The Chapel Hill High School football team’s marvelous playoff run came to a screeching halt, as the Tigers were walloped by Northern Guilford 34-15 on Friday night in a state 3AA semifinal contest.

The No. 12 seeded Tigers (11-4), who earned the “Express” moniker after impressive road wins at West Brunswick, Terry Sanford and most notably Southern Durham, seemingly ran out of steam against the Greensboro area foe.

CJ Freeman was the Nighthawks star, piling up three rushing scores before getting knocked out of the game with a possible head injury midway through the third quarter. He was upset at first about not being able to re-enter the game, but was later celebrating the lopsided victory with his teammates.

No. 7 Northern Guilford (14-1) advances to face Weddington. which toppled Cuthbertson in the other semifinal, next Saturday for the state 3AA title at NC State’s Carter-Finley Stadium. The powerhouse Nighthawks will be playing for their fourth state title in less than a decade.

The Tigers hopes at playing under the big lights in Raleigh collapsed under the weight of five turnovers, including four interceptions by quarterback Connor Stough. The signal-caller threw for over 200 yards, but Chapel Hill had to take to the air too often and abandon its rushing attack when the Tigers fell behind early.

Freeman had touchdown runs of 2 and 6 yards for a 13-0 Nighthawks lead. Chapel Hill cut into the lead briefly on a Jeff McNeal short touchdown plunge midway through the second quarter to make it 13-7.

That was as close as the Tigers would come, however, as Freeman’s third touchdown dash before intermission put the Nighthawks up 20-7.

Northern Guilford quarterback Cam Harris sealed Chapel Hill’s fate in the second half with a touchdown run and scoring strike.

Stough hit Austin Turner on a late touchdown pass for his 25th scoring strike, but the junior quarterback and the “Express” had made their final stop of the season.

 

 

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