Fenean feugiat purus vitae sollicitudin laoreet. Duis fringilla ligula vel velit lacinia

Fenean feugiat purus vitae sollicitudin laoreet. Duis fringilla ligula vel velit lacinia

When Cory Lea joined the UNC football program as a walk-on in 1990, it was hardly a fashionable time to be a Tar Heel.

UNC had consecutive 1-10 seasons under Mack Brown, who arrived from Tulane to replace Dick Crum in 1988. Their struggles were so profound, they were daily fodder for morning radio show comedy bits.

The common joke around Durham and Raleigh (and even a few good natured UNC fans) became:

Q: “Why does Billy Graham want to hold a revival meeting inside Kenan Stadium?”

A: “Because every Saturday, Carolina fans keep screaming ‘Jesus Christ!'”

Three years after the Tar Heels’ last 1-10 season, they won the Peach Bowl over Mississippi State in the Georgia Dome. The following year, they played Alabama in the Gator Bowl. Lea was on the sidelines for both games.

Though he rarely played for the Tar Heels, Lea had no idea at the time that his looming career in education and coaching would mirror UNC’s rise to gridiron prosperity in the 1990s.

Lea was formally introduced to Cedar Ridge parents, students and staff inside the school’s Media Center on Monday night. The ceremony included introductions from new Cedar Ridge principal Dr. Carlos Ramirez and Athletic Director Andy Simmons.

“We scored a big win by having Cory join our staff,” Ramirez said. “He will begin building our program into, what I hope, will be perennial winners. I would like to see and support our Cedar Ridge program begin building athlete-scholar starting in elementary school. And that’s going to take a community effort. We have big plans down the road to make that happen.”

“We’re looking to establish solid relationships in the community with everybody,” Lea said. “I want us to be a culture in a school that wins at everything. To me, that is probably the most important thing that you can do as a school community. If you win at everything, then that permeates into everything. It permeates into your community.”

Lea arrives from Riverside, where he led the Pirates to its second conference championship in school history in 2018. Last season, Riverside finished 8-4 and reached the state playoffs for the second straight year.

When Lea took over at Northern Vance in 2015, the Vikings had won four games in the previous four years. In Lea’s first season, they finished 5-6, ending the year with a victory over Cedar Ridge in Hillsborough.

If Lea had his way, his arrival in Hillsborough would have happened years ago. He applied for the vacant Red Wolves head coaching job in 2016 when former Burlington Cummings head coach Steve Johnson resigned before he ever coached a game in Hillsborough because of a thoracic aortic aneurysm. Scott Loosemore, who eventually wound up with the permanent job for two seasons, served as interim coach in 2015.

“I’m destination driven,” Lea said. “Either I get a promotion or every once in awhile, there’s some place I really want to go. That list is very short. This is a place where I want to go. This is where I want to be. When the job came open again, I talked to Antonio King (Cedar Ridge’s coach in 2018) and I talked to Coach (Torrian) Hinton (who served as interim coach in 2019). They told me ‘Yeah, that’s a place you want to be.’ So here I am.”

After a year as offensive coordinator at Granville Central under head coach Don Colgan, Lea’s first head coaching job was at Bartlett Yancey in 2012. He went 2-9 in each of his two seasons. It was there where he learned about trying to do more with less.

“I’m not one of these guys that has to have a $5,000 piece of equipment,” Lea said. “We can remember showing up to practice and it was just me and Coach Antwain Cook. (his defensive coordinator). It teaches you how to be an effective coach and get things done.”

Lea has maintained a residence in Durham throughout his teaching career, so he came to Riverside as offensive coordinator to be closer to home. Lea left for Northern Vance a year later.

His success in Henderson led to a call back from Riverside officials when Howell left in 2016.

“I didn’t even have to apply for that job,” Lea said. “They called me. That says a lot about how my staff is able to build relationships and how we built things in the community.”

