In its final regular-season game as a 4-A school, Chapel Hill ended a two-decade relationship with the PAC-Six conference last year with a 48-20 trouncing of Jordan and a share of the conference championship. It was a game that couldn't have possibly gone much better.

The Tigers' first game in the Carolina-Six 3-A Conference couldn't have possibly gone much worse Friday night.

Cardinal Gibbons quarterback Doug Burton led the Crusaders to scores on their first six possessions as they defeated the Tigers 41-7 to ruin Homecoming in Culton-Peerman Stadium. In the first half, Burton ran for a touchdown, passed for a touchdown and kicked two field goals as the Crusaders (6-1, 1-0 in the Carolina-Six) won their first-ever conference game in the 3-A ranks.

Chapel Hill (2-5, 0-1) effectively took themselves out of the game in the first half by making three turnovers, leading to 17 Crusader points.

"Cardinal Gibbons had an outstanding team, " said Chapel Hill Coach Issac Marsh. "They made plays and they executed. ... They're fundamentally sound and not make too many mistakes. Unfortunately, we had several mistakes tonight."

Chapel Hill was held to 26 yards and two first downs in the first half. Only backup quarterback Stephen Winsor's 9-yard touchdown pass to younger brother Stephen Winsor with 11:18 remaining in regulation kept the game from being a shutout.

"I thought the first couple of plays, we had them stopped, " said Marsh. "Then they hit us with two big plays and it was all downhill from there. I appreciate the effort that the guys came out with in the second half. Sometimes we play hard in games, but they don't go our way. But they didn't quit."

Gibbons shaped the entire game with two critical third down conversions on its' initial drive. Burton twice hit wide receiver Tim Buckley with passes of 28 and 14 yards, leading to a 12-yard touchdown run by Austin Donnald, his eighth of the season.

Chapel Hill's only sustained drive of the first half went to the Crusaders 23-yard line before Crusader cornerback Michael Pompliano intercepted a screen pass, leading to a Donnald 1-yard touchdown run. Donnald added the two-point conversion to give Gibbons a 14-0 lead.

"In the last two years, I don't think I've seen a team run a screen past well against us, " said Gibbons coach Michael Sheehan, who played on two Liberty Bowl teams at East Carolina under Steve Logan. "Our defensive lineman are big kids, but they can run. They do a great job of being fundamentally sound on their own. When they see the lineman pulling off or backs sneaking out, they just attack."

Chapel Hill will look for its first Carolina-Six Conference victory at Northern Vance next week. It will be the first time the two schools have met as conference foes in 1993, when Vance was still a member of the PAC-Six Conference.

Elsewhere Friday, South Granville romped to a 55-7 win over Carrboro, and Northwood blew out Granville Central 53-8. Northwood and Carrboro meet next week in a significant Carolina-Nine 2-A Conference game. East Chapel Hill and Cedar Ridge both had Friday off. Orange was at Northern Vance in a game that finished too late Friday night for today's edition of the Chapel Hill News. See www.newsobserver.com for results and coverage.

CGB	14	20	7	0	--	41
CHHS	0	0	0	7	--	7

CGB--A.Donnald 12 run (D.Burton kick failed)

CGB--A.Donnald 1 run (A.Donnald run)

CGB--T.Buckley 22 pass from D.Burton (D.Burton kick)

CGB--D.Burton 36 FG

CGB--D.Burton 3 run (D.Burton kick)

CGB--D.Burton 27 FG

CGB--E.Albright 1 run (D.Burton kick)

CHHS--S.Winsor 20 pass from S.Winsor.

Rushing: CGB--A.Donnald 17-85, B.Grazen 7-16, D.Burton 6-16, N.Haskin 4-5, M.Skowron 2-1, E.Albright 2-0, M.Koch 3-(-5),Total 42-122. CHHS--D.Watson 11-75, S.Wistner 6-23, C.Hill 3-5, K.Duffy 1-1, T.Pham 1-0, W.Washington 6-(-18). Total 28-86.

Passing: CGB--D.Burton 7-9-105-1, M.Koch 2-2-12-0; CHHS--S.Wistner 8-19-69-2, W.Washington 0-1-0-0.

Receiving: CGB--T.Buckley 4-86-1, A.Shafer 2-10-0, M. Pompliano 1-9-0, C.Hicks 0-6-0, S.Boyle 1-6-0; CHHS--W.Washington 2-23-0, K.Duffy 2-20-0, N.Gillespie 0-13-0, S.Winsor 0-10-2, R.Suitt 1-6-0.