing is when other teams see us this year, they have to respect us. I want them to know that we’ll be a team that fights all four quarters.”

There’s something that feels right about soccer in downtown Durham.

In the distance beyond the scoreboard at venerable Durham School of the Arts, there’s the Durham skyline. The storied Durham Mutual Life building can be seen by all visitors to Bulldog Stadium. It stands alongside the historic Chesterfield Building, a reminder when Durham was truly a tobacco town with the piercing smell lingered throughout town at the end of a summer days.

That’s where the Orange men’s soccer team finally started its season on Thursday night. Two seniors hooked up on a free kick for the game-winning goal.

Emmanuel Mil Cruz headed in a free kick supplied by senior Traver Bruhns with 29:54 remaining in regulation. The Panthers midfield, which was outplayed for much of the first half, largely controlled possession for the remainder of the night as Orange rode out a 2-1 victory over the Bulldogs.

Senior goalkeeper Finn Kelly earned the victory for Orange, who lost 13 seniors from the 2022 team that reached the 3A State Playoffs.

“We were more aggressive in the second half,” said Orange coach Palmer Bowman. “(DSA) Coach (Amy) Green does a great job. We knew #7 (Declan Fahley) and #9 (Ryan Rosales) were some great players. We knew we had to clean it up or they were going to punish us. We were lucky they didn’t put more on us in the first half.”

After Bruhns scored the opening goal for Orange, DSA’s Rosales notched the equalizer 0ff a corner kick. Rosales nearly added a second when he headed the ball past Kelly at the top of the box. Orange centerback Jay Parker rushed over to clear the ball off the line to keep the game tied at halftime.

After Kelly caught a Bulldog shot from distance to begin the second half, the Panthers controlled possession for the next half-hour. Joseph Lopez was tripped along the right sideline to set up a free kick. Bruhns played it to the six-yard box, where Mil Cruz soared above everyone and made solid contact with the corner of his head to tuck the ball into the roof of the net.

“Emmanuel is the workhorse for us,” Bowman said. “He and Traver are out wide for us. We ask them to do a lot of running and we ask a lot of them. But we ask them that because we know that they can do it.”

As the sun faded and the heat dissipated, Orange refused to allow a DSA counter. The Panthers piled on chance after chance in an attempt to gain a third goal. Angel Chavez attempted a header on another Orange corner, but it sailed over the crossbar. A long ball by Parker was run down by Bruhns, whose attempt went wide. Daniel Romero took a corner and fired a shot inside the six-yard box, but it was captured by DSA goalkeeper Joseph Morgado. Mil Cruz nearly earned a brace with a shot off a dead sprint that Morgado’s got a fingernail on to send it over the end line. Dallas Edwards hit the post off a corner kick with 5:12 remaining.

The Bulldogs best attempt came with 7:15 remaining when Romero nearly chased down a long ball, but Dallas Johnson cleared it away to nullify a potential game-tying goal.

It was the the first time since 2019 that Orange won its season opener. The Panthers will play its home opener against Southern Durham on Monday night.

Cedar Ridge 4, Voyager Aacdemy 1: 

The Cedar Ridge men’s soccer team is 2-0 for the first time since 2019. The Red Wolves earned a road win at Voyager Academy on Thursday night.

Senior Captain Illiah Babchenko, who score the game-winning goal against Eno River Academy on Monday night, scored off a penalty kick. Andy Tarija scored his second goal of the season. Jonam Juarez and Abazar Babiker also notched goals for the Red Wolves.

Gael Antunez-Nunez had two assists. He had helpers on the goals by Tarija and Juarez. Junior Dominic McNerney assisted on Abazar’s goal.

Cedar Ridge will continues its four-game road trip against Vance County on Monday night.

