The 31st carry of the night for Markus Thomas netted him one yard.
It was the most precious one-yard gain of Orange’s season and led to the Panthers first win over South Granville in 16 years.
Thomas’ carry, which earned Orange a first down by two feet, ensured the Panthers would run out the clock in a physical, grinding 16-8 win over the Vikings on Senior Night at Auman Stadium on Friday night. Orange (2-7, 2-2 in the Big 7 Conference) defeated South Granville for the first time since October 2, 2009, a 30-27 overtime victory in Creedmoor.
South Granville came into the game having beaten Orange four straight times and in six of the previous seven meetings since 2007.
Thomas scored two touchdowns and added a two-point conversion on the opening score. Quarterback Jackson Moody threw to Kayden Bradsher for another two-point conversion on the other Orange touchdown.
It was a night of virtually no explosion plays, tone of three-yard carries and a handful of completed passes. In other words, Fritz Hessenthaler football, designed to force the other team to play perfect football or else.
Sure enough, South Granville (3-6, 2-2) made the game’s biggest mistakes, most notably a fumble in the second quarter that led to Orange’s game-winning touchdown. The loss cost the Vikings its chance at the Big 7 Conference championship after J.F. Webb outscored Seaforth 44-39 in Oxford on Friday night.
“It was our most complete game of the season,” said Hessentahler, who earned his first home win as Orange head coach. “South Granville is very talented. To hold them to eight points, they’ve been scoring a lot of points. For us to frustrate them they want they did, it was a tremendous effort by the defense.”
The game’s biggest sequence came on the only notable Vikings drive of the first half where running backs Jaylen Wilkerson and Tashad Kearney took turns gashing the Orange defense, combining for 54 yards on eight plays, advancing to the Panther 11-yard line without even facing a third down. On a 2nd-and-4 from the Orange 5-yard line, quarterback L.J. Reid collided with Wilkerson on a handoff, leading to a three-yard loss. On the next play, Reid was pressured by Orange linebacker Jakai Torain and fumbled the snap from center. Amidst the scramble, the ball was picked up by Jayden Gregory, one of three Orange seniors playing their final game at Auman Stadium. Gregory returned the fumble 27 yards before he was tackled at midfield with 4:23 remaining in the first quarter.
On the next drive, Orange halfback Owen Phillips moved the ball 12 yards into Viking real estate. Junior Kayden Bradsher converted a 4th-and-1 with a three-yard gain at the Viking 26-yard line. After the Vikings were called for defensive holding on a deep ball to senior wide receiver Hunter Albert, Bradsher got gains of six and nine yards to edge of the goal line. Thomas would add his second touchdown of the game with :25 remaining in the first half on a plunge to pay dirt, followed by Moody’s two-point pass to Bradsher to put the Panthers ahead 16-0.
Orange had a time consuming opening drive in the first quarter that didn’t result in points, but it did set the pace of the game in its favor. They converted two third downs and a fourth down, ending when Thomas was stopped after two yards and 4th-and-4 from the Viking 12-yard line.
The Panthers would open the scoring early in the second quarter. After Thomas chewed up three yards on 3rd-and-two, Albert made a spectacular catch along the near sideline for 24 yards, the only completed catch of the night by either team. Thomas got four straight carries to push the ball closer to the goal line. After fullback Taylor LaParra got three yards to make it 4th-and-goal from the Viking 1-yard line, Thomas found a small seam to score his fourth touchdown of the season with 9:04 remaining in the first half. Thomas also added the two-point run.
South Granville, under interim head coach Antonio Midgette following the resignation of head coach Mike Hobgood last week, decided to radically change its offense late in the fourth quarter. Trailing 16-0, Midgette pulled Reid and inserted its leading receiver, Kaiden Curtis, in at quarterback with 4:18 remaining in regulation. The results were instant.
A plodding, impotent Vikings offense suddenly became vibrant behind Curtis’ read-option attack. It started with an option pitch to backup running back Ashton Hailey-Alston for ten yards, followed by Curtis keeping for 14 yards. Curtis eventually rolled into the end zone on a ten-yard keeper with 2:38 remaining. Jaylen Wilkerson added the two-point run to make it 16-8 Orange.
The subsequent onside kick was recovered by Orange. Thomas’ first down allowed the Panthers to earn its first home win since beating Cedar Ridge on October 4, 2024.
Orange will conclude the regular season at Cedar Ridge on Halloween night.
