GREENSBORO, N.C. — Southwestern Randolph High School’s boys varsity soccer team capped an emotional season with a historic state championship win that players say honored a promise made to a fallen teammate.

The Cougars dedicated their victory to No. 8, Pedro Ortiz-Perez , a student and varsity player who was shot and killed in May 2024. Teammates said they vowed, during a visit to Ortiz-Perez’s hospital room in his final days, that they would win a title for him.

Southwestern Randolph scored three goals in the 80-minute match, securing the school’s first state championship by a boys team in any sport according to head coach Jimmy Walker.

“He’d probably be going crazy right now,” captain Fernando Hernandez said after the game. Coach Walker joked that Ortiz-Perez “would’ve gotten the f

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