Month: October 2019

Kayla Hodges: The Elon women’s soccer team had a thrilling 3-2 win over William & Mary at Rudd Field in Elon on Thursday night. Former Orange High star Kayla Hodges opened the scoring with a goal in the 47th minute. It was the 2nd goal of her career. Hodges headed in a cross from the five yard box on a cross sent in by Beky Myers. Elon scored the game-winning goal in extra time from Jessica Carrieri in the 101st minute. Hodges, a sophomore, finished with three shots, two of them on net. She has started in all 12 of the Phoenix’s games this year. Elon is 8-3-1 overall, 2-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association. Hodges also started in Sunday’s 5-0 loss at Hofstra in Hempstead, N.Y. on Sunday. Elon hosts Drexel at Rudd Field on Sunday.

Brittany Daley: The Division III Greensboro College women’s soccer team defeated Averett University 4-1 on Tuesday at Campbell Stadium in Danville, VA. Daley, a sophomore who graduated from Cedar Ridge in 2018, started her eleventh game of the season at center back. Greensboro is 8-3, 2-0 in the USA South Conference. The Pride will hosts Methodist University on Saturday in Greensboro.

Jordan Rogers: On Tuesday, the Pfeiffer women’s soccer team shut out William Peace University 5-0 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary. Jordan Rogers started at wingback for the Pacers, who are now 4-5-1, 1-1 in the USA South Conference. Rogers, a sophomore who graduated from Orange in 2018, has started in all ten of Peace’s games this season. Peace hosts Trinity Washington University on Friday night in Cary.

Lionel Reid-Shaw: On Wednesday night, Franklin & Marsh defeated the Division III Dickinson men’s soccer team 2-1 in Lancaster, PA. Franklin & Marsh came into the match ranked #4 nationally in Division III. Former Orange star Lionel Reid-Shaw started for the Red Devils. Dickinson is now 5-5, 2-1 in the Centennial Conference. Reid-Shaw has played in all ten of the Red Devils’ games this year, starting five. Dickinson host Ursinus on Saturday in Carlisle, PA.

Bryse Wilson: As the Atlanta Braves started its National League Divisional Series against the St. Louis Cardinals at SunTrust Park on Thursday night, Wilson’s season officially came to an end earlier this week. Wilson was left off Atlanta’s 25-man playoff roster. It marks the second year in a row that Wilson finished the regular season with Atlanta as they wrapped up a National League East Division Championship. Wilson ends the year with a 10-7 record with the AAA Gwinnett Braces of the International League. He had a 3.42 ERA in 21 starts and 121 innings. He had 118 strikeouts and 26 walks. Wilson started the season with Atlanta and was recalled from Gwinnett five times during the course of the season. In Atlanta, Wilson made four starts and six overall appearances. He had a 1-1 record with a 7.20 ERA in 20 innings.

Lili Henry: The 2018 Cedar Ridge graduate started for the Division III Methodist volleyball team on Tuesday night. Pfeiffer swept the Monarchs at the Riddle Center in Fayetteville. Henry had 15 assists, six digs and two aces. The Falcons won on scores of 28-26, 25-14 and 25-23. Methodist falls to 2-10, 1-3 in the USA South Conference. The Monarchs travel to Methodist College on Saturday for a tri-match with Meredith and Mary Baldwin University.

The all-time winningest men’s basketball coach in Orange High School history is back in the Big 8 Conference.

Ironically, it’s now with the school that was once considered his biggest rival.

Greg Motley has been named the new head coach at Southern Durham High School. He started in his new role Thursday morning.

Motley replaces David Noel, the former UNC star who was a member of the 2005 National Championship team. Noel left after one season at his alma mater to join the Capital City Go-Go of the NBA Gatorade League as an assistant coach.

Motley remained a teacher at Orange even after stepping down as head men’s basketball coach at the end of the 2017-18 season, when he was replaced by Derryl Britt. Motley was also a frequent attendee at Orange games last season.

