Jeff Hamlin

For more photos from Jacques Morin, go to www.jacquesonthesidelines.com

Cedar Ridge not only maintained its undefeated record by beating its crosstown rival on Tuesday night, but they extended its sets streak. The Red Wolves defeated Orange 3-0 on scores of 25-16, 28-26 and 27-25. Cedar Ridge has won 24 straight sets to begin the season. Before Tuesday’s match, Cedar Ridge’s Cameron Lloyd was honored for her 500th kill, a school-record that was set during last week’s win over Person. Fittingly, it was Lloyd who got the final kill on match point. Orange was on the verge of capturing the 3rd set. They led 24-20 before the Red Wolves rallied for five straight points. Sophomore Graylinn Serge had three huge digs during a set point that ended with Cameron Lanier scoring a kill off an assist from Julie Altieri. Serge finished with 14 digs. The Red Wolves are alone atop the Central Carolina Conference at 3-0. Cedar Ridge will continue its pursuit of a second straight conference title when they travel to Mebane and face Eastern Alamance on Thursday.

Bailey Lucas: The Division III Meredith Avenging Angels volleyball team opened its season with four matches in four days. Meredith started with a 3-1 win over Roanoke at the Cregger Center in Salem, VA. Meredith won on scores of 16-25, 25-10, 25-16, 26-24. Lucas started and played all four sets. She had 17 assists, an ace and four digs. On Friday, the Avenging Angels swept Geneva on tallies of 25-15, 25-23 and 25-6 to start play at the Marlin Invitational in Virginia Beach, VA at TowneBank Arena. Lucas led the team with 14 assists in the win over the Golden Tornadoes. She also had two digs. On Saturday, Virginia Wesleyan defeated Meredith 3-0. Lucas had nine assists and five digs. To end the weekend, the Avenging Angels defeated Mary Washington 3-1. Once again, Lucas led the team with 20 assists. She also registered six digs.

Bryse Wilson: Wilson returned from the injured list for the Pittsburgh Pirates in a start against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday. The White Sox defeated the Pirates 4-2. Wilson suffered the loss after he threw five innings. He surrendered four runs off six hits. Yasmani Grandal hit a solo homer off Wilson in the second inning. Jose Abreu lauded a solo homer off Wilson in the third. This season, Wilson is 2-6 with a 4.61 ERA.

Kayla Hodges: Hodges scored her second goal of the series for Elon in a 3-0 win over UNC Asheville on Thursday at Greenwood Field in Asheville. Hodges scored the game’s second goal off an assist from Abby Fusca in the 24th minute. She fired two shots against the Bulldogs. On August 26, Virginia Tech defeated Elon 7-1 at Thompson Field in Blacksburg, VA. Hodges started as a defensive midfielder. Elon is 2-2 and will travel to N.C. State later today (Sunday).

Brittany Daley: The Division III Greensboro College women’s soccer team suffered a loss to Roanoke 2-0 in its season opener on Wednesday. Daley, a former Cedar Ridge All-Conference selection, started her 37th game with Greensboro as a center back. It was her 40th game. On Saturday, Greensboro rebounded with a 2-1 win over Johnson & Wales University at Pride Field. Daley started for the Pride once again.

Jordan Rogers: Rogers started her senior season for the Division III William Peace women’s soccer team. On Wednesday, Guilford College defeated Peace 1-0 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary. On Saturday, Randolph College shut out the Pacers 2-0. Rogers started both games as a wingback.

Keshawn Thompson: The former Orange defensive back led Campbell in tackles in its loss to Liberty at Williams Stadium in Lynchburg, VA. Thompson had a career-high 13 tackles for the Camels, who lost to the Flames 48-7 to open the 2021 season. This was Campbell’s first game since last fall. Unlike many FCS schools, the Camels didn’t play last spring. Next week, Campbell will host Elon.

Payton Wilson: To open his third season with the Wolfpack, Wilson had two tackles as the Wolfpack routed South Florida 45-0 at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh. Wilson had one-half tackle for loss as he was in and out of the lineup throughout the night. The Wolfpack will travel to Mississippi State on Saturday.

