Not when they had a chance to become playoff eligible for the first time ever, or keep alive their faint hopes for a winning season, or become the first visiting team to win at Cedar Ridge High School this year.

The irony was, despite playing possibly their best all-around game of the year, what let the Jaguars down in the end was their forte -- the passing game.

The ground-oriented Cedar Ridge Red Wolves relied on the arm of quarterback Caleb Goodnight to toss a 33-yard touchdown pass to Josh Pappas with 1:14 remaining in regulation as they rallied from a 14-0 halftime deficit to defeat the Jaguars 21-20 on Friday night in Hillsborough. Hunter Moran's extra point provided the margin of victory.

Moments earlier, Carrboro (3-6, 1-2 in the Carolina-Nine 2-A Conference) broke a 14-14 tie when wide receiver Juan Chavariaga hauled in a tipped pass from quarterback Derek Bryant and raced untouched into the end zone for a 29-yard touchdown to momentarily give the Jaguars the lead. Red Wolves safety Josh Evarts blocked Samuel Cooper's ensuing extra point, leaving the door open for a Red Wolves rally.

"We didn't do a good job with the passing game tonight," said Carrboro Coach Jason Tudryn. "Just a lack of execution. We had some mental errors. We had a little bit of a timing issue because it was the first time since the East Chapel Hill game that we had all three of our starting receivers in the same game again."

Carrboro did a surprisingly good job controlling the line of scrimmage in the first half against a bigger foe. The Jaguars scored on their opening 80-yard drive, comprised almost entirely of runs by Torrell Farrar and Talibdeen McLain. Farrar scored the first touchdown on a 2-yard run with 7:02 remaining in the first quarter.

"It was good to have those guys healthy," said Tudryn, referring to McLain missing last week's game against Northwood because of a sprained ankle. "It was really a luxury."

The Jaguars also excelled on special teams, but left some first-half points on the table. In the second quarter, Chavariaga blocked a punt by Moran, which DeAndre White recovered for a touchdown that put the Jaguars up 14-0. On the following Cedar Ridge punt, Moran fumbled the snap, and the Jaguars took over at the Red Wolves 14 yard line, but didn't score.

Cedar Ridge got on the scoreboard by playing power football out of its stack I-formation. Tailback Brent Burnette raced 27 yards for a touchdown to narrow the Carrboro lead to 14-7 with 6:21 remaining in the third quarter.

Later in the third quarter, Shawn Wheland recovered a fumble by Carrboro's Nassar Omar, leading to a wild sequence that would tie the game. On a fourth-and-three from the Jaguar 13-yard line, Goodnight fumbled the snap from center and spontaneously ran for the first down. Chavariaga appeared to have him stopped short of the first down, but Goodnight lateralled the ball to Pappas, who picked up the first down. Fullback Jake Geary pushed in from one yard out to tie the score at 14-14 with 7:03 remaining in the game.

Elsewhere, Chapel Hill defeated Oxford Webb, East Chapel Hill fell at Southern Durham, and Northwood lost for the first time this year, 27-7 to South Granville.

Next week, Carrboro faces Granville Central, a second-year school coached by former Chapel Hill defensive coordinator Don Colgan. Carrboro defeated the Panthers last year, their first-ever victory against a team from North Carolina.

Cedar Ridge 21, Carrboro 20

Friday, Oct. 23, at Hillsborough

Team Statistics

Scoring Summary

CAR--T.Farrar 3 run (S.Cooper kick); CAR--D.Powell 1 blocked punt return (S.Cooper kick); CDR--B.Burnette 27 run (H.Moran kick); CDR--J.Geary 1 run (H.Moran kick); CAR--J.Chavarriaga 29 pass from D.Bryant (kick blocked); CDR--J.Pappas 33 pass from C.Goodnight (H.Moran kick).

Individual Statistics

Rushing: CAR--T.McLain 11-45, T.Farrar 11-41, D.Bryant 5-15, N.Omar 2-6, J.Brown 1-6, D.White 1-(-4); CDR--B.Burnette 10-76, C.Goodnight 5-30, P.Chalmers 9-25, C.Pappas 1-21, J.Geary 5-12, T.Watkins 2-7, J.Evarts 1-5, H.Moran 1-(-17).

Passing: CAR--D.Bryant 14-24-203-1; CDR--C.Goodnight 4-16-98-1, C.Pappas 1-3-(-6)-0, J.Evarts 1-1-42-0.

Receiving: CAR--N.Omar 7-96-0, J.Chavarriga 2-54-0, D.Parrish 1-21-0, T.McLain 1-14-0, T.Farrar 2-10-0; CDR--J.Pappas 0-75-1, Nichols 0-65-0, B.Burnette 0-(-6)-0.