“It’s definitely something to be proud of,” Carrboro’s Trai Sharp said after Carrboro rolled over Granville Central 59-24 Friday. “Winning the conference was something on our list of goals from the very beginning. It’s nice to see the team’s hard work pay off.”

The win wrapped up an undefeated run in Carolina 2A Conference games for Carrboro (10-0, 4-0 conference), which is ranked No. 7 in the state’s 2A class by the Associated Press.

“If you had told me back in July that we’d be 10-0 and conference champions, I’d have told you that you were crazy,” Carrboro head coach Jason Tudryn said. “I’m very thankful to have this group of guys and how hard they work and how dedicated they’ve been.”

Having swept the Carolina 2A Conference for the Jaguars’ first league championship, they could finish their regular season undefeated if they win Friday against Providence Grove of the Mid-State 2A Conference.

“This one is really important, because we want that No. 1 seed heading into the playoffs,” Sharp said.

Against Granville Central, Sharp ran for 236 yards and four touchdowns on just 17 carries and Alex McVeigh completed 8-of-13 passes for 181 yards and four touchdowns.

The Jaguars’ offensive juggernaut barely dampened “Think Pink” night at Granville Central, where the players donned pink jersey and socks to go with their black pants in recognition of October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Central quarterback Jeremy Parker ran for two touchdowns to help the Panthers (1-9 overall, 0-3 Carolina 2A Conference) enjoy their best scoring night since a 50-40 loss Aug. 24 against Eden Morehead.

Parker completed 11 of his first 22 passes for 105 yards, but then missed on 6-of-8 in the second half. His last pass was picked off by Carrboro’s Carson McKay for a 16-yard interception return and a touchdown, putting the Jaguars ahead 59-17 with 8:29 to play in the game.

Carrboro substituted freely in the fourth quarter, and most of the second half was played with a running clock after Sharp’s 41-yard run for his last TD, making the lead 46-17 just 1:34 into the third quarter.

McVeigh threw touchdown passes of 25 yards and 30 yards to Marlin Johnson. His 20-yard TD pass to Malik Carrington put Carrboro up 12-0, and his 45-yard strike to Shamek Dolby made it a 39-10 lead with 8:41 left in the second quarter.

Central’s Parker cut the margin to 39-17 with an 11-yard run shortly before halftime. Carrboro took its biggest lead at 52-17 on Johnson’s 30-yard touchdown catch with 5:51 left in the third quarter.

W.E. Warnock

Orange falls to undefeated Cardinal Gibbons

RALEIGH With the Carolina 3-A conference title on the line, the stakes were high.

Undefeated Cardinal Gibbons and Orange responded with big plays, big hits, and big defensive stops. The last stop – by the Crusaders on a fourth-down play at game’s end – was the one that made the difference; it guaranteed that Cardinal Gibbons would hold off visiting Orange for a 28-21 win Friday that locked up another Carolina 3A Conference title.

“Yes. Yes it was,” Cardinal Gibbons coach Steven Wright answered when asked if this was a statement win for his school.

With one game left in the regular season, Cardinal Gibbons stood at 9-0 overall and 4-0 in the Carolina 3A with the win over Orange who now slips to second place at 3-1 in conference play and 7-2 overall.

“Hats off to [Orange head coach] Pat Moser. They gave us everything we could handle,” Wright said.

Tied at 21-21 midway through the fourth quarter, a scrambling Shawn Stankavage found Trevor Zaruba in the back of the end zone to give the Crusaders the go-ahead score 28-21. The 12-yard strike was on a third and three play. Three plays earlier the pair had hooked up for a 13-yard pass play on a 4th-and-7.

“I was thinking throw it to your read, which he missed. Then I was thinking throw it away,” Wright said of Stankavage’s scoring play. “He’s one of those kids that has that ‘It’ factor,” Wright added.

Earlier in the third quarter, Stankavage took a shot to the chin on a late hit that resulted in a personal foul and player ejection. Stankavage left the game and missed the last two plays of the third quarter. But at the start of the fourth quarter Cardinal Gibbons still had possession and Stankavage returned. Three plays later Stankavage threw a 14-yard pass to Zaruba, a precursor of things to come, for a 21-14 lead.

“[Stankavage] got the wind knocked out of him. He told me ‘give me a couple plays to catch my breath,’” Wright said.

It was the first lead in the game for Cardinal Gibbons but it was short lived. On its first play after a kickoff, Orange handed off to Patrick Pettiford who raced 74-yards up the middle for the tying score at 21-21.

Cardinal Gibbons would answer with the Stankavage-Zaruba score. Then later the Crusade defense stopped the Panthers on a 4th-and-14 play at the Crusaders 40 yard line with 1:53 remaining. Cardinal Gibbons would run out the clock with a couple rushing first downs for the win.

Keith Cramer

Tigers take down Raiders

HENDERSON Chapel Hill seems to be hitting high gear after winning it’s third straight — the second straight by shutout — in a 21-0 decision at Southern Vance (4-5, 0-4 Carolina 3A).

The Tigers (8-2, 2-1 Carolina 3A) got pair of rushing touchdowns from Darius Allen and led 14-0 at the half after a 20-yard touchdown pass from T.J. Johnson to Gregory Powell. Allen’s second TD, a 65-yard breakaway run, put CHHS up by three touchdowns.

Chapel Hill’s Jamarius Jones sealed the win with two interceptions.

“We moved the ball extremely well, and defensively we were flying to the ball,” Chapel Hill head coach Issac Marsh said.

W.E. Warnock

Chargers run past Union Pines

CAMERON Ti Pinnix passed for two touchdowns and added another on the ground Friday to help Northwood (5-5) stop a two-loss skid with an 34-10 non-conference win at Union Pines (2-8).

Pinnix gave Northwood (5-5) a lead it never lost with his 37-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter for the game’s first score He finished with a game-high 109 yards rushing on 14 carries and 252 more yards with his 17-for-27 passing. Pinnix connected on TD passes of 26 yards to Colton Anderson and 29 yards to Aumad Walker.

Northwood’s Kadarus Rone rushed for 96 yards and two touchdowns.

W.E. Warnock

Red Wolves can’t stop Vikings

HILLSBOROUGH Cedar Ridge gave up four touchdowns in the first quarter and fell behind 48-0 before scoring a late touchdown in its 48-8 loss to South Granville in a Carolina 2A game.

Jaylin Grady got the lone touchdown for Cedar Ridge (1-9, 1-2) with his 3-yard run with 32 second left to play.

Kenny Walls led the Vikings (7-3, 2-1) with 180 yards and three touchdowns on 18 rushes.

Stough gets start at QB

DURHAM Connor Stough, who was quarterback on last year's Smith Middle School team that went undefeated, got his first start last week at quarterback for East Chapel Hill High School.

He had started the year at wide receiver, the lone freshman playing on East's varsity squad. He suffered a concussion and missed a couple of weeks before returning two weeks ago.

Stough started at Durham Hillside last Friday and completed 28 of 39 pass attempts for 258 yards and two touchdowns. He completed all eight of his throws in one drive, finishing it with a touchdown pass to Jackson Boyer. Stough later threw another touchdown pass to Arkvius Parks.

After a touchdown run by Colby Owens, East (5-5, 2-3 PAC) led 17-14 before eventually falling to the Hornets 54-23.