PITTSBORO — On WCHL/Chapelboro.com we like to go the ‘whole nine yards’ with our sports coverage. With that in mind, here are some random observations/opinions about high school football teams in our area following Friday night’s action:
ORANGE YOU GLAD: Orange, which ripped Northwood 41-21, IS as good as advertised. The Panthers defense mostly stifled the Chargers passing AND rushing attacks Friday night … no easy feat to accomplish vs. a very talented group.
Orange’s Pat Moser is one smooth and classy coach, crediting his team for an impressive win while seeming to understand Northwood is better than it played.
Orange fans were late in arriving, similar to their Orange County CA. counterparts, but when they did arrive they were sizable in numbers, spirited and stayed until the end, unlike their Los Angeles-area namesakes.
HALL’S QUIET…: Northwood coach Bill Hall was LIVID toward officials near the end of the game about possible high and/or late hits by Orange defenders. That’s speculation though as Hall wouldn’t comment about what his shouting was about, saying only “I like my job” after the contest.
Hall was otherwise cooperative with the media though, and it’s hard to imagine he won’t get the Chargers back on track, especially next week at winless Cedar Ridge.
ROAD WORRIERS: These are tough times for the Red Wolves, who scored 28 points but managed to get doubled up at Cardinal Gibbons. That probably wasn’t a fun trip to or from Raleigh.
We have been a little tough on Cedar Ridge on WCHL’s prep pre-game football show ‘The Grid with Matt & Matt’ but as a former assistant AD there I’m hoping better times are ahead. If nothing else, they have home field advantage vs. Northwood Friday at their marvelous facilities in Hillsborough.
BOTH SIDES OF THE HILL: Good to see Chapel Hill build on its win over East Chapel Hill by toppling Webb Friday night. With an overtime loss and one-point setback on its slate, the Tigers could conceivably be 4-1 overall instead of 2-3.
Tough to see East Chapel Hill not bounce back from its loss to Chapel Hill. Expected a better performance vs. another previous one-win team in Ragsdale and 14 points in the last two games isn’t going to get the job done.
CAN CARRBORO REFUEL? Finally, could last season’s state championship runner-up Carrboro possibly drop three straight games and fall to 3-3 on the season? We’ll find out Friday with a home tilt vs. Randleman, a 4-1 team coming off a 10-7 overtime win vs. Thomasville. Much depends on the health of standout back Trai Sharp, who has been out with a knee injury.