Motley joined Orange as an assistant coach and head JV coach under Frank Meadows in 1993-94. After Meadows stepped down at the end of the 1996-97 season, Motley inherited a program that had stood in the shadow of its neighbors to the south, Chapel Hill and East Chapel Hill, for ages.

As East and Chapel Hill claimed state championships in 1997 and 1987, respectively, Orange had a winless season in 1988. They went over a decade without a winning season.

In Motley’s first year, Orange went to the 3rd round of the 4A state playoffs when they defeated Lee County in Hillsborough.

The years of 2013-2017 were Motley’s most successful. Under his watch, Orange went 83-30. In 2014, Orange played for the 3A Eastern Regional Championship, where they lost to Wilson Hunt 66-60 at Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville. It is the closest Orange has come to winning a state title since earning the 3A State Championship in 1968.

In 2016, Orange won the Big 8 Tournament Championship after beating Southern Durham at Chapel Hill High School. It was Orange’s first postseason tournament championship since the early 1980s.

The following year was, arguably, Motley’s best team. The Panthers went 23-7. They defeated Eastern Guilford to win the Eastern Guilford Holiday Tournament Championship, despite trailing 18-2 early. The Panthers won the Big 8 regular season championship behind the play of 6-8 guard Connor Crabtree and center Logan Vosburg. Crabtree hit a running one-hander with two seconds remaining to beat Southern 80-79 on January 27 in Hillsborough to all but sew up the regular season title.

While Southern beat Orange 87-75 for the Big 8 Tournament Championship, the Panthers appeared to be the team to beat in the 3A state playoffs. They rolled past Grey’s Creek and Southern Guilford. In the third round, the Panthers stormed out to a 28-2 lead against Triton in what resembled a highlight mixtape instead of a basketball game during the first quarter. Then Crabtree tore a ligament in his right ankle going up for a rebound, ending his Orange career.

Orange still defeated the Hawks 67-47, but the offense worked through Crabtree. Without him, Northern Guilford defeated the Panthers 56-48 in the state quarterfinals two nights later in Hillsborough.

Motley resigned after the 2017-18 season, where Orange finished 9-16.

Last season, Motley remained in basketball at Mount Zion Christian Academy as a postgraduate coach. He was joined by his former staff at Orange.

Motley will inherit a Southern team that went 20-7 in 2018-19. Last year, the Spartans reached the Big 8 Tournament Championship game, where they lost to Hillside 71-69. Northwood upset the Spartans in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs.

With Hillside now in the 4A Triangle 8 Conference, Southern may be the Big 8 favorites. They return All-Conference performer Ahmad Hamilton and junior guard Aaron Hall.

Even after stepping down as basketball coach, Motley stayed close with his former players through difficult times. Motley coached current Orange kicker, quarterback and forward Nigel Slanker since fourth grade. Slanker was diagnosed with a baseball-sized brain tumor in the summer of 2018, leaving him unable to walk for several weeks. Motley remained in daily contact with him through texts, phone calls and personal visits.

There was no five sets thriller for Cedar Ridge volleyball on Wednesday night. The Red Wolves promptly defeated North Carolina School of Science and Math in a sweep at Red Wolves Gymnasium as they prepare for a showdown with Chapel Hill for 1st place in the Big 8 Conference on Thursday night. Layne Foster scored a kill on match point as the Red Wolves improved to 14-2. They won on scores of 25-20, 25-21 and 25-19. There was also a battle within the battle as Coach Anna Seethaler offered free ice cream to the player that scored the best kill, an honor that Foster wound up winning. She chose chocolate. Senior Co-Captain Tori Dalehite played five sets as the Red Wolves remained undefeated at home this season. The Red Wolves will travel to Chapel Hill on Thursday night at 6:30 with first place on the line in the Big 8 and a possible home game in the 3A State Playoffs on the line. 

