Nowadays, playing junior varsity football means doing things the hard way.
For the Orange JV team, they had to travel over three hours by bus to Robbins on Thursday night to face North Moore High School. From there, it was a team effort that earned the first win in the Fritz Hessenthaler regime.
Cam Stone scored the game-winning touchdown along with a two-point conversion as Orange defeated North Moore 14-6. Marcel Burch added an 82-yard touchdown run for an insurance score as the Panthers JV squad won its first game since being formed earlier this month.
The Panthers got a strong performance from freshman defensive lineman Luca Van Praag, the younger brother of former Orange lacrosse defensman Sascha Van Praag, who is now at Lenoir-Rhyne University. Orange’s roster, which is around 23 players, also got key contributions from linebacker/running back Hayden Stone, interior lineman Elijah Briggs, wide receiver and defensive back Markise Poteat, interior lineman Brayden Johnson and linebacker Carson Perry.
There was once a time when a junior varsity football team locally was a rudimentary as the school yearbook staff and drama department. Nowadays, it’s turned into a luxury.
Orange is one of only two teams in the Big 7 Conference with a junior varsity squad.
Orange pulled together a team just in time for the Hillside game on September 11. It’s been a priority for Hessenthaler and varsity assistant coach David Grimm, who is the head coach of the junior varsity team.
“Coach Fritz did a good job of recruiting players and getting players to come out,” Grimm said. “It’s really just a coaching effort. We had a small basis of a JV team when we first got here. I kind of liken it to the fourth quarter of a football game because once we all got settled, we had to pull a team together in the last minute. We weren’t quite ready at the beginning of the season, but we got a team together and just made it happen.”
Seaforth is the only other team in the Big 7 Conference to have a junior varsity team. The Hawks and the Panthers will face off on Thursday night at Auman Stadium in Hillsborough.
Playing the games is just one part of the challenge. Finding and scheduling JV games now requires working the phones, text messages, posting on X and Facebook to find anyone with an available date and coordinating with athletic directors to line up officials.
It’s a lot of effort but time has proven it’s for the greater good of the overall health of the program.
For years, Orange junior varsity football was dominant when the varsity team was led by coaches Pat Moser and Van Smith. The Panthers became the Ohio State of Thursday nights, going years without losing a game. Many of those players were key contributors to the peak of Orange football, which won three Big 8 Conference championships from 2016-2018.
As the Orange varsity starts Big 7 Conference play this Friday against Seaforth in Pittsboro, Hessenthaler’s is still working to schedule as many junior varsity games for the final month of the regular season. There are four Thursday nights to fill.
As Orange varsity prepares for the conference opener, the performance by the junior varsity team has fueled faith that Panther football is moving in the right direction.
“Coach Will Robinson and Danny Pope have done a tremendous job on the defensive side of the ball,” Grimm said. “They come every week with an excellent game plan and they’ve got the defense flying around and just making plays. I’m seeing dramatic improvement every day in practice. They’re doing a fantastic job. Coach Fritz told the guys this week that’s we’re 0-0 right now. We’ve got goals to accomplish and we’re going to go after them.”
