In this week’s ramble, I won’t have commentary on every team, but rather my regular season awards. Since the list gets a little bit lengthy, I won’t have a reason for every award I’m giving out. That being said, I will also give out honorable mentions for the award as some of these decisions were really tough to make and I don’t want to leave folks out who are really deserving of recognition this season.

Coach of the Year

Scott Satterfield (Louisville)

Honorable mentions:

Mack Brown (North Carolina)

Dabo Swinney (Clemson)

Offensive Player of the Year

AJ Dillon (Boston College)

Honorable mentions:

Sam Howell (North Carolina)

Jamie Newman (Wake Forest)

Sage Surratt (Wake Forest)

Offensive Rookie of the Year

Sam Howell (North Carolina)

Honorable mentions:

Javian Hawkins (Louisville)

Zonovan Knight (NC State)

Defensive Player of the Year

Isaiah Simmons (Clemson)

Honorable mentions:

Chazz Surratt (North Carolina)

Lakiem Williams (Syracuse)

Defensive Rookie of the Year

Payton Wilson (NC State)

Honorable mention:

Trey Rucker (Wake Forest)

Most Outstanding Receiver

Sage Surratt (Wake Forest)

Honorable mentions:

Tee Higgins (Clemson)

Justyn Ross (Clemson)

Trishton Jackson (Syracuse)

Dyami Brown (North Carolina)

Kendall Hinton (Wake Forest)

Tutu Atwell (Louisville)

Tomorrion Terry (Florida State)\

Most Outstanding Running Back

AJ Dillon (Boston College)

Honorable mentions:

Javian Hawkins (Louisville)

Cam Akers (Florida State)

Travis Etienne (Clemson)

Most Outstanding Quarterback

Sam Howell (North Carolina)

Honorable mentions:

Trevor Lawrence (Clemson)

Jamie Newman (Wake Forest)

Bryce Perkins (Virginia)

Most Outstanding Defensive Back

Andre Cisco (Syracuse)

Honorable mentions:

Tanner Muse (Clemson)

Amari Henderson (Wake Forest)

Most Outstanding Linebacker

Chazz Surratt (North Carolina)

Honorable mentions:

Lakiem Williams (Syracuse)

Rayshard Ashby (Virginia Tech)

David Curry (Georgia Tech)

Most Outstanding Interior D-Lineman

Larrell Murchison (NC State)

Honorable mentions:

Aaron Crawford (North Carolina)

Jaylen Twyman (Pitt)

Most Outstanding Defensive End

Greg Rousseau (Miami)

Honorable mentions:

Victor Dimukeje (Duke)

Carlos Basham Jr. (Wake Forest)

Most Outstanding Punter

Sterling Hofrichter (Syracuse)

Honorable mentions:

Trenton Gill (NC State)

Oscar Bradburn (Virginia Tech)

Dom Maggio (Wake Forest)

Austin Parker (Duke)

Most Outstanding Kicker

Nick Sciba (Wake Forest)

Honorable mentions:

Andre Szmyt (Syracuse)

Christopher Dunn (NC State)

AJ Reed (Duke)
Brian Delaney (Virginia)

Man of the Year

James Smith-Williams (NC State)

Final Football Power Rankings

1. Clemson, duh. 
2. Virginia
3. Virginia Tech
4. Wake Forest
5. North Carolina
6. Louisville
7. Pitt
8. Boston College
9. Florida State
10. Syracuse
11. Duke
12. Miami
13. Georgia Tech
14. NC State

Conference Championship Game Predictions

Utah vs. Oregon (Pac 12): Oregon, 31-27

Baylor vs. Oklahoma (Big 12): Oklahoma, 42-38

UL Lafayette vs. Appalachian State (Sun Belt): Appalachian State, 24-10

Cincinnati vs. Memphis (American): Cincinnati, 45-42

Georgia vs. LSU (SEC): LSU, 41-21

Hawai’i vs. Boise State (Mountain West): Boise State, 31-20

Virginia vs. Clemson (ACC): Clemson 38-13

Ohio State vs. Wisconsin (B1G): Ohio State: 49-28

Last week’s predictions: 5-4

Season total: 35-22

Basketball Power Rankings

1. Virginia
2. Louisville
3. North Carolina
4. Florida State
5. Duke
6. Virginia Tech
7. Notre Dame
8. NC State
9. Pitt
10. Syracuse
11. Georgia Tech
12. Clemson
13. Miami
14. Wake Forest
15. Boston College