Mia Davidson-Smith: For the first time since turning professional in 2022, Davidson-Smith returned to North Carolina with Athletes Unlimited. It was also the first time that Davidson-Smith was the Captain of her own team, a spot reserved for one of the top four point-getters in Athletes Unlimited. In a three-game series last week, Team Davidson went 2-1. Davidson-Smith played her first game in North Carolina since 2018 at ECU Softball Stadium in Greenville last Wednesday. Team Davidson edged Team Romero 4-3. Davidson-Smith, starting at catcher, went 0-for-2 with a hit-by-pitch. Davidson-Smith finished the game with 98 individual points. On Saturday, Team Alexander shutout Team Davidson 4-0 at Parkway Bank Stadium in Rosemont, IL. Davidson-Smith went 0-for-2 with a hit-by-pitch. She finished with eight points. On Sunday, Team Davidson defeated Team Faraimo 3-1. Davidson-Smith went 0-for-3 with a walk. Davidson had 108 points on the day. Despite going hitless for the weekend, Davidson-Smith is still in fourth place among 60 players in Athletes Unlimited with 1,052 points. She’s the highest-ranked catcher in Athletes Unlimited. Once again, she will serve as a Captain on her own team this weekend. On Friday night, Team Davidson will face Team Alexander.

Bryse Wilson: The Milwaukee Brewers rallied in the ninth inning last week to defeat the Colorado Rockies 7-6 in ten innings at Miller Park. Wilson earned the win to improve to 4-0. In one inning of work, Wilson surrendered one unearned run off one hit. On Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Brewers 6-2 at Dodger Stadium. Wilson threw two-and-one-thirds innings of shutout baseball. He surrendered two hits and struck out two. Wilson currently has a 3.30 ERA. The Brewers are in first place in the National League Central with a 65-56 record. They lead the Cincinnati Reds by two-and-a-half games at the end of Wednesday night’s action.

Payton Wilson: The senior N.C. State linebacker was named to the Chuck Bednarik Award watch list this week. The Bednarik Award is presented to the top defensive player in college football. Last week, Wilson was named to the Dick Butkus Preseason Watch List. The Butkus Award honors the nation’s best linebacker.

Trenton Gill: The Chicago Bears played its first preseason game against the Tennessee Titans at Solider Field last weekend. The Bears won the game 23-17. Gill handled all of the punting duties, which says all you need to know about his job security. Of his four punts, Gill had an average of 50-yards per boot. One was downed inside the 20-yard line.

The fall sports season is set to begin in less than two weeks. The amount of former Orange and Cedar Ridge High School athletes playing sports in college has likely never been more voluminous. Here’s the list of athletes who will be suiting up for professional and college sports team this fall.

Football:

Trenton Gill–punter for the Chicago Bears

Payton Wilson–redshirt senior linebacker at N.C. State

Darius Satterfield–sophomore punter at Elizabeth City State University

Braxton Mergenthal–senior defensive lineman for Hampden-Sydney

Volleyball: 

Lottie Scully–Sophomore setter for the Binghamton Bearcats. Last season, Scully was third in the American East Conference with 788 assists. She had a season-high 64 assists in a 5-set victory over UMBC, which ended UMBC’s 23-match conference winning streak.

Avery Miller: Sophomore at Pitt Community College

Cameron Lloyd: Freshman at Bucknell University. Lloyd is the all-time kills leader in Cedar Ridge history.

Grace Young: Freshman at UNC Asheville. Young was the libero in 2021, 2022 and 2023 for Cedar Ridge, all conference championship teams.

Cameron Lanier: Freshman at Elon. Only the second Cedar Ridge player in history with 500 kills.

Julie Altieri: Freshman at Salisbury University in Maryland. Altieri is the all-time assist leader in Cedar Ridge history.

Melissa Benkowitz: Freshman at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA.

Anaya Carter: Freshman at UNC Pembroke.

Allie Wilkerson: Freshman at Averett University.

Women’s Tennis: 

Jera Hargrove: Sophomore at Tuskegee University

Women’s Soccer: 

Ivy Garner: Sophomore at Liberty University. Garner played at Cedar Ridge her freshman year before she transferred to Eno River Academy. Garner started regularly as a freshman and helped the Flames win the Atlantic Sun regular season championship. This season, they will play in Conference USA.