As the decade draws to a close, anyone who has a passing interest in Big 8 Conference football understands how drastic the changes the sports has seen the past few years.

At the beginning of 2010, Cedar Ridge was in the final four of the 2-AA State Championship tournament. After not fielding a team in 2018, the Red Wolves have opened the year 0-5. Chapel Hill and East Chapel Hill also haven’t fielded varsity squads in the past two years, though both programs have varsity and JV teams this year.

It’s a far cry from 2013, where the quarterback play across the league was deep, talented and versatile. There was Garrett Cloer at Orange, who would graduate from Cornell. At Northwood, there were Ti Pinnix. Chapel Hill had Connor Stough, probably the most underrated.

Southern Durham had Kendall Hinton, the best prospect in the area. But he was surrounded by studs. Wide receiver Maurice Trowell (N.C. State), running back Jordon Brown (UNC) and William Brown (originally committed to West Virginia, ended up at N.C. State) all were skill players with Hinton.

Yes. Four Power 5 prospects on the same side of the ball. It’s little wonder why Southern jaunted out of the shadows of Northern Durham to become the power team in the Bull City for the 2010s—as long as they defeated Hillside.

(Ironically, the best prospect turned out to be just west of the Triangle. Jamie Newman was at Graham High and is now the starting quarterback for 5-0 Wake Forest. Hinton is one of his wide receivers.)

After Southern dropped down from 4A to 3A in 2013, they went from 6-5 in 2012 to 15-2 in 2013, the first of two consecutive Big 8 Championships. It also led to their crowning glory at BB&T Field in Winston-Salem, where they won their first 3-AA state championship over Shelby Crest. Hinton, who could flip Southern out of a 4th-and-32 hole with a 34-yard pass with a simple flick of his wrist, led the Spartans back from a 21-0 deficit to beat the Chargers.

Just as Phil Mickelson had to wait and watch Tiger Woods win eight majors before he claimed his first one, who’s to say Orange couldn’t have been a state champion if Southern hadn’t been so deep, so talented?

And had such for a flair for the dramatic?

From 2013-2015, Southern defeated Orange five consecutive times, twice in the playoffs. Orange’s class of 2015, which included Bryse Wilson, Garrett Cloer and Tay Jones, finished with a mark of 35-6 over three seasons. Five of the six losses were to Southern, but they defeated Cardinal Gibbons twice.

In 2014, the two undefeated teams met for the Big 8 Championship at Auman Stadium. Orange led 23-14 with 3 minutes to play, plus Hinton was carted off the field with a leg injury that had some of his teammates visibly shaken.

Yet Hinton somehow returned and led Southern to two touchdowns in the final 2:48 to give Southern a 27-23 win.

The most cruel of all came in 2015 during the 2nd round of the 3A State Playoffs. Southern had already won at Orange 34-16 on a night where Jalen Greene, Hinton’s heir apparent, threw touchdown passes to Brown and Myron Frazier. Even worse for Orange, wingback Eryk Brandon-Dean suffered a torn ACL in the first quarter. It not only ended his football career, but it also sidelined him for a promising senior basketball season where he was a starting point guard for then-coach Greg Motley.

The rematch took place two months later at Durham County Stadium. Orange put on a clinic in game tempo, slowing the game to a crawl. The Panthers threw one pass through three quarters. Wilson, playing running back and linebacker, somehow ran for 224 yards even though Southern constantly had eight men in the box.

Trailing 10-0 going into the fourth quarter, Wilson set up two Orange touchdowns in a span of 3:57, with separate runs of 59 and 57 yards. Drew Lemaster gave Orange the lead on a 31-yard carry around left end with 4:10 remaining.

Just as Hinton did before him, Green played the role of Southern hero, nicely. He converted two 3rd-and-10 situations. After Green was sacked by Orange’s Johnny Flynn for a 10-yard loss with 2:16 remaining, Southern coach Darius Robinson stepped in to call a trick play: the double pass.