Basketball Predictions

Michigan at Louisville: Michigan, 77-68

Florida State at Indiana: Florida State, 65-61

Duke at Michigan State: Michigan State, 75-74

Ohio State at North Carolina: North Carolina, 71-67

Duke at Virginia Tech: Duke, 85-79

North Carolina at Virginia: Virginia, 53-50

Last week’s predictions: 2-4

Season total: 18-7

Payton Wilson: UNC defeated N.C. State 41-10 at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh on Saturday night. Wilson concluded his freshman season with the first interception of his college career, which led to a field goal from Chris Dunn in the 2nd quarter that evened the game 6-6. Wilson also led N.C. State with 14 tackles, including four solo. To conclude his freshman season, Wilson led the team with 69 tackles, one more than sophomore Tanner Ingle. Wilson had 36 unassisted tackles, second on the team. He had five tackles for loss and will likely be included in several year-end awards which will be announced in the subsequent days.

Trenton Gill: The former Cedar Ridge punter was busy during the 2nd half of the UNC game. He had six punts for a 48.3 average. His longest punt was 68 yards, his only attempt over 50 yards on the night. Two of his punts were downed inside the 20-yard line. Gill, who was named to the Ray Guy Watch list last month, was not named a semifinalist. He ends the year with 56 punts for an average of 47.6 yards per attempt. His longest of the year was 75 yards. 24 of the 56 punts were over 50 yards, and 16 of them were downed inside the 20-yard line.

Icez Barnett: Division II Mount Olive defeated Chowan 63-57 on Tuesday inside the Helms Center in Murfreesboro on Wednesday night. Barnett scored two points off 1-of-4 shooting from the field. She played ten minutes. Barnett also grabbed four rebounds and blocked three shots. On Saturday, UNC Pembroke defeated Chowan 55-51 at English E. Jones Center in Pembroke. Barnett played 20 minutes, the most of any of her six games thus far. She went 0-for-5 from the field and finished scoreless, but she did grab two rebounds and dish out an assist. The Hawks are 1-5 overall, 1-1 in Conference Carolinas. Chowan travels to Belmont Abbey on Tuesday.

Kaylen Campbell: The Division III Trinity women’s basketball team routed Sarah Lawrence 68-28 on Monday at Oosting Gymnasium in Hartford, CT. Campbell, a redshirt sophomore, scored seven points off the bench in 15 minutes. She shot 3-of-5 from the field, including 1-of-2 from 3-point range. Campbell also grabbed four rebounds, and was credited with two assists and a steal. The Bantams had a game scheduled against the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts on Sunday, but it was canceled because of winter weather. Trinity is 6-1, has won six in a row and closed out a stretch of seven games in ten days with the Sarah Lawrence win. They travel to Connecticut College on Thursday.

Lionel Reid-Shaw: The former Orange Panther ended his college soccer career with Division III Dickinson College last month. Johns Hopkins defeated Dickinson 2-0 in the semifinals of the Centennial Conference Tournament at Franklin & Marshall University in Lancaster, PA on November 9. Reid-Shaw started at center back. The Red Devils end the year 10-8. Reid-Shaw ends his career with 67 games played. He scored he only goal of his Dickinson career on his senior night game, a 3-1 victory over Muhlenberg on October 30. This season, Reid-Shaw played in 17 games, starting 13. He had one assist in his sophomore year.

Her rehabilitation started with baby tennis, which she started playing at seven years old.

Olivia Ward had a long road back when major thoracic surgery jeopardized her playing career. In February 2018, as she neared the end of her sophomore year, her right hand wasn’t strong enough to hold a tennis request.