Emerson Talley: Junior at Lenoir-Rhyne University. The all-time leading goal scorer in Cedar Ridge history.

Sydney Rogers: Freshman at Catawba College. The first female to score a point for the Orange football team. Also a member of the first Orange women’s tennis team to win a conference championship.

The Orange volleyball team won its first game under new head coach Hope Heverly in its season opener. Aubrey Jordan had 16 kills while senior Ella Wimsatt added 12 kills as Orange defeated Jordan 3-1 at Panthers Gymnasium. It was the first time in nine years that Heverly coached a high school game. In 2014, Heverly coached the Person Rockets. She has also served as the head coach at Orange Middle School. For the past 17 years, she has been with the D.O.V.E. Volleyball program. After finishing second in the Central Carolina Conference last year, Orange lost seniors Erin Jordan-Cornell, Allie Wilkerson, Caitlin Carden and Josie Crawford from last year’s squad. But the Lady Panthers do return Ava Wilkerson, a 6-foot-4 sophomore who had five kills on Tuesday night. Orange followed the victory with Jordan with a spirited contest at Carrboro on Wednesday night, a match that Carrboro captured in four sets. Orange won the second set and extended the Jaguars to a tight fourth set, which Carrboro won 25-23. But the Lady Panthers fought the whole way against the defending Northern Carolina Conference champions. This weekend, Orange will return to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro district for the annual tournament at East Chapel Hill High School during the opening weekend of the season. Orange will open against East Chapel Hill on Friday night at 7 PMN. Orange will face Southwestern Randolph on Saturday morning, then take on Grimsley on Saturday afternoon, followed by another game against an opponent to be determined.

The Cedar Ridge volleyball team not only started a new season, but a new era on Monday night. The Red Wolves defeated Eno River 3-0 on scores of25-17, 25-13, and 25-18. It was the first game without Cameron Lloyd, Julie Altieri, Cameron Lanier, Grace Young, Melissa Benkowitz and Anaya Carter, a core group of players who graduated after winning a state championships and three conference championships. It was also the first game for new head coach Latacha De Oliveira, who replaced Fiona Cunningham earlier this summer. But there’s plenty of experience returning for Cedar Ridge. Senior Graylinn Serge finished with 15 kills, 23 digs and one ace. Another senior, Rachel Alverson, finished with a team-high 34 assists and five digs. Sophomore Claire Hargett, who had playing time during the regular season and state playoffs last year, finished with eight kills, two aces and ten digs. Cedar Ridge has now won 29 consecutive matches at home. They did it on their new home floor, which was installed in July. The Red Wolves will travel to Raleigh tonight to face Millbrook, the defending 4A State Champions, tonight. Then Cedar Ridge will face Chapel Hill on Saturday afternoon in Chapel Hill.   

The Cedar Ridge men’s soccer team endured one of the hottest days of the year to win its season-opener on Monday night. Cedar Ridge defeated Eno River Academy 4-2 at Red Wolves Stadium. Senior co-Captain Iliah Babchenko scored the game-winning goal in the first half as Cedar Ridge won its season opener for the first time since 2019. Andy Tarija, Gael Antunez-Nunez and Dominic McNerney also tallied goals for the Red Wolves. Babchenko and Antunez-Nunez also assisted on goals. Sophomore goalkeeper Erik Galunas earned the win. He finished with five saves, including one on a penalty kick. Cedar Ridge went 5-15-2 last season. The Red Wolves haven’t reached the state playoffs since 2017 and are looking to reach the field of 64. Two years ago, during head coach Chauncey Brunmmel’s first season, Cedar Ridge was the last team out of the 2021 state playoffs. Cedar Ridge had to replace leading scorer Chris Mendez from last season, but have a wide array of midfielders that can put the ball in the net. The home game on Monday night was the final game inside Red Wolves Stadium for the next few weeks. Cedar Ridge starts a four-game road trip on Thursday night against Voyager Academy in Durham. The Red Wolves travel to Henderson to face Vance County next Monday.

