Written by JEREMIAH ARTACHO
Chapel Hill High School earned its first win of the 2024 football season on September 13 over Carrboro High School. Almost four weeks later, it marked win number two with a 55-14 victory against Riverside High School (2-4, 0-2 in conference).
Head coach Ryan Horton said he liked what he saw out of his Tigers (2-5, 1-1 in conference) on its homecoming night Thursday.
“I hope it starts to build a little bit of our confidence back,” Horton said following the win. “We had a heck of a first half schedule on top of that we had some tough injuries. Starting to get a little healthier and going down this stretch — I keep trying to tell these guys that everything that we had in front of us, the goals are still there. It’s still attainable.”
Chapel Hill High’s win featured Horton using three different players at the quarterback position. Besides senior running back Josh Roberson taking snaps underneath center, senior Jonah Berman made his second appearance after returning from injury. And junior Sam Zimmerman stepped onto the field for the first time since the season opener on August 23 due to an injury as well.
“I feel like we found a little groove,” Horton said about using three different players at the quarterback position. “We had Roberson in — he held down the fort for so long — for about a month. Having a senior and a junior that have both played a good amount of snaps coming in and alternating — I think it went about as smoothly as possible with playing three guys at quarterback.”
Roberson opened the game with a keeper to score a touchdown from inside Riverside’s 10-yard line. It was his first of three scores on the night.
“It feels great, I can’t even explain,” Roberson said about returning to his natural running back position. “It feels great to be back — I just gotta get back to getting faster and going back to being me.”
Berman recorded his first of two passing touchdowns on the night in the first quarter to senior wide receiver Tyler Oliaro from Riverside’s 34-yard line.
“I’ve been hurt for five weeks, so it’s been awesome coming back and playing — being under the lights is sweet,” Berman said. “A lot of it is getting the nerves off, especially the first two drives. I’m getting a little confidence — throwing a shot to my best friend is pretty cool. The coolest thing you can do I think. Threw a good shot, he [Oliaro] caught that ball and it was all good stuff from there.”
On the receiving end of Berman’s touchdown pass, Oliaro turned around and fell down to make the catch while being covered.
“I saw the corners at five yards, so I knew if I could get to them I’ll just be able to run past them,” Oliaro said. “And then the ball went up and [I] got my hands on it then bobbled a little bit — got my hands back on it, caught it and I was hoping I was in. And the ref said I was.”
Zimmerman, who saw his first appearance since the season opener, ended Chapel Hill High’s night with a quarterback keeper of his own in the fourth quarter.
“I didn’t play as well as I would’ve liked in the first half,” Zimmerman said. “So to get that touchdown to seal the game was really nice and controlling the tempo of the second half was really nice.”
However, the quarterback spot was not the only shining position of the night. Senior running back Tyler Jackson ran for a 71-yard touchdown during the Tigers’ third drive of the first quarter.
“I mean, it was kind of open,” Jackson said. “They didn’t bring anybody outside and [I] just out ran them.”
Senior running back Ethan Smith connected with Berman from the Pirate’s 20-yard line. And sophomore running back Justin Harrington rushed for a touchdown from Riverside’s 10-yard line. Senior kicker Mattheus Hobler converted seven of eight field goal attempts on the night.
“I’m glad that some of these guys got rewarded for the hard work they’ve put in,” Horton said about using a variety of players throughout the game. “And really try to spread it around and make sure everybody got a chance at feeling that success.”
Chapel Hill High School will hit the road on Friday, October 18 to take on Northern Durham High School. The kickoff is set to 7:00 p.m.
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