Lea also wasted no time in drawing the battle lines with Orange, which has ruled the roost in Orange County football since the departure of Joe Kilby as Cedar Ridge coach nine years ago.

Cedar Ridge hasn’t beaten Orange since 2011, when they won a 49-43 shootout. Since then, the Panthers have won seven consecutive matchups by a combined score of 309-43.

“There are two objectives that we have: to walk in the door and win games. And to beat that team across town,” Lea said. “Period.”

A crosstown rivalry was a big part of Lea’s job at Riverside. Last September, the Pirates beat neighboring Northern Durham for the first time since 2013.

“When we were at Riverside, we had the same pains that ya’ll had,” Lea said. “When we walked in the door there (at Riverside), we had never beaten Orange, ever. For the last two years, they (Orange) now know what it’s like to lose (to Riverside). I’m going to bust my behind to get those things done here.”

At his previous two stops, Lea has proved he can do more than compete with the Panthers. In 2016, Northern Vance battled Orange in a defensive struggle that the Panthers prevailed in, 14-0, in the final ever game between the two teams.

Riverside won the last two matchups against Orange, including September’s 28-26 victory at Linny Wrenn Stadium in Durham. They also beat the Panthers 22-6 on Orange’s senior night in November 2018.

Lea isn’t just rebuilding a team as he starts with Cedar Ridge. He’s building a program. The Red Wolves didn’t field a varsity team two years ago, which led to an ugly summer of 2018 between unhappy parents and county administrators, resulting in numerous transfers and coaching departures that devastated the entire athletic program.

While all that is in the rear view mirror, Cedar Ridge has won only three varsity football games in three years. They haven’t had a junior varsity and varsity team in the same season since 2017.

The most common word that came up with Lea on Monday night was relationships. He plans to utilize that in Hillsborough for his latest challenge.

“I’m going to go to Gravelly Hill (Middle School) stuff,” Lea said. “I’m going to go to Stanback (Middle School) stuff. They may look at me sideways, but I may show up at a Stanford game. I think the first thing you have to do is make them comfortable with you personally. It is our intention to have a football camp this summer and I want to make it free because we just want kids out there.”

Lea will have his assistants accompany him to Hillsborough. Defensive coordinator Antwain Cook, who succeeded Lea at Northern Vance as head coach, will be the defensive coordinator. Zack Russell (offensive line), Caleb Russell (quarterbacks), John Seagroves (associate head coach), and Don McDowell (wide receivers coach) will also be on Lea’s staff.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior sprinter Elijah Horne. On Saturday, Horne participated in the 300 meter dash at the NCHSAA 3A State Indoor Track & Field meet at JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem. This winter, Horne won two individual events during the indoor season. On December 3, Horne captured the 500 meter dash in the Eastern Alamance Polar Bear #1 in Mebane with a time of 1:07.81. Two weeks later, Horne qualified for the state championships in the 300 meter dash at 37.85 seconds. Currently, Horne attends Durham Technical Community College, where he is taking engineering courses. He plans to attend N.C. State University this fall after graduating from Cedar Ridge. On Monday, Horne started preparing for his final outdoor track season at Cedar Ridge with his teammates working out at Cedar Ridge Stadium in sub-60 degree temperatures. It won’t feel that way by season’s end. Cedar Ridge’s outdoor season starts in two weeks.

In his final regular season game, Joey McMullin saved the best for last. He scored 36 points as Orange defeated Northern Durham 65-56. McMullin shot 13-of-21 from the field, including 7-of-13 from 3-point range. McMullin also pulled down 12 rebounds as the Panthers earned its tenth win of the season. Jason Franklin added 15 for Orange. The Panthers will face Southern Durham in the Big 8 Tournament on Tuesday night at Spartan Gymnasium. Enjoy highlights from the game courtesy of Thompson Team Films.