There was a new coat of paint for Cedar Ridge volleyball in its season opener–literally and figuratively.

For starters, there’s a new hardwood at Cedar Ridge gymnasium. The menacing dark gray that symbolized an angry Red Wolves’ menacing glare is gone. In its place is a traditional interlocking “CR” at center court with fresh coats of burgundy paint and a more traditional shiny, brown hardwood with “The Ridge” spelled out on opposite ends of the floor. It took roughly two weeks to install last month.

Of course, there’s the volleyball team itself. Cedar Ridge’s all-time leader in kills, Cameron Lloyd, has graduated and gone to Buckell University. The schools’ second all-time leader in kills, Cameron Lanier, is practicing 30 minutes up I-40/I-85 at Elon University. The all-time assists and aces dddleader was in the gym on Monday night for the Red Wolves’ season opener against Eno River, but Julie Altieri wasn’t in uniform. Instead, she took in her first game as a Cedar Ridge graduate, standing with the rest of the student section as she prepares to leave for Salisbury University in Maryland by week’s end.

While almost all the Cedar Ridge starters from the past four years have moved on, there’s still plenty of players left behind with lots of experience. Senior outside hitter Graylinn Serge, setter Rachel Aversion and sophomore Claire Hargett all registered plenty of sets during Cedar Ridge’s many blowout wins last year. They’re hardly green and it showed in its first-ever matchup against Eno River.

Serge finished with 15 kills and 23 digs, while Hargett had eight kills and ten digs as the Red Wolves swept the season-opener from the Bobcats 3-0 on scores of 25-17, 25-13 and 25-18. The Red Wolves have now won 29 consecutive games at home and 58 consecutive sets in regular season play.

It was the first win for new Cedar Ridge head coach Latacha De Oliveira, who replaced Fiona Cunningham last month.

With Altieri watching from the sidelines, it was Alverson’s responsibility to fill her considerable shoes as setter. Alverson finished with 34 assists, spreading the ball around to five different attackers who registered 37 kills. Averson also had two aces.

“I thought Rachel did a great job,” De Oliveira said. “She ran a great offense and she connected well with all of her hitters.”

Eno River sophomore C’hannah Lawson opened the game with a block of a Hargett attack and finished with five kills and two blocks. Junior libero Zua Vang came away with 12 digs for the Bobcats.

Leading 9-7, Cedar Ridge ran off eight consecutive points with Aversion serving to take control of the opening set. Serge had back-to-back kills to spark the run. Senior Addie Reid slammed home match point off a feed from Serge to put the Red Wolves up a set.

Eno River’s Natalia Rossi started the second set with four straight Bobcats points, ending with an ace. The Red Wolves responded with an 8-0 run, keyed by four aces from Hargett. After the Bobcats reduced its deficit to 14-10, Cedar Ridge reeled off another eight straight points with Hargett serving again. Senior Ellie Woolson, who finished with seven kills, slammed home a point off an pass from Alverson to increase the Red Wolves advantage to 21-10.

Not everything was different in the season opener. As is custom whenever the Red Wolves lead a match 2-sets-to-nothing, Cedar Ridge public address announcer Jon Franklin plays 1990’s one-hit wonder RedNex’s techno-Bluegrass version of “Cotton Eye Joe” between the second and third sets, which always leads to Cedar Ridge players (and occasionally opponents) dancing at the expense of discussing strategy.

Eno River pushed its lead to 7-3 to begin the third set behind kills from Joss Young and Hannah Smith. This time, Cedar Ridge evened the set with a six straight points, including two finishes by Hargett and another by Reid. The Red Wolves used an 8-1 spurt to take a 16-12 lead behind consecutive kills from Serge and an ace by Natasha Buchler-Fosado.