They had run it twice all season. It worked against Hillside for a 49-yard touchdown to Jordan Mackins. The other time was against Orange, a harmless incompletion.

Orange’s defensive backs had keyed on Brown, holding him to 64 yards. Brown waited until the time was right to find Kaleb Barfield, who hauled it in at the goal line.

The following year was Orange’s breakthrough. The Panthers won 49-7 at Spartan Stadium in a game where Payton Wilson returned a punt for a touchdown, which was followed by a pick-six score from Rodney Brooks. The heartbreaks of years before were eased somewhat by a running clock when the Panthers’ Jackson Schmid scored on a quarterback sneak in the 4th quarter.

A year later, Francisco McKinley kicked a 28-year field goal in the final minute to lead Orange to a 16-15 win, which led to Orange’s third straight conference title.

Southern has struggled to replace Green, but junior Orion Smith has started to find his footing after a injury-plagued sophomore year. After missing the state playoffs in 2017 and 2018, the Spartans established themselves as the team to beat in the Big 8 Conference after beating Northern Durham last week 13-0

They’ll meet Orange on Friday night with a 4-1 record, its best start since their last Big 8 Championship in 2016.

The good news for Orange is they’ll be as healthy as they’ve been all season. For only the second time all year, leading rusher Machai Holt, wide receiver Zyon Pettiford and defensive end James McAdoo are expected to suit up together.

While Orange’s days as a state championship contender are behind them for now, they’re just focused on Southern Durham again in a game that could determine the Big 8 Championship.

Just like the good ol’ days of five years ago.

The Orange women’s tennis team won its senior night match against J.F. Webb 9-0 on Wednesday night. Coach Justin Webb honored each of his five seniors by starting each of them in singles and doubles action. Natalie Marochak won at #1 singles 8-2. Sydney Allison captured her match at #2 singles 8-6, the tightest match of the night. Gaylaw Eh earned a victory at #3 singles 8-3. Olivia Bailey defeated her opponent at #4 singles 8-2. Elsa Landeros won at #5 singles 8-2. Madeline Wright was the only non-senior to start for Orange, winning 8-2 at #6 singles.

In doubles, Marochak and sophomore Tea Jones won at #1 doubles 8-2. At #2, Allison and Eh picked up a 8-1 win. At #3 doubles, Bailey and Landeros picked up a tight 8-6 victory.

The Orange women are now 9-8 with two dual matches remaining on the season. On Thursday, they travel to Roxboro Community School. With a victory, the Lady Panthers will earn its first winning season since at least 2012, and likely much, much longer.

Orange travels to Northern Durham on Tuesday.

The Big 8 Conference Women’s Tennis Tournament will be held Wednesday at East Chapel Hill.

As volleyball season continues, the Cedar Ridge Red Wolves continue to win. The Red Wolves maintained their share of first place on Tuesday night with a thrilling five-set win over Northwood at Red Wolves Gymnasium. Cedar Ridge prevailed 25-14, 21-25, 25-13, 22-25 and. 15-11 to remain tied with Chapel Hill for 1st place in the Big 8 Conference. Cedar Ridge is now 13-2 overall, 7-1 in the Big 8 Conference and ranked #15 in the MaxPreps 3A standings. Not only that, but the Red Wolves set up a showdown with Chapel Hill on Thursday night at Chapel Hill with first place on the line in the conference. Before that can happen, the Red Wolves will host the North Carolina School of Science and Math on Wednesday night at Red Wolves Gymnasium. The Unicorns are 11-2, but Cedar Ridge defeated NCSSM earlier this year. 

The old saying in football is 12 plays decide every game. After Orange’s 40-7 victory over East Chapel Hill on Friday night, the Panthers are 2-3, 1-0 in the Big 8 Conference. Courtesy of Shayne Thompson of Thompsonteamfilms.com, here are the 12 plays that led to Orange’s victory in the Big 8 opener.