Her nerves stopped communicating with her muscles, which required surgery from Thomas D’Amico at Duke University Medical Center, who once performed a similar procedure on former New York Mets pitcher Matt Harvey.

Six months later, Ward returned to reach the 3A State doubles tournament with Alana Lutz. Though she had been a member of Cedar Ridge’s 2018 Big 8 Championship team, she had never qualified for the state singles championships, a goal since she was a middle schooler.

“(In singles), the responsibility is on me,” Ward said. “I can say that I got there on my own because it’s just you on the court against someone else. Going with Alana in doubles was a great experience, and I missed playing without her this year.”

To qualify for the state championships, Ward had to reach the semifinals of the 3A Mideast Regionals. After she defeated a representative from Terry Sanford in the opening round, Ward faced Orange’s Jera Hargrove.

It would be the final match they would ever play against each other, and while it was a rivalry, it was a civil one. They were friends off the court. On September 23, Hargrove defeated Ward 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 10-4 (10-point tiebreaker in the third set), as Orange defeated Cedar Ridge 5-4 on the Red Wolves’ senior night.

Now, Hargrove was in Ward’s way of reaching the state championships.

“It was bittersweet,” Ward said. “Jera and I have always been, I would say, friends. Every time we play each other, it’s a great match. I wish it would have been both of us going. I wish we went to the same school. We could have advanced to regionals together and wouldn’t have had to play each other.”

What followed at the Burlington Tennis Center was a grinding two-and-a-half hour match. After Hargrove evened the match with a 6-4 win in the second set, Ward sat down, started eating between sets and then remembered why she had trained to come back 18 months ago.

“It was a mental switch,” Ward said. “I had this feeling the I wasn’t going to lose. I don’t think I played any better or worse. I think it was just my attitude that changed how that third set went. It was worth it just to ride home with my Dad and meet my goal to make states.”

And she did. Ward captured the third set 6-1 to advance to the semifinals. It was a match featuring the two best female tennis players in Hillsborough, and its symbolism wasn’t lost on Ward.

“If I had lost that match, it would have been a loss I would have been happy about,” Ward said. “Because Jera would have been going. Either way, I would have been happy with the outcome. She’s a great player.”

In states, Ward lose to eventual 3A state champion Rose Kennedy of Charlotte Catholic, who lost only five games in four matches.

Last month, Ward signed with Methodist College to play college tennis.

Featuring Marlee Rakouskas, Jaden Hurdle, Rachel Tilley and Ian Johnson.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is freshman wrestler Dillion Heffernan. Last week, Heffernan won the first three matches of his varsity career in the Orange Duals to start the 2019-20 season. He pinned Fletcher Kay’s of Sanderson, the pinned South Stokes Kendall Caudill. He also earned a forfeit win over North Davidson. On Wednesday in the Thanksgiving Duals, Heffernan scored a 10-4 win against Person’s Derrick Laylock. He also got a forfeit win against East Chapel Hill, pushing his record to 5-1. Heffernan was the 2019 OPAC 90-pound champion at Stanford Middle School last winter and helped the Chargers win the OPAC Championship.

Orange wrestler Nathan Hecht won all three of his matches in the Thanksgiving Duals at Panther Gymnasium on Tuesday night. Cardinal Gibbons defeated Orange 43-28, but Hecht scored a major decision over the Crusaders’ Samuel Davis. Hecht earned his first pinball victory of the year against East Chapel Hill. To end the night against Person, Hecht pinned the Rockets’ Karson Evans at 192 pounds. Hecht went 15-9 last season with seven pins as he competed in three different weight classes. Next week, Hecht will compete in the Jim King Invitational, a two-day tournament starting on Friday at Orange High. This will be the first time that Hecht has competed in a JKO. 

In this edition of Thanksgiving wishes, we hear from Orange’s Cooper Porter, Grace Andrews and Taylor Montague, along with Cedar Ridge’s Anaya Carter.