Month: October 2023

Since the formation of the Central Carolina Conference in 2021, it’s no secret that the Alamance County schools have formed the nucleus of football power.

It’s only gotten stronger this year with the addition of Southern Alamance, who dropped down from 4A to 3A over the summer. It’s like having Georgia (Eastern Alamance), Ole Miss (Southern Alamance), Tennessee (Walter Williams) and Western Alamance (Missouri) in your league with dozens of players who grew up playing football in Alamance County’s Pop Warner leagues.

That would make it easier for Cedar Ridge High School not to field a football team.

But they haven’t quit. Every weekday morning, head coach Brent Bailey holds practice for the Red Wolves behind the softball field and tennis courts. When they’re done at 8AM, the teams walks uphill to class, which could be a metaphor for Cedar Ridge football.

Each week in conference play, and most games overall, the Red Wolves know their opponent will outnumber them. They will have more skill because they grew up with football, starting to play while they’re in 6th grade, if not earlier.

Cedar Ridge is winless. But that’s not the worst thing that can happen to a program.

The most desolate, dispiriting and emotionless thing is having the lights off at Red Wolves Stadium on Friday nights because there isn’t a varsity team at all. And Red Wolves fans and parents should know. It happened in 2018 and 2021.

So if you see a Cedar Ridge football player around class, around Hillsborough or anyplace else for the rest of this year, be sure to thank them. They’re keeping Friday Night Lights alive at Cedar Ridge, the way it should be. Any future success that the Red Wolves program enjoys will be because of them.

With that said, time for the Magnificent 7. The seven best performances during the week of September 18-22, in no particular order.

1. Malykhai Justice, Orange, Sr. On September 22, against a Walter Williams team that upset Eastern Alamance last week, Justice had three sacks. Justice finished the game with five tackles overall as the Panthers shut out the Bulldogs in the second half. Williams won 28-0. This season, Justice has eight sacks this season for a formidable Orange defense.
2. Graylinn Serge, Cedar Ridge, Sr.: Had a career-high 24 kills in Cedar Ridge volleyball’s win over Person on September 21. Serge had a double-double against the Rockets with ten digs. She also led the team with four aces. Serge is tied for the team lead with 194 kills. Cedar Ridge appears set to host a game in the state playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.
3. Salomon Hernandez, Cedar Ridge, Sr.: Responsible for the game-winning goal in the biggest win for Cedar Ridge men’s soccer over the past decade. Hernandez scored on a header off an assist from Iilah Babchenko with just over four minutes remaining as the Red Wolves defeated Western Alamance 1-0 on September 19. The win put Cedar Ridge in first place of the CCC, where they remain.
4. Ella Wimsatt, Orange, Sr.: The Orange volleyball team won three home matches over the span of three days from September 18-20. Wimsatt, who leads the team in kills, had 16 kills and 13 digs against Western Alamance. A day earlier against Falls Lake, Wimsatt had 21 kills and 19 digs in a 3-1 Lady Panthers win. It was the second time this year that Orange defeated a Falls Lake team that was ranked #1 in the 1A East RPI standings.
5. Emmanuel Mil Cruz, Orange, Sr.: The Orange men’s soccer team won its first conference game of the season over Person on September 18. Mil Cruz notched a goal against the Rockets. Two days later, Orange defeated Southern Alamance 4-3 in Graham. Mil Cruz earned a goal and also assisted on another goal scored by Daniel Romero.
6. Erinn Sollars, Orange, Sr.: Sollars won both of her singles matches in the Orange women’s tennis team’s 7-2 victory over Western Alamance on September 21. Sollars defeated Amelia Weaver in the #1 singles match. Sollars teamed with her sister Shannon to win the #1 doubles match. Erinn also won her top singles match in Orange’s 9-0 win over Eastern Alamance on September 18.
7. Catherine Ballenger, Cedar Ridge, Sr.: Ballenger won both of her matches for the Cedar Ridge women’s tennis team on September 20. Ballenger won her singles match 6-0, 6-0, then teamed with Lily Golden to win at #1 doubles. The Cedar Ridge women are on track to make the 3A State Dual Team Tournament for the first time since 2016.

