Green Eggs and Hamlin column: Northern Memories
Is this all there is?
That’s all I could think after I finished packing up the radio equipment and drove away from Auman Stadium on the night of August 30, 2013. Orange had finally beaten Northern Durham 42-15 in the most anticlimactic fashion possible.
For those who live around Orange County and followed Panther football, this was a night they had waited for their entire lives. Orange hadn’t beaten Northern since 1968.
Of course, the Northern that Orange routed was hardly the same team that won 18 consecutive PAC-6 Championships from 1984-2001. There are about a dozen other incredible statistics that Northern football compiled under the regimes of Ken Browning and Gary Merrill that I’ve written dozens of times before, so I won’t plagiarize myself.
In the late 80s and early 90s, Northern football was the trademark brand, not just because they won. It was everything that surrounded them.
Most high school teams played in stadiums with metal bleachers with capacity of 4,000-5,000 fans. Northern played in Durham County Stadium, capacity 10,000, that also doubled as a home for North Carolina Central and Shaw University at various times during the 1990s. Playing in front of 5,000 fans under those tall lights neighboring Durham Regional Hospital felt like the Roman Coliseum for a wide-eyed 16-year-old.
If you ever watched the NBC television show Friday Night Lights and wondered if a fan following so devoted to the Permian Panthers was realistic in the Triangle, let me tell you, it is.
Or, at least it was back then. Northern’s fans packed the stands, home or away, because they made such a habit of winning. From 1976-2000, the Knights didn’t lose to another team from Durham County.
Why? Partly because they had the lion’s share of talent.
Before 1990, Northern controlled the entire upper-end of Durham County. Hillside, Southern, Durham High (which ended its football program in 1994), and Jordan would have to divide the rest of the county for themselves. Thus, it was easier for Northern to find a Kory Bailey, Andre Williams, Jason Peace, Charles Berry, Jason Jenkins, Dwayne Washington, and Chris Hensler. All of those players went on to Power 5 schools before that term even existed.
For everyone else in the PAC-6 Conference, Northern was the target. From 1990-1992, Orange was one of Northern’s main challengers.
Ironically the man who helped lead Orange football back was a Northern graduate. Greg Gentry took over for Tom Eanes in the winter of 1989.
With now-Louisville coach Scott Satterfield quarterbacking Orange, the Knights and the Panthers faced off in the 1990 regular season finale for the PAC-6 Championship. Earlier in the year, Person upset Northern at Durham County Stadium after the Knights committed five turnovers. They wouldn’t lose another PAC-6 Conference game the rest of the decade.
Northern defeated Orange 21-0 at Auman Stadium. Back then, the NCHSAA dictated before the season how many postseason births a conference would receive. That season, the PAC-6 had two. Orange, Chapel Hill and Vance High tied for 2nd. The school’s three athletic directors met at the old Shoney’s location in Durham to draw a winner, which Vance won. Orange, with a 7-3 record, missed the playoffs.
The most unforgettable Northern-Orange game was in 1992, not only because of the quality of play but of a tragedy the week before. Don Snipes, probably the most popular member of my Orange Class of 1991, died at the age of 19 of an irregular heartbeat while playing basketball in Efland.
I don’t know if I’ve ever met anyone who could unite people like Don could. He would do a leap frog over an unsuspecting student while on their way to class, just to do it. Don’s smile was so infectious, it was impossible to get mad at him. He once whistled the “Charge” melody while sitting on the bench at a Orange baseball team during a rally (his teammates yelled “CHARGE” in response). He threw parties where blacks and whites gathered together and did what people in their late teens do to rebel. Most importantly (though it didn’t seem that way at the time), they communicated together. His premature death cast an emotional pall across the community, across racial lines and throughout Orange County.
A week later, Northern came to Auman Stadium ranked #2 in the state behind West Charlotte. Orange’s quarterback, Mark Pounds, wore Snipes’ #81 instead of his usual #6 as a tribute.
What unfolded was an incredible defensive battle. Chris Hensler, a kicker who went on to start at N.C. State, kicked a 48-yard field goal early in the second quarter to put Northern ahead 3-0.
That was the only score of the game, but Orange certainly had their chances.
In the third quarter, Panther running back Damon Scott appeared to have a clear path to the end zone, but he fumbled the ball out of the end zone. For years, Damon said no one touched him and he simply dropped the ball. Northern’s coaches countered that a defensive lineman named Steve Carson, who went on to play at Appalachian State, jarred the ball free.
In the waning minutes, Orange drove to the Northern 30-yard line, but Pounds had a pass intercepted on 4th down. With another PAC-6 championship under its belt, the Knights would advance to the 4A State Championship game at Kenan Stadium, where they lost to West Charlotte.
Of course, just as Notre Dame or Florida State or Southern Cal will attest, no dynasty in football lasts forever. Riverside’s presence greatly impacted Northern’s talent pool in the 90s, and the Pirates ended the Northern dynasty by beating them 20-19 in 2002 for the PAC-6 title on a blocked extra point with :30 remaining. Merrill stepped down as head coach when his wife, Janet, was tragically killed after being struck by a tractor-trailer while jogging across Hurdle Mills in 2003. Filling the shoes of legends can be a thankless task. After the Knights captured the 2004 PAC-6 title, they didn’t win another championship for 13 years. There was even a winless season in 2009.
After years of struggle by any standard, Northern is regaining its old form. They tied Orange for the 2017 Big 8 title, and won it outright last year before losing to Hillside in the 2nd round of the state playoffs.
While Orange and Northern have both lost to Southern Durham this season, the two teams have plenty to play for this Friday night. The winner will have the inside track for the second automatic playoff spot from the Big 8 Conference.
Orange will go for its fifth win over Northern in the last six games this Friday night at Auman Stadium. While the 69-game regular season winning streaks and six consecutive undefeated regular seasons that Northern enjoyed during the 1990s are in the distant past, Orange football can gain inspiration from several things this week.
Namely, just as UNC will always be UNC in basketball, Northern will always be Northern in high school football.
