Seizing upon two fumbles and an interception, Carrboro had great field position all night against bigger and physical Burlington Cummings in the Jaguars’ 68-31 victory. Their first four scoring drives all started in Cavalier territory.

“The real story of the game was defense,” Tudryn said. He noted Cummings’ history includes multiple state championships and an 89-0 beating administered to Carrboro in the Jaguars’ first season.

“That was a good football team and that’s a very good football program,” he said. “For us to stop them as well as we did in the first half – especially with how fast they are and how physical they are – that’s a real tribute to our kids.”

Carrboro led 35-0 at halftime, and Cummings didn’t get on the board until the 7:34 mark of the third quarter. By game’s end, Carrboro had limited the Cavs to less than 150 yards rushing. Tudryn wasn’t bothered by giving up 31 points in the game’s last 19:35.

“We just want to score more points than the other team,” Tudryn said. “We played a lot of guys. If you had told me a week ago that we would be able to play everyone on our team in our first playoff game, I would have said you were crazy.”

Among those getting plenty of playing time was senior running back Douglas Parrish, recovered from a wrist injury that made him miss two games. Parrish rushed 10 times for 170 yards and five touchdowns Friday, while sophomore Trai Sharpe rushed 17 times for 189 yards and four TDs and added another on a 62-yard catch-and-run of an Alex McVeigh pass.

“With both of us in there, no one can stop us both,” Parrish said. “It just felt good to be back out there with my brothers on the field.”

Ranked No. 5 in the state by the Associated Press and seeded No. 1 in the 2AA Mideast, Carrboro (12-0) hosts fifth-seeded Randleman (8-4) in a second-round game Friday. Randleman got a 21-14 upset win at Franklinton in the first round.

Orange to host South Johnston

HILLSBOROUGH After beating Eastern Wayne 38-6 last week, Orange will host a second-round playoff game for the first time since 2008. The second-seeded Panthers (9-2) will host South Johnston (8-4) Friday at Auman Stadium in a 3A Mideast game.

After a 7-1 start to the season, South Johnston’s Trojans stumbled into the playoffs as No. 3 seed after losing its last two games to Cleveland County and Erwin Triton.

Last Friday, Orange won for the seventh time in eight outings by running for four unanswered touchdowns and turning a 14-7 game into a rout. The run-oriented Panthers caught Eastern Wayne (4-7) off-guard by passing for the game’s first two touchdowns – with Sean Motley finding Jon Evans for a 10-yard strike and then hitting Jalen Pittman for a 39-yard score.

Pittman rushed 11 times for 92 yards and a touchdown. Patrick Pettiford out-did that with a game-high 95 yards and two touchdowns on just 10 carries. Motley ran in one score himself.

Tigers to visit Nighthawks

CHAPEL HILL Playing in the NCHSAA playoffs’ second round for the second straight year, Chapel Hill (9-3) faces a major challenge Friday when it visits undefeated and no. 1 seeded Northern Guilford (11-0) in a 3AA Mideast game.

The Nighthawks have beaten opponents by an average margin of 32 points per game. Last Friday, they took a 69-0 win over Asheboro – a team CHHS beat 7-2 in last year’s first round.

The teams have something else in common; former CHHS athletics director Ronnie Hayes left Chapel Hill in 2009 for the same position at Northern Guilford. Hayes stayed barely a year in Greensboro before leaving for Currituck.

Bulldogs bite Northwood

ST. PAULS Northwood held offensive juggernaut St. Pauls (9-3) to three touchdowns but that was still enough for the No. 3-seeded Bulldogs to pull out a 22-17 win over the sixth-seeded Chargers in the 2AA Midwest’s first round last Friday.

Advancing to the second round for the first time since 2007, St. Pauls averages 47.6 points a game.

Northwood (6-6) led 7-0 after a Ti Pinnix’s 18-yard touchdown pass to Aumad Walker, then 14-7 after Kadarus Rone’s 56-yard option pass to Chris Smith, and finally 17-14 on Anthony Castro’s 25-yard field goal in the third quarter.

But a 1-yard touchdown dive by St Pauls’ Shawn Williams with 4 minutes to play put the ’Dogs up 22-17. Northwood drove inside St. Pauls’ 10-yard line before being stopped on fourth down with 30 seconds left.