Braden Homsey: After four years as a competitor for the Ferrum College wrestling team in Virginia, Homsey has now joined the staff of the Ferrum Panthers. Homesey qualified twice for the NCAA Division III Tournament at Ferrum, in 2020 and 2023. In February, Homsey won the 197-pound championship of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. At the Southeast Regional, Homsey finished 2nd, beating Cameron Butka of Wilkes College in the semifinals via a 7-5 decision. Overall in his senior season, Homsey placed in four tournaments. During his career at Ferrum, Homsey wrestled for five different teams.

Trenton Gill: The Chicago Bears fell to 0-4 on the season when they lost to the Denver Broncos 31-28 at Solider Field on Sunday. The Bears led 28-14 going into the fourth quarter. Gill only had two punts on the day. He averaged 45 yards per punt. His longest punt was 56 yards. One of them was downed inside the 20-yard line. The Bears will travel to Washington next Sunday.

Payton Wilson: Wilson was the leading tackler once again for the N.C. State football team in its 13-10 loss to Louisville at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh. Wilson finished with ten tackles. He had two tackles for loss, a fumble recovery and a pass breakup. Also, Wilson carried the ball on a fake punt, rushing for three yards to convert a 4th-down. The Wolfpack are 3-2, 1-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. They will host Marshall in Raleigh on Saturday.

Darius Satterfield: The Elizabeth City State Vikings suffered a disappointing Homecoming loss to Johnson C. Smith 21-20 at Roebuck Stadium in Elizabeth City State on Saturday. The Vikings led 20-7 going into the fourth quarter before the Bulls scored 14 unanswered points. Satterfield averaged 39.2 yards on four punts. He had a 57-yard punt, his longest of the day. Two of the punts were downed inside the 20-yard line. Elizabeth City State 1-4, 0-3 in the CIAA. The Vikings will host Virginia Union next Saturday.

Braxton Mergenthal: The Division III Hampden-Sydney football team lost a heartbreaker to Bridgewater College 39-38 at Everett Stadium in Hampden Sydney, VA on Saturday. The Eagles scored the game-winning touchdown with  23 seconds remaining. Mergenthal had three tackles for the Tigers. Hampden-Sydney is 2-2 overall, 0-1 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. They will host Ferrum next Saturday.

Bryse Wilson: Wilson concluded his first regular season with the Milwaukee Brewers, who clinched the National League Central division championship. On Friday, Wilson recorded his fifth hold of the season as the Brewers defeated the Chicago Cubs 4-3 on Friday at American Family Field. He threw one shutout inning with one hit allowed and one strikeout. For the regular season, Wilson made 76.2 innings. He finished with three saves, five holds, a 2.58 ERA and 61 strikeouts with 22 walks. The Brewers will start play in the National League Wildcard series, a best-of-three set, against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday. Game one will be at American Family Field.

Ivy Garner: The Liberty women’s soccer team suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday. New Mexico State defeated Liberty 2-0 at Osborne Stadium in Lynchburg, VA on Saturday. It was also the Flames first Conference USA loss ever. Garner started and played 63 minutes at midfield. She fired two shots. Liberty is now 11-1 overall, 2-1 in Conference USA. They will face Florida International in Miami on Saturday.

Emerson Talley: The Division II Lenoir-Rhyne women’s soccer team remains undefeated in the South Atlantic Conference. On Saturday, the Bears defeated Wingate 2-0 at WU Soccer Complex. Talley played the full 90 minutes at midfield. The Bears are now 7-0-3 overall, 5-0 in the SAC. On Wednesday, they will travel to Emory & Henry.

Will Berger: The Wofford men’s cross country team competed in the Adidas Invitational at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC on Saturday. In a seven-team meet, the Terriers finished fourth. Berger finished 55th among 77 runners with a time of 30:38.4. Wofford will return to action on October 14 with a meet at South Carolina-Upstate in Spartanburg, S.C.