Another thing that hasn’t changed is Cedar Ridge playing tough nonconference schedules. On Tuesday night (tonight), the Red Wolves will travel to Raleigh to face defending 4A State Champion Millbrook. It’s the second straight year the Red Wolves have played the defending 4A State Champions in Wake County. Last year, Cedar Ridge swept Green Level at Garner High School.

“Love to come out and play some good volleyball tomorrow,” De Oliveira said. “I love the atmosphere here at Cedar Ridge. We have the public address announcer and fans getting into the game. It was a lot of fun. Can’t wait for the future.”

On one of the hottest day of the year with nary a drop to rain to be found, Cedar Ridge’s co-Captain provided the game-winning goal to beat a crosstown neighbor and win the season opener all in one swoop.

Senior Iliah Babchenko broke a 1-all tie in the first half, while freshman Andy Tarija scored in his first varsity game during the second half as the Red Wolves defeated Eno River 4-2 at Cedar Ridge Stadium on Monday night.  The Red Wolves got insurance goals from junior Dominic McNerney and sophomore Gael Antunez-Nunez to win its first season opener since 2019.

The Red Wolves had to replace Chris Mendez, their leading scorer from a 5-15-1 team from 2022. Mendez had eleven goals in 2022 and 34 in a career that was shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We have some offensive threats on our team,” said Cedar Ridge coach Chauncey Brummell, who started his third season on Monday night. “Chris was a special player on our team last season, but we definitely have some players on this team that can make up for the scoring.”

Sophomore goalkeeper Erick Galunas earned the win in net for Cedar Ridge. He made five saves, including a stop on a Bobcat penalty kick.

In the weeks leading up to Monday night, Brummell installed a new 3-5-2 formation to bolster his team’s midfielders and test the durability of opposing teams.

“We have very strong midfielders,” Brummell said. “The boys are optimistic about the new formation. We want to test opposing teams. In the second half, we were able to find those pockets and those seams and got the ball through for scoring chances.”

Cedar Ridge will travel to Voyager Academy in Durham on Thursday night.

“We moved the ball around very well,” Brummell said. “We’re dangerous on crossing the ball. We’re dangerous on the counter attack. That’s where we found most of our success.”

Women’s Tennis: Orange 6, Eno River 3: Last year, the Orange women’s tennis team had its greatest season in program history because of depth provided by athletes who also excelled in soccer. Isabel Jones, Katelyn Van Mater and Sydney Rogers all were regular starters on the tennis courts and the pitch (though Rogers was injured her senior year) as Orange won the Central Carolina Conference championship, the first league tennis title in school history.

Van Mater, Rogers and Jones have graduated, but Orange still received depth from another soccer player to win its season opener at Orange Tennis Courts on Monday. Sophomore Molly Kruse won two matches, including a victory at #5 singles, to defeat Eno River in the first-ever matchup between the two schools in women’s tennis.

Kruse, who scored two goals last spring, opened with a 6-2, 6-3 victory at #5 singles over Quinn Parker. Kruse teamed with senior Makayla Davis at #2 doubles to defeat Rebecca Kirby and Ximena Ceja-Reyes 8-2.

Orange’s senior tandem of Erin and Shannon Sollars, who qualified for the 3A State Doubles Tournament last year, were in midseason form to open the year. Erin Sollars captured the win at #1 singles 6-0, 6-1, while Shannon won at #2 singles over Kirby 6-2, 6-1. The Sollars Sisters teamed to win at #1 doubles 8-1, which ensured the first Orange win of the season.

Davis also won two matches on the night. In addition to her doubles victory with Kruse, Davis defeated Betts Roney at #3 singles 6-2. 6-1.

Eno River notched victories from senior Elenaor Finkle, who defeated Ellie Wilson at #4 singles 6-4, 6-1. At #6 singles, Lily Kate Phillipps won via default when her opponent retired.

Parker and Phipps defeated Lindsay Woodell and Aubrey Petrosanu at #3 doubles 8-4.

Orange will return to action with a trip to Durham to face Riverside on Thursday. Eno River will host the Triangle School of Math and Science in Hillsborough on Wednesday afternoon.