There was adversity for Orange football before kickoff against its crosstown rival on Friday night.
Then they lost their best player.
Payton Wilson, an All-State linebacker who has played five different positions this season, suffered a right knee injury on the opening kickoff against Cedar Ridge. He emerged from the Cedar Ridge field house on crutches before the end of the first quarter.
The Panthers were already without leading rusher Marvante Beasley, who is still awaiting an MRI after being carried off the field on a stretcher two weeks ago against Hillside.
Wilson and Beasley are scheduled for MRIs on Monday.
With Orange coming off a loss to Northwood that ended its 16-game Big 8 Conference winning streak, the Red Wolves had a glimmer of hope to beat Orange for the first time since 2011.
Instead, several Panthers who lurked in the shadows most of this season had career performances.
Quarterback Brendan Huss, Orange’s third starting quarterback this season, came on in place of Wilson and went 14-of-19 for 277 yards and four touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Kendall Whitted, who had 107 receiving yards through eight games, had 104 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter.
The Panthers (7-2, 4-1) defeated the Red Wolves 49-0 at Red Wolves Stadium. Orange retained the victory bell with its fifth consecutive win over Cedar Ridge. Since losing to Cedar Ridge 49-43 in 2011, the Panthers have outscored the Red Wolves 266-29 in its five victories.
In Orange’s most lopsided win of the year, the Panthers piled up a season-high 465 yards total offense.
The Red Wolves (1-9, 0-5) received 69 yards rushing from junior quarterback Freddie Francis, who made his sixth straight start after regular starter Phil Berger was lost for the season after suffering a concussion against Cardinal Gibbons on September 15.
With 4:12 remaining in the first quarter, Huss hooked up with Whitted for a screen pass which turned into a 47-yard catch-and-run after a strong block from left tackle Brandon Carden.
Huss and Whitted would connect again on the subsequent drive. Whitted caught a 57-yard touchdown pass against a Cedar Ridge secondary missing its best defender, Kevin Wright, who missed the game because of a knee injury. Morgan Paschall 2-point Run bottled Orange ahead 14-0.
Milton Purcell picked off a Harvey pass and was knocked out of bounds before going into the end zone. Junior Hunter Pettiford punched in the touchdown from 2-yards out as Orange lead 21-0 at the half.
It took Orange only two plays and 46 seconds to romp 77 yards for a touchdown to open the second half. After Paschall streaked around left end for 24 yards, Huss tossed a gorgeous pass to Noah Robinson for a 49-yard touchdown. It was the first varsity touchdown for Robinson, who came into the game with four catches on the season.
Huss hit Sebastian Flores and Jeremiah Rawley on consecutive completions to set up a 24-yard touchdown pass to Colin Guentensberger to extend Orange’s lead to 35-0
In the fourth quarter, Tre Richardson rumbled 66 yards before being hauled down to turf at the 1-yard line. Richardson scored his first touchdown of the season on the next play.
Cedar Ridge’s Jake DeFranco had 20 carries for 57 yards. The Red Wolves will wrap up the season next week at Hillside. Orange hosts Chapel Hill on Senior Night at Auman Stadium.
ORANGE 42, CEDAR RIDGE 0
ORANGE—�14 7 14 7-42
CEDAR RIDGE-0 0 0 0-0
O-Kendall Whitted 47 pass from Brendan Huss (kick failed)
O-Whitted 57 pass from Huss (Morgan Paschal run)
O-Hunter Pettiford 2 run (Francisco McKinley kick)
O-Noah Robinson 49 pass from Huss (McKinley kick)
O-Colin Guentensberger 24 pass from Huss (McKinley kick)
O-Tre Richardson 1 run (Tucker Krogstad kick)
RUSHING: ORANGE (Richardson 4-72 TD, Paschall 8-69, Pettiford 7-52 TD, Travis Ray 1-20, Milton Purcell 1-12, Guentensberger 1-12, Huss 4-3). CEDAR RIDGE (Freddie Francis 13-84, Jake DeFranco 21-64, Dante DeFranco 2-10)
PASSING: ORANGE (Huss 14-19 277 4 TD, Tanner Long 0-2) CEDAR RIDGE (Harvey 3-18 8 INT)
RECEIVING: ORANGE (Jonathan Rawles 3-28, Purcell 3-26, Sebastian Flores 3-26, Whitted 2-104 2TD, Robinson 1-49 TD, Guentensberger 1-24 TD, Joe Kiger 1-19) CEDAR RIDGE (J. DeFranco 2-13, D. DeFranco 1-(-5)