Carrboro will host East Chapel Hill at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the first football game ever played between the 2-A Jaguars and 4-A Wildcats. "I thing the kids are going to be excited to play," said Carrboro head coach Jason Tudryn.

So far, the Jaguars have played some of the most exciting football in the area. Carrboro (1-2) is averaging 31 points a game, and the Jaguars' two losses have come by a grand total of seven points -- 28-27 at 3-A Orange and 46-40 last Friday to Eastern Randolph.

The ECH-Carrboro game will be the only one in town Friday. Chapel Hill (0-3) will be looking for its first win at 3-0 Northwood High in Pittsboro. The Tigers were within 1 minute of winning last Friday at Durham Riverside, but Pirates tailback Chauncey Burgess got loose with 59 seconds to go and scored on a 22-yard run to give Riverside a come-from-behind win. Chapel Hill's Christian Strong scored one touchdown on a 4-yard run, and Winston Washington hit Russell Suitt for a 19-yard TD. Chapel Hill led the see-saw game 22-20 after Washington scored on a 1-yard plunge in the third quarter, set up by his own 22-yard pass to Kyle Duffy.

Northwood heads into Friday after thumping arch-rival Jordan-Matthews 34-0. That avenged a stunning 34-10 upset by the Jets on Northwood's home field last season. The Chargers have now outscored opponents this season by a combined 72-6.

Elsewhere in the county Friday, Cedar Ridge (2-1), coming off a solid 17-0 victory over winless East Chapel Hill, will host Southern Vance (1-1). Orange (1-2) has Friday off to recover from last week's 26-21 loss to Burlington Williams and get ready for its big game Sept. 18 against cross-town rival Cedar Ridge.

East takes down Chapel Hill in soccer

While their footballs were out of town last Friday, the soccer teams of Chapel Hill and East Chapel Hill met at Wildcat Stadium for the first part of their annual grudge match. East Chapel Hill won 2-1 in front of a big crowd, marking the Wildcats' first victory over their cross-town rivals in almost five years.

Chapel Hill (3-4-0) had won four straight over ECH after a 3-3 tie in 2006, and hadn't lost to the Wildcats since East's 3-2 win at CHHS on Oct. 15, 2004.

East Chapel Hill (3-3-0) and CHHS are scheduled to meet again on Oct. 23 at Chapel Hill.

CHHS Tigers start off 6-0 in field hockey

Chapel Hill High School field hockey has outscored its opponents 21-2 so far and is off to a 6-0 start this season under head coach Diego Caballero and assistants Xan Funk and Melanie Brill. The Tigers have reeled off wins against Forsyth Country (2-0), Cary Academy (4-0), Ravenscroft (4-1), Carrboro High (4-1, with the lone Carrboro goal scored off a corner penalty by Neela Mahanty), Durham Riverside (4-0) and Cary Academy (again, this time 3-0).

The Tiger defense is anchored by senior goalkeeper Faith Westdorp, along with senior captains Anna Long and Caroline Williams. Long, Alexis Hebert, Kelsey Buckley, Beckie Goldbach and Jessica Barfield have provided the Tiger scores, with assists by Hebert, Barfield, Long and Hayley Wilson.

Chapel Hill hosted Jordan on Tuesday. (The game was too late for today's edition of the Chapel Hill News. See www.newsobersver.com or today's News & Observer for results.)

Carolina men host to N.C. State on Saturday

Carolina's men will carry a 2-0-1 record into this weekend's soccer battle with N.C. State. UNC junior midfielder Cameron Brown's bicycle kick in the 85th-minute sealed a 4-0 win Sunday for No. 1 North Carolina over Evansville and delivered the 2009 Carolina Nike Classic title to the Tar Heels in the tournament finale at Fetzer Field. That took some of the sting out of a 1-1 tie with Northern Illinois in the Classic's first round Friday.

The Tar Heels will host N.C. State at 7 p.m. Saturday at Fetzer Field, beginning a three-match homestand in Chapel Hill. UNC hosts Duke on Sept. 18 and East Tennessee State on Sept. 22.

... and women host Aggies in double-header at Fetzer

North Carolina's No. 1-ranked women's soccer team won the Inn at St. Mary's Soccer Classic with two wins in South Bend, Ind., last weekend. UNC defeated Marquette 1-0 at Alumni Stadium on Sunday afternoon after defeating Notre Dame 6-0 Friday night. The host Fighting Irish and Marquette each finished with 1-1 marks and Wisconsin-Milwaukee went 0-2.

Next up for the Tar Heels is 10th-ranked Texas A&M at 2 p.m. Saturday at Fetzer Field. Carolina beat the Aggies in overtime last year in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals. UNC leads the all-time series against Texas A&M 11-1 and has won three in a row against the Aggies. The Carolina men follow at 7 p.m. (See above.)

Sexton okay after late hit at Fayetteville State

Former UNC quarterback Cameron Sexton's ankle injury is only a minor sprain, his father said Sunday night. Brent Sexton said he wasn't certain whether his son, now the starter at Division II Catawba, will be able to practice this week, but he will play again this season.

"Cam is in good spirits, and we're just all thankful it wasn't anything more serious,'' Brent Sexton told the News & Observer.

Sexton was hit late and injured after he threw his first pass on Catawba's first possession Saturday against Fayetteville State. After icing down his right ankle, he left for Chapel Hill at halftime and Catawba rallied for a 21-20 win over the Broncos. Sexton wanted the ankle looked at by Tar Heels orthopedic surgeon Tim Taft, who performed surgery on that ankle when Cam was a UNC freshman..

Sexton was a part-time starter for UNC last season and had one year of eligibility left when he opted to graduate and transfer to Catawba for his final year, because he knew he would start there.

His new team opened the season with a win at St. Augustine's the previous weekend, where at least a dozen of his former Tar Heel football teammates, plus several UNC basketball players, came out to support him.

-- Robbi Pickeral

Briefly ...

North Carolina football improved to 3-0 in season-openers under Butch Davis. This is the first time UNC has won three straight season openers since winning six in a row from 1989 to 1994. ... Following a 3-2 win over Oklahoma, North Carolina volleyball registered its second victory of the day Saturday defeating Grambling State 25-21, 25-13 and 25-18. The Tar Heels were lead by senior captain Megan Owens' eight kills and Erica Behm's 21 assists as the Tar Heels' cruised to their third win of the season. ... Carolina receiver Dwight Jones will out two to three weeks after having knee surgery. That's a blow to the Tar Heels, who are trying to replace three receivers who went on to become NFL draft picks.

Quotable

"As I talked to the team before we ever played tonight, I said 'I want you to go out, have fun, play hard and know that the game is not going to be perfect. There's some things that we're not going to do as well as when the season unfolds.'"

-- UNC football head coach Butch Davis, after UNC's win over The Citadel.

- chn -