1. Jake DeFranco’s first catch of the game.

Orange scored on its opening drive for the 2nd straight game. On a 14-play, 60-yard drive, the longest gain came when senior quarterback Wyatt Jones threw to wide receiver Jake DeFranco for 22 yards. This led to Nigel Slanker’s 22-yard field goal that put Orange ahead 3-0. DeFranco led Orange in receiving with four receptions for 74 yards.

2. J.J. Torres converts a 3rd-and-3.

Orange was limited at its skill positions on Friday night, but J.J. Torres got his first carries since the Williams game in the first half. His best gain of the night was this six-yard run on a 3rd-and-3 to continue another punishing drive for Orange.

3. Wyatt Jones scores on a quarterback sneak

Orange scored four touchdowns in the 2nd quarter to pull away from the Wildcats. For the 2nd time this year, Wyatt Jones scored on a quarterback sneak to put Orange ahead 9-0.

4. Omarion Lewis rushes for 24 yards

Sophomore Omarion Lewis had his 2nd 100-yard rushing game in four varsity contests against East Chapel Hill. He started Orange’s 2nd touchdown drive with his longest run of the night, this 24 yard gallop to immediately put the Panthers in business leading 10-0.

5. Joe Kiger catches his first TD pass of the season.

Joe Kiger was tied with Zyon Pettiford for the team-lead in receptions after three games. Kiger focused on defense against Riverside, but he was a factor against Williams. He had three carries for 18 yards as a wingback. Midway through the second quarter, he caught his first touchdown pass from Jones from 14 yards out to put Orange ahead 16-0.

6. James McAdoo with a 10-yard sack.

Over the past three games, defensive lineman James McAdoo has forced three fumbles, all of which led to Orange takeaways. He also had two sacks against the Wildcats. This one immediately led to another Panther touchdown.

7. Joe Kiger rushes to force a botched East Chapel Hill punt

Joe Kiger not only had a strong game on offense, but he had a good night on special teams. As usual, he handled all of Orange’s long snapping duties. However, when East had a punt in the 2nd quarter, Kiger put up a rush that caused a miscue from the Wildcats and led to an immediate touchdown.

8. Omarion Lewis scored on a 13-yard touchdown run

Lewis scored his 3rd touchdown of the season on a 13-yard carry.

9. Wyatt Jones throws to Cameron White for a 46 yard gain

Orange’s longest play from scrimmage came late in the 2nd quarter with a 24-0 lead. On the opening play of their final scoring drive of the 1st half, senior wide receiver Cameron White made a 46-yard catch, his only grab of the night.

10. Elliott Woods scores his first varsity touchdown

Elliott Woods had a strong overall game for Orange. Playing wingback on offense and linebacker on defense, Woods had a career-high 60 yards rushing. He also had three tackles. Woods scored his first varsity touchdown on a five-yard scamper late in the first half.

11. Elliott Woods makes a 17-yard gain on 3rd-and-12.

In addition to his 60 yards rushing, Woods had two receptions for 37 yards. His biggest catch of the night came on Orange’s first drive of the 2nd half for 17 yards on a 3rd-down-and-12.

12. Woods scores his 2nd varsity TD.

Woods second touchdown came on a 4th down. It was the final Orange touchdown of the night.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior defensive end James McAdoo. After missing the first two games of the season, McAdoo’s return has led to the Orange defense having its best outings of the season. McAdoo returned against Walter Williams and had eight tackles, including three for a loss. The following week against Riverside, McAdoo forced two fumbles. The first was recovered by Will Torain, leading to a Panther touchdown. The other was recovered by McAdoo himself. Last Friday against East Chapel Hill, McAdoo had two sacks as the Panthers won 40-7. McAdoo is a second generation Panther. His father, James, graduated from Orange in 1991 where he