Trent Gill: N.C. State only punted three times against the Bulls. Gill, a former Cedar Ridge football and soccer player, had two of the punts for a 45-yard average. Gill’s longest punt was 45 yards. Both of his punts were downed inside the 20-yard line. Gill also had eight kickoffs, four of which were touchbacks. His average kickoff was 64.6 yards.

Adam Chnupa: Former Cedar Ridge linebacker Adam Chnupa started his redshirt sophomore season at Elon with a tremendous game against Wofford at Rhodes Stadium. The Terriers defeated the Phoenix 24-22 on Saturday. Chnupa made one tackle as the Phoenix dropped its opener.

Colin Guentensberger: Guentensberger, who led the 2018 Orange football team in tackles, suffered a torn ACL and MCL during practice with Appalachian State’s football team. Guentensberger is a junior walk-on with the Mountaineers.

For more shots from Jacques Morin, go to jacquesonthesidelines.com

In the midst of its most lopsided regular season loss in recent memory, the Orange football team (0-3) harkened back to its glory days to bring some amount of hope to a tenuous situation.

Cummings quarterback Tylek Oliver had put on a clinic against the Panthers in the first half at Cavaliers Stadium. He engineered five touchdowns in five drives against an Orange defense lacking in speed and size. Oliver’s only mistake came on the final play of the first half when he was sandwiched between an Orange defender and the ground.

The first half clock expired and Oliver’s teammates started to go to the locker room content with a 40-6 lead. Oliver didn’t get up. His only movement came from his legs and remained face down.

He remained that way for roughly 35 minutes.

The scene was reminiscent of a sequence across two nights of Van Smith’s first year as Orange head coach in October 2017. In a junior varsity game against Hillside, Thys Oldenburg suffered a brain injury. Oldenburg remained in a hospital for two months before he returned home just in time for the holidays.

The following night at Russel Blount Stadium in Durham, Orange running back Marvante Beasley was knocked unconscious following a run up the middle. As Beasley remained motionless on the ground for several minutes, Hillside coach Ray Harrison told his team to kneel in prayer for the Orange running back, an act of goodwill that scoured a noticeable amount of tension that had quickly built between the two teams.

With Oliver on the ground Friday night, Smith followed Harrison’s example four years later. The entire Orange team kneeled in prayer for Oliver just a few yards away from where he was treated before he was finally removed from the field on a stretcher. Oliver was carried off in an ambulance, around 20 minutes after halftime had expired.

“That run through my mind,” Smith said of the scenes from four years ago. “We’ve been there and knew what it was like. Our thought and prayers are with him and everyone else at Cummings.”

The game itself was the polar opposite of Orange’s last trip to Cummings in 2016, when the Panthers romped past the Cavaliers 48-0 behind touchdowns from Beasley, Payton Wilson and Ryan Puckett.

Five years later, the Cavaliers were the ones with the decided talent edge. Before he was carried off the field, Oliver threw four touchdown passes to wide receiver Dylan James. Cummings (2-0) defeated Orange 54-12, even with Oliver absent from the second half.

Oliver finished 13-of-19 for 231 yards and four touchdowns.

From the first play from scrimmage, when Oliver found James for a 39-yard pass to break into the Orange red zone, the Cavaliers left no doubt that it would be a long night for Orange. Cummings scored three touchdowns in the first quarter and didn’t even face a third down on any of the series.

“I think were were surprised by their speed early,” Smith said. “We froze like a deer in the headlights and it just snowballed from there. Just trying to find a ray of light. I think the kickoff return team got better because they got a lot of reps.”

Oliver’s first touchdown pass to James came on a slant from one-yard out with 9:33 remaining in the first quarter. Oliver’s most potent weapon was sophomore running back Jonathan Paylor, who has garnered plenty of attention on the recruiting trail. After Oliver hooked up with James o a 15-yard touchdown pass with 5:43 remaining in the first quarter, Paylor ran in the 2-point play to put the Cavaliers ahed 16-0 and they were just getting going.

Orange’s only offensive touchdown came midway through the second quarter. Senior running back Omarion Lewis concluded an 8-play, 55-yard drive with an 11-yard touchdown run, his second of the year.

