By Henry Gargan
Staff Writer
FOOTBALL
Cedar Ridge 20 – Carrboro 14
While this season will undoubtedly be remembered fondly by Jaguar fans, that didn’t keep any of them from shaking their heads on Friday night as they watched their boys in purple drop a second straight game.
Cedar Ridge improved to 8-1, as it eked by Carrboro, 20-14. Defensive consistency was the key to the game for both squads and turned out to be the key to victory for Cedar Ridge, which, with the Jaguars threatening deep in the red zone late in the game, forced and recovered a Derek Bryant fumble.
For both teams, the bulk of offensive production took place on the ground. Cedar Ridge quarterback Cam Pappas provided two rushing touchdowns and Brent Burnette added another. The Jags’ two TDs came in the form of a Torrell Farrar run and a Demarcus Powell/Tobias Sales blocked-punt/return combo.
Carrboro, which fell to 1-2 in the Carolina 9 and 7-2 overall, will continue conference play this week on the road against Granville Central.
Oxford Webb 22 – Chapel Hill 21
The Tigers dropped another conference game on Friday night, losing by just a point to the Warriors of Oxford Webb (5-4, 2-1 Carolina 6). A scoreless first half might have left fans yawning, but the sheer absurdity of the game’s end more than compensated.
Running back Daniel Watson threw three second-half touchdown passes to R.J. Quick out of the wildcat formation, which was used extensively due to the absence of injured starting quarterback T.J. Johnston. Webb, however, made it a shootout, and with two and a half minutes remaining, closed the margin to 20-21. The Warriors converted on the two-point conversion, and took the lead.
Chapel Hill (4-5, 1-2) then marched down the field to Webb’s 15-yard line, and with 30 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter seemed ready to attempt the winning field goal on fourth down. This, however, did not occur – rather, inexplicably, the Tigers spiked the ball, turning it over to the Warriors on downs.
Chapel Hill will attempt to atone when they face Southern Vance on the road this week.
Southern Durham 48 – East Chapel Hill 26
The Wildcats kept things interesting last Friday against a Southern Durham team that should have, by all accounts, left with a more resounding victory.
East Chapel Hill (1-7, 0-4 PAC 6) led the Spartans early on, 12-7, and didn’t panic when Southern Durham (4-6, 4-1) bounced back ahead, 21-12. In fact, the Wildcats had repossessed the lead by the half, 26-21. Sophomore quarterback Jackson Boyer, who has replaced starter Drew Davis since Davis’ injury against Riverside, connected with receiver Alex Moore for one touchdown and ran for another.
As it turned out, however, the Wildcats didn’t have what it took to seal the deal in the second half. Fatigue, the effects of which were compounded by the loss of senior running back Jordan Barkley to injury, was an obvious factor in the later stages, as the Spartans steamrolled for 27 unanswered points. Barkley rushed for 165 yards before leaving the game, a total that included a 60-yard TD run straight up the middle.
East Chapel Hill will take another trip to Durham on Friday, as they take on undefeated Hillside.