In short, the story of Chapel Hill's fifth consecutive victory over East Chapel Hill was this: the Wildcat defense couldn't do enough to bail out its offense, but Chapel Hill's defense perfectly supported its offense. The Tigers turned four Wildcat turnovers into 21 points as CHHS broke open a tight game in the second half and defeated the Wildcats 37-0.

East's defense held Tiger running back Stephen Moore to 64 yards rushing, and CHHS to a modest 265 yards total offense. Two weeks ago, Moore had 247 yards by himself against Southern Alamance.

But Chapel Hill was even more effective. It sacked East's quarterbacks eight times, recovered two fumbles and blocked two punts to help offset a gritty effort from the Wildcats.

Just imagine if the Tiger defense had played to coach Issac Marsh's liking.

"I think we can do better with our front four," Marsh said of his front line of Jared McAdoo, Rodney Torain, Keegan Ray and Rufus Lassiter. "It's just going to come with more practice and more reps. I'm satisfied with their performance tonight, but we're not where we need to be."

With the victory, the Tigers retain the Hodgin Cup for a fifth straight year, a trophy presented to the winner of the annual contest. Sponsored by the Chapel Hill News, the trophy is named in honor of Bill Hodgin, a former football coach at Chapel Hill High who was also the first athletic director in East Chapel Hill history.

Chapel Hill (4-2, 2-0 in the PAC-6 conference) also claimed one point in the Top of the Hill Cup, the all sports competition between Chapel Hill and East Chapel Hill. After victories earlier in the week in field hockey and girl's tennis, East Chapel Hill now holds a 5-3 lead.

The Wildcats (0-6, 0-2) haven't claimed the Hodgin Cup since 2003, when tailback Rich Belton scored late in the fourth quarter to pull the Wildcats to a 27-20 victory. Belton is now a starting fullback for Wake Forest.

"We did a lot of good things tonight, but we didn't do enough of them," said East Coach Darian Harris. "We just did things to hurt ourselves that you can't do against a team of Chapel Hill's caliber. It happens, but we're not at a point where we can beat ourselves and still be competitive."

The lopsided score, the largest margin of victory in the 13-year series, overshadowed a solid performance by East's defense.

The Wildcats held the Tigers to 97 yards total offense in the first half. Twice Ray Hartsfield Jr. picked off Tiger quarterback John Haus, who entered the game with only one interception through the first five games.

However, East was far from running on all cylinders. Quarterback Malcolm Huntington-Meath played, despite missing several days of practice and classes because of the flu. He completed 5 of 14 passes for 53 yards before being knocked out of the game following a hit by cornerback Dylan Farrington late in the second quarter.

Skill player Omar Mcfadden (who alternates between running back and wide receiver) replaced Huntington-Meath at quarterback after halftime, but struggled against the Tigers' defensive front.

The Tiger defense made it impossible for the Wildcats to get into a flow early. East didn't pick up a first down on its first five drives, and finished with only seven in the game.

"The effort was there for our team," said Harris. "We just had a few breakdowns and some key turnovers, but the effort was there."

Not that Chapel Hill thrived offensively. In fact, the Tigers only had two sustained drives in the entire game, but they made them count.

After a 70-yard run by Moore was called back due to a penalty, Haus completed consecutive passes to Farrington and Pete Singer to bring the ball to the East 28. From there, defensive back Winston Washington made a rare appearance at tailback to score from eight yards out. Justin Kircher's extra point put CHHS ahead 7-0.

On the ensuing East drive, the Tiger defense forced a three-and-out. Then, Jared McAdoo blocked a punt by East's Ethan Keyersling, which was picked up by Rodney Torain and returned 10 yards for a touchdown. (McAdoo, a UNC commitment playing in his final CHHS-East game, also had blocked a punt that led to a touchdown two years ago in a 41-7 victory over the Wildcats.)

In the second half, CHHS won the battle of field position, starting consecutive drives in East's red zone. Kircher kicked a 34-yard field goal for a 17-0 CHHS lead. On the ensuing possession, Hassan Abdur-Rahman recovered a Wildcat fumble, and one play after that Moore rumbled 17 yards for his first touchdown of the night.

In the fourth quarter, backup fullback Doval Watson scored on a 1-yard touchdown run, and Lassiter returned a fumble 73 yards for another score.

"It was great so many different people scored," Haus said. "We got one for Doval Watson. He's put in his dues for four years, and he got one."

East Chapel Hill 	0	0	0	0 -- 0

Chapel Hill	0	14 	9	14 -- 37

Eastern Alamance drops Cedar Ridge

At Cedar Ridge, Eastern Alamance's Lamari Ivey compiled 251 total yards to help hand the Red Wolves their second loss in three games. Ivey passed for 152 yards but ran in each Eagle touchdown on plays of 12, seven and two yards.

EASTERN ALAMANCE 24, CEDAR RIDGE 9
Friday, Oct. 3, at Hillsborough

Eastern Alamance	3	14	7	0 -- 24

Cedar Ridge	7	0	2	0 --  9