Without Oliver in the second half, Cummings’ stagecoach of an offense turned into a pumpkin. Oliver constantly fielded low shotgun snaps and had enough poise and skill to make big plays. Without a magician like Oliver, the Cavaliers basically turned the offense to Paylor, who simply fielded shotgun snaps seven yards from center and ran sweeps for much of the second half.

One errant snap was recovered in the end zone by Orange linebacker Jabari Albright for the Panthers’ last touchdown.

At one point, another poor snap turned into a scene straight from a 1992 Super Tecmo Bowl game with your best friend as a troll playing with the Los Angeles Raiders. Paylor had the ball go over his head. Doing his Bo Jackson impression, Paylor ran backwards 25 yards to get the ball, then ran forward to convert a 2nd-and-14. He ultimately scored a touchdown to finish the drive. Paylor ended the night with 137 yards rushing.

Orange hosts Granville Central next Friday in Hillsborough.

CUMMINGS 54, ORANGE 12

ORA—0 6 6 0-12

CGS–24 16 8 6-54

CGS–Dylantae James 1 pass from Tylek Oliver (Oliver run)

CGS–James 15 pass from Oliver (Jonathan Paylor run)

CGS–James 35 pass from Oliver (Paylor run)

CGS–James 10 pass from Oliver (Oliver run)

ORA–Omarion Lewis 11 run (kick blocked)

CGS–Paylor 69 run (Oliver to Zion Crawley)

ORA–Jabari Albright fumble recovery in end zone (kick failed)

CGS–Crawley 85 kickoff return (Paylor run)

CGS–Paylor 14 run (run failed)

RUSHING

ORANGE 43-113 –Lewis (18-51 TD, Nate Sorrells 9-36, Jackson Wood 3-22, Nate Hecht 3-13, Elijah Hanley 1-7, Darius Satterfield 1-5, Wynston Brown 4-2, team 4-(-21).

CUMMINGS 24-138 (Paylor 10-137 TD, Oliver 3-19, Marione Enoch 4-13, Johnniyus Sharpe 2-9, Devin Graves 1-0, team 4-(-50).

PASSING ORANGE 2-4 13 INT (Brown 2-3 13 INT, Ty Walker 0-1)

CUMMINGS: 15-23 224 yards 4 TD (Oliver 13-19 231 yards 4 TD, Enoch 2-2 (-7 yards), Paylor 0-1, team 0-1)

RECEIVING: ORANGE (Sorrells 1-11, Lewis 1-2)

CUMMINGS (James 6-124 4 TD, Paylor 4-51, Crawley 2-40, Enoch 2-8, Elijah Collins 1-1)

The first Orange Panther of the Week for the 2021-2022 academic year in senior outside hitter Ella Van Tiem. On August 16, the Lady Panthers captured its season opener by beating Jordan 3-2 on scores of 25-18, 17-25, 25-20, 22-25, 15-13. Van Tiem had 15 kills, six blocks and 15 digs. It was an impressive win for Orange considering they were without two of its top players. Van Tiem returned to the court on Wednesday night as Orange defeated Southern Alamance 3-1 on Wednesday night in Graham. Then in its Central Carolina Conference opener on Thursday night, Orange rolled past Walter Williams 3-0 in Hillsborough. That sets up a huge matchup on Tuesday when Orange squares off against undefeated Cedar Ridge on Tuesday night at Red Wolves Gymnasium. Last season, Van Tiem played in five matches. With Lottie Scully in the lineup, Van Tiem had a different role with Orange. In the opening three matches of 2021, Van Tiem has proved to be a reliable finisher as Orange is off to a 3-0 start, 1-0 in league play. In addition to Cedar Ridge on Tuesday, Orange will also host Person next week.

Photo by Aidan Jensen

The chase for the Central Carolina Conference volleyball championship figures to be a horse race this year.

When you’re in a horse race, you want to be riding a thoroughbred. And that’s the rub for the challengers to Cedar Ridge right now.

Cedar Ridge doesn’t have only one thoroughbred.

