Herald-Sun correspondent
CHAPEL HILL -- The Cedar Ridge Red Wolves trailed Chapel Hill for most of Friday night's rain-soaked matchup.
But unlike the first seven meetings between the two schools, that deficit didn't last to the final horn.
After taking a 7-6 lead on a 10-yard Brent Burnette touchdown and Hunter Moran extra point with 5:57 left in the fourth quarter, Cedar Ridge defensive back Jose Evarts sealed the deal with a 37-yard interception for a touchdown with 22 seconds remaining in the Red Wolves' 14-6 victory.
"I think of Jimmy Valvano saying, 'Never give up,' " Cedar Ridge coach Lou Geary said. "And we just kept preaching that something would happen in this slippery weather tonight, and we finally got a little spark on offense. And I think that was a big difference in the game."
Having never beaten Chapel Hill, it could have been easy for Cedar Ridge to pack it in at halftime. But Burnette wouldn't let that happen.
"Just don't let nobody put their head down," he said. "[We] keep everybody motivated and come out in the second half and work."
While Burnette was the star Friday night, rushing for 105 yards on 18 attempts with the touchdown, Geary said his team's backfield is far from a one-man show.
"Actually, we've got two or three of them," Geary said. "[Burnette] was just the guy tonight."
The majority of the first quarter was played in Chapel Hill territory. But after a couple of 15-yard penalties, including a roughing-the-punter that extended the drive, aided the Tigers and got them onto the Red Wolves' side of the 50, Chapel Hill wouldn't be denied.
Quarterback Winston Washington turned what seemed like a sure sack into a momentum-building 21-yard scramble that put the Tigers on the 21-yard line. Two Daniel Watson rushes later, the Chapel Hill had its first lead of 2009.
Watson rushed 12 times for 25 yards and the Tigers' lone score.
The 20 points scored in the game more than triple the Tigers' and Red Wolves' combined output from Week 1, when Chapel Hill lost to South Granville 33-6 and Cedar Ridge was shut out by Eastern Alamance 42-0.
But neither coach seemed happy with the offensive performance Friday.
"We've still got a lot of work to do with our interior line coming off the ball," Geary said. "They're all young, mainly juniors, and they've just got to grow up quick.
"We hope that this game will project us going into next week, ... getting ready for our home opener."
Chapel Hill coach Isaac Marsh, who said the Tigers offense left several points on the field, stressed the importance of working every day to get where he wants his team to be offensively.
"It's a matter of showing the guys on film, 'OK. Here are the things we did well' and piggy-backing on that to make the guys have some success," he said. "It's going to come with time."
Northwood 14, Western Harnett 6
LILLINGTON -- With both offenses struggling -- the two teams combined for less than 175 yards of total offense -- Northwood found its way into the end zone twice to erase an early deficit and move to 2-0.
Western Harnett struck in the first series, returning an interception 20 yards for a 6-0 lead. But Tra Chandler returned the ensuing kickoff 75 yards for a score, and Josue Pena kicked the point after for a 7-6 lead the Chargers would not relinquish.
Sam Griffin found the end zone from 8 yards out later in the first quarter to end the scoring.
SUMMARY
Northwood 14 0 0 0--14
Western Harnett 6 0 0 0-- 6
SCORING SUMMARY
W--20 interception return (kick failed)
N--Tra Chandler 75 kickoff return (Josue Pena kick)
N--Sam Griffin 8 run (Pena kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Northwood (Ridge Smith 8-(-5), Chandler 4-6, Griffin 9-18, Austin Mathews 1-1, A.J. Farmer 1-(-10), Harold Baldwin 3-4), WH (F. Trapp 8-(-9), F. McLean 9-24, C. Chalmers 1-19).
PASSING--Northwood (Griffin 4-8-1 33), WH (Trapp 5-14-4 93).
RECEIVING--Northwood (Smith 1-13, Farmer 2-11, Brendan DiBernard 1-9), WH (D. McNeal 1-11, Chalmers 3-78, J. Matthews 1-4).
Records--Northwood 2-0, Western Harnett 1-1.