Marvin Jones: The former Cedar Ridge Red Wolf was named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Male Athlete of the Week. Jones, a junior on the North Carolina Central track & field team, won his third high jump competition of the season at the Darius Dixon Memorial at Liberty University on Saturday. Jones had a career-best jump of 2.10 meters. He also won the Camel City Invitational and the JDL January College Kickoff for the Eagles. Jones will compete in the MEAC Indoor Track & Field Championships in Landover, MD starting Thursday.

Jamar Davis: The N.C. State indoor track & field team competed in the Don Kirby Elite Invitational at New Mexico University in Albuquerque, NM. Davis finished fourth in the triple jump with a leap of 50’6.25″. He has already qualified for the ACC Indoor Track & Field Championships, which will be held at South Bend, IN starting February 27.

Braden Homsey: Wrestling at 197 pounds for Division III Ferrum College, Homsey won the Southeast Wrestling Conference Tournament at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, AL on Saturday. In the championship match, Homsey edged Huntingdon’s Jack Haury 11-10. Homsey scored a technical fall over D.J. Adams of Huntingdon in the opening round and pinned Montana Doty of the University of the Ozarks in 6:14 to reach the finals. Ferrum won the team championship, as well. Homsey is 25-9 with two pins this season.

Icez Barnett: The freshman for the Division II Chowan women’s basketball team earned her first college start on Saturday. Barnett played 16 minutes as King defeated Chowan 72-45. Barnett scored six points off 3-of-7 shooting, and grabbed two rebounds. On February 11, Barton routed Chowan 88-58 in the Helms Center in Murfreesboro. Barnett came off the bench and scored six points and grabbed six rebounds in 17 minutes. Chowan is 4-19, 4-15 in Conference Carolinas. Icez has played in 15 games this season for the Hawks. She has averaged 9.2 minutes per game and has scored 32 points. Chowan will return to action against Southern Wesleyan in Central, S.C. on Wednesday.

Kaylen Campbell: On Saturday, the Division III Trinity Bantams women’s college basketball team defeated Hamilton 74-71 in double overtime at Oosting Gymnasium in Hartford, CT. It was the New England Small College Athletic Conference regular season finale for Trinity. Campbell came off the bench and played seven minutes. The victory ended a four-game losing streak for the Bantams. On Friday, Campbell scored two points in six minutes as Trinity lost to Amherst 58-53. Trinity concludes the regular season 16-8 and will play at Williams at Williamstown, MA in the opening round of the NESCAC Tournament on Saturday. This season, Campbell has played in 19 of the Bantam’s 24 games. She is averaging 11.3 minutes per game and 2.7 points per game.

Lauren Cates: On Thursday, Catawba Valley Community College defeated Wake Technical Community College 62-52. On February 8, Cape Fear Community College beat Wake Tech 90-83. Cates, a freshman guard for Wake Tech, started but didn’t take any shots. In 22 games this season, Cates is averaging 8.7 points per game and shooting 35.3% from the field. Wake Tech is 16-7 overall, 9-6 in Region X.

There’s so much spring sports news between baseball, softball and men’s lacrosse that will have another alumni update early Tuesday morning. It was another strong weekend for Mia Davidson and the Mississippi State Bulldogs softball team. Plus, Brad Debo started his senior season with the N.C. State baseball team and the Pfeiffer men’s lacrosse team kicked off its season.

Photo by Cassie Summers

Despite a down year by traditional team standards, Orange High wrestling will have three representatives at the 3A State Championships this week.

Brendon Worsham, Kessel Summers and Xavier Tinnen all qualified during the Mideast Regionals at Cape Fear High School in Fayetteville on Saturday. Worsham, who had only four varsity matches entering this year, reached the finals of the 182 pound championship, falling to Eastern Guilford’s Perry Sharpe 13-10 in the final match.

On Friday, Worsham opened by pinning Alex Christian of Cedar Ridge in 3:40. Worsham pinned Carl Thames of West Johnston in 3:04 to advance to the semifinals.

On Saturday, Worsham defeated Walter Williams’ Joshua Shorter 11-3, becoming the only wrestler from Hillsborough to reach a championship final in the event. It was the 2nd time this year that Worsham finished 2nd in a tournament. In the Silver Fox Tournament at Riverside High in Durham on January 25, Worsham had a runner-up finish at 182 pounds.

Summers, a junior reached the state championships for the second year in a row. Competing at 126 pounds, Summers rolled past Union Pines’ Andrew Clark 14-5 in the 3rd place match. Last year, Summers finished third at 113 pounds in the regionals at Southeast Guilford High, where he pinned Southern Durham’s Shyheem Davis at 4:57 to move on to Greensboro.

Tinnen, who was 8-3 last season wrestling at 220 pounds, finished fourth at 195 pounds. This was the first time that Tinnen participated in a regional championship. Last year, Donald Hicks competed at 195 pounds for Orange, while Jake McBroom wrestled at 220.

On Friday, Tinnen pinned East Chapel Hill’s Fathi Awawdeh in 1:06, then pinned Eastern Alamance’s Gonzalez Turner in 1:22. In the semifinals, Westover’s Marcus Williams pinned Tinnen. In the consolation round, Tinnen defeated Malachi Nettles of Trinity to clinch a spot in the state tournament. Southern Durham’s Jamae Blank defeated Tinnen for third place.

The career of Orange heavyweight Juan Navarro came to an end shy of reaching his goal of qualifying for the state championships. Navarro faced Chapel Hill’s Benjamin Yates in the opening round, two weeks after their match in the regular season went past triple overtime and into a ride out. On that night, Navarro escaped and won 3-2. On Friday, Yates pinned Navarro at 5:59.

Navarro rebounded to beat Cedar Ridge’s Louis Tedder and Union Pines’ Kellen DeVries in the consolation round. Northwood’s Ben McGaughnea pinned Navarro, who won over 80 matches in his Orange career despite starting only the past two years.

Cedar Ridge’s season ended on Saturday. Freshman Fernando Martinez and Alex Davis came the closest to reaching Greensboro. Martinez was eliminated in the consolation semifinals by Southern Durham’s Ashton O’Neal via forfeit. Martinez pinned Western Alamance’s Evan Connetta in 1:18 of the opening match, then he reached the semifinals after beating Grey’s Creek’s Zane Ray 15-9. Chapel Hill’s Lucas Daly defeated Martinez by technical fall and was injured during the match.

Davis, competing at 138 pounds, also reached the semifinals. In the opening round, he pinned Western Alamance’s Mason Hogsed in 2:41. Davis defeated Harnett Central’s Jorge Cruz in 3:05. Union Pines Aaron Faison, who won the championship, pinned Davis in 4:30. Kaleb Williams of Fayetteville Byrd, who eliminated Orange’s Henry Joubert-Stenzel earlier in the day, defeated Davis 12-1.

The 3A State Championships get underway at 5 o’clock Friday afternoon at the Greensboro Coliseum. The consolation rounds start Friday morning at 9, while the championship semifinals will be at 6 PM. The Championship Finals will be held at 4 o’clock Saturday afternoon.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is indoor track and field jumper Erin Mink. On January 18, Mink won the high jump event at the East Chapel Hill Polar Bear #4 at Dave Thaden Stadium with a leap of four feet, eight inches. On that same day, Mink finished second in the long jump at 14 feet, 1.75 inches. She also came in second in the triple jump at 30 feet, 4.25 inches. She came in second in both events. At the East Chapel Hill Polar Bear #6 on February 1, Mink finished first in the triple jump at 30 feet, 7.75 inches. Mink competed in four different East Chapel Hill Polar Bear events this winter. She will now prepare for the start of outdoor season, which starts in March. Last March, Erin won the high jump in the opening outdoor track meet of the season in a dual meet against East Chapel Hill. The following week, she won another high jump event in a tri-meet with Southern Durham and Chapel Hill, and finished third in the long jump with a leap of 14 feet. Mink finished third in the triple jump.