If there was one lesson in January’s loss to D.H. Conley in the 3A State Playoffs, it was that the Red Wolves needed more finishers. The Vikings had an endless supply of outside blockers, most over 6-feet tall, who could slam the ball off the hardwood effortlessly.

The Red Wolves have spent the opening weeks of the 2020-2021 season showing they learned their lesson from last winter very well. The Person Rockets, a traditional power with a reputation that proceeds them, found themselves on the receiving end for a change Tuesday night.

The Red Wolves defeated the Rockets 3-0 on scores of 26-24, 25-23 and 25-15 at Cedar Ridge Gymnasium. Cedar Ridge junior Cameron Lloyd, the daughter of Joel and Sherri Lloyd of White Cross, finished with 19 kills, four aces and 12 digs, while Cameron Lanier had ten kills, including the final spike on match point. Julie Altieri, who is nearing 1,000 assists for her career, finished with 31 assists.

Cedar Ridge (6-0, 1-0 in the Central Carolina Conference) handed Person its first 3-0 loss since October 10, 2019, when they fell to McMichael. It was only the third time Person has been swept since 2018.

In its last 98 matches, the Rockets are now 84-14.

“She (Lloyd) did phenomenal tonight,” said Cedar Ridge coach Fiona Cunningham, who improved her mark to 15-1. “She’s someone you can depend on in all six rotations on the court. It really makes and breaks the team when it gets tight as who can step up and take the swings.”

Both teams were clearly anxious to open the match as there were several service errors early. Cedar Ridge built a 19-12 lead in the opening set behind six kills from Lloyd. The Rockets went on a 10-2 run to even the frame at 21-21 after a kill by senior Jacie Kennedy. After Person’s Lillie Davis had a flash kill to tie the match at 24-24, Cedar Ridge took the lead after a Rocket serve went into the net. Altieri, who usually sets up kills, delivered one of her own on set point off an assist from libero Grace Young to take the opening frame.

The second set was another tight one. The Red Wolves opened up a 12-7 lead behind four kills from junior Melissa Benkowitz. Person went on a 7-2 run late in the set to even things at 23-23. That’s when Lloyd came up with consecutive huge plays. She received a Person service and scored a kill off an assist from Altieri. On set point, Lloyd lofted a serve that touched the back line for an ace, and Cedar Ridge led 2-0.

The Red Wolves were fresher in the third set. Five differed Cedar Ridge players recorded kills. The point of the match came with Cedar Ridge leading 15-9. It appeared that Kennedy had spiked home a winner for the Rockets, but Young placed her hand on the floor. The ball rebounded off Young’s hand straight to Altieri. Meanwhile, the Person players started celebrating thinking they had won the point. Cedar Ridge didn’t stop playing and Lloyd ultimately notched yet another kill.

Lanier, who had six kills and one block in the third set, scored match point for Cedar Ridge, who won 25-15.

“We’ve been working all year in getting our offense to be more diverse,” Cunningham said. “When we play relaxed, like we did in the third set, they’re really comfortable with running that diverse offense. It’s when you see who we trust to take the swings when we’re a little bit tight.”

Cedar Ridge will travel to Northwood on Thursday.

Ever get thrown off your routine? Have an interruption after setting your daily schedule by the weekday? By the hour?

Of course, you have. That’s been the theme of the past 21 months.

The pandemic has taken away time and tossed all of our collective schedules into the dumpster. Including this website.

In 2019-2020, there was a feature called the Magnificent 7 that honored seven athletes from Cedar Ridge and Orange High Schools for outstanding performances. Once the high school season finally got going last year, it was hard to compile a Magnificent 7 because the schedules were so thrown out of whack. There were games scheduled with less than 24 hours notice, games canceled with virtually no notice, and shutdowns where teams wouldn’t practice for days.

Things are slowly changing, but as you know, we’re far from out of the woods. On Tuesday, the Western Alamance football team had to reschedule a football game against Eastern Guilford because its previous opponent had a COVID outbreak. The Orange volleyball team will return to action after a COVID shutdown on Wednesday night against Southern Alamance in Graham.

Still, five varsity sports have started at Orange, with men’s and women’s cross country set to begin this weekend. At Cedar Ridge, there’s been a spectacular start for volleyball and women’s tennis, which are both undefeated. So it’s time to get back to the routine of the Magnificent 7. The best athletic performances through the opening two weeks of the season. We’ll do our best to diversify this list because some performers (Cameron Lloyd) are excelling game in and game out, we run the risk of being repetitive.

Here are the opening Magnificent 7 from the opening two weeks of the year:

Cameron Lloyd: Seriously, the entire list could be comprised of Cedar Ridge volleyball players. After beating Person 3-0 on Tuesday night, the Red Wolves have opened the season by winning its first 18 sets. Lloyd leads the team in kills with 49 kills through the opening five matches. So far, her season-high is 16 in the victory over defending 3A State Champion D.H. Conley on August 20. Against Carrboro on August 25, Lloyd had 14 kills, two aces and four digs. Cameron was honored as the first Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week last week.

Julie Altieri: What’s Ricky Morton without Robert Gibson (look up 1980s pro wrestling tag teams, young readers)? Altieri, a junior, is closing in on 1,000 career assists after the Red Wolves hot start. Altieri has started her junior season with her typical steady setting for Cedar Ridge volleyball. She had four aces in wins over Northern Durham and Riverside. She already has 115 assists in the Red Wolves first five matches. Altieri had 31 assists against D.H. Conley and 29 against Carrboro.

(Again, the list of Cedar Ridge volleyball players to honor could stretch beyond 2,000 words. More will be featured in this space in the weeks ahead.)

Ella Caltabiano: A freshman who didn’t start getting serious about tennis until two years ago, Caltabiano wound up winning the deciding tilt in her very first varsity match. Facing Voyager Academy, Caltabiano won her singles match at #4 singles. With the match even 4-4, Caltabiano teamed with Reagan Simmons to win at #3 doubles 8-3 and earn the victory for the Red Wolves. Caltabiano was this week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week.

Ella Van Tiem: Due to COVID-19, the Orange volleyball team has only had one match thus far. The Lady Panthers defeated Jordan 3-2 on August 20 in Durham. Van Tiem had a team-high 15 kills with 15 digs. It was a strong debut for a team that was sidelined shortly afterwards. Orange will return to action tonight at Southern Alamance.

Tea Jones: The Orange women’s tennis team has had to deal with the heat and long matches through the first two weeks. Jones, a senior, is 5-0 in singles action thus far. That includes two wins over Carrboro. On Monday night, Jones built a mystery over Sarah McLaughlin 4-6, 6-2, 10-6 as the Lady Panthers defeated the Warriors in its first-ever match in the Central Carolina Conference.

Carter Thompson: The Orange midfielder had a hat trick and an assist as the Panthers men’s soccer team defeated Henderson Collegiate 9-0 for its first win of the season at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary on Saturday. Honorable mention to Tyler Mann, who also notched a hat trick for the Panthers.

Nathan Sorrells: The Orange football team came up short against Chapel Hill last Friday, but sophomore running back Nathan Sorrells had a breakthrough performance. He compiled 57 rushing yards, and had a 35-yard catch-and-run touchdown pass from quarterback Wynston Brown in the fourth quarter. Sorrells finished with 113 yards from scrimmage against the Tigers.

The Cedar Ridge volleyball team played its first Central Carolina Conference game on Tuesday night, but the result was the same as the rest of their matches this season. The Red Wolves swept traditional power Person on scores of 26-24, 25-23 and 25-15. in the final set, Cedar Ridge junior middle hitter Cameron Lanier had six kills and one block. She also earned match point off an assist from classmate Julie Altieri. Junior libero Grace Young finished with 15 digs. Including a remarkable save off a Person spike that fooled so many people, the Rockets started celebrating the point. Young’s dig was sent to Altieri, who passed it to Cameron Lloyd for a point to go ahead 16-9. Lanier and Young are part of a junior class that has turned Cedar Ridge into a dominant team locally. The Red Wolves are 6-0 and have opened the 2021-2022 season by winning its first 18 sets. The Red Wolves will look to continue its dominance when they travel to Pittsboro to face Northwood on Thursday.