Chapel Hill coach Issac Marsh likes balance on his offense, and the Tigers used a perfectly balanced offense to take a 19-0 lead at South Granville. They then made that stand up against the Vikings' explosive ground game to earn the road win.

Both teams can score. The Tigers can run and pass will equal skill, while East has been reliant upon the passing arm of Drew Davis, who threw for better than 400 yards in Week 1. East Chapel Hill is greatly improved over any of its teams from the past five years, but the Wildcats still must learn how to avoid mistakes.

Orange (1-0) at Cedar Ridge (0-1)

Orange looked like a new team last week when it trounced Roxboro Person 42-14 . The Panthers struggled to find the end zone in 2010; they didn't accumulate 42 points -- total -- last year until the fifth week of the season and ended up dead last in scoring (142) among Carolina 3-A Conference teams. Their 2-9 finish included a 34-13 loss to Cedar Ridge. Now, they've vaulted up to join the Triangle leaders in scoring.

Cedar Ridge, on the other hand, has never had much trouble with scoring since Joe Kilby took over last year as head coach. Even without Cam Pappas, the Red Wolves put 37 points on the scoreboard at Eastern Alamance, a 3-A state finalist last year. The problem for Cedar Ridge is that the Eagles the hung 57 points on the board.

Warren County (0-0) at Carrboro (1-0)

This matchup affords Carrboro an opportunity that most teams live for - a chance to atone for old wrongs. The Jaguars were in their first full year of varsity football the last time they met the Eagles in 2007, and Carrboro had been saddled with a ridiculous schedule by their conference's A.D.s, playing teams such as the defending state champions and the league runnerup in their first two games. Three games after that, Warren County had no pity for Carrboro and gave the Jags a 64-22 road loss.

Since then, Warren County has gone 3-8, 2-9 and 0-10, while Carrboro has finished better each year under coach Jason Tudryn.

Southern Lee (0-1) at Northwood (0-1)

While the Chargers have had one of the state's best programs over the last five years, Southern Lee has struggled badly. The Cavaliers won just three games in the three years previous to 2011. The last time Southern Lee had a winning record (7-6), the current Cavaliers were playing in middle school in 2006.

Northwood is coming off its worst loss in seven years -- a 56-6 defeat at East Duplin. But that might be deceiving. Cam Pappas, a transfer from Cedar Ridge playing in green-and-gold for the first time, was 14 of 21 passing for 120 yards.

Coach speak

Issac Marsh

CHHS coach, on the Hodgin Cup

"I think it means much more this year that in the past. The coaches and I have talked about this, that none of the guys on this team have know what it's like to lose the Cup, so maybe they don't realize how much it means to the other team. I know we can't make any mental mistakes."

player ofthe week

Douglas Parrish

RB., 5-10., 175., Jr.

After splitting time last year at running back with DeAndre White, Parrish has clearly come into his own. Parrish rushed 16 times last Friday for 191 yards and five touchdowns in Carrboro's 47-36, season-opening win over Central Davidson. His two second-half TDs provided what proved to be the winning scores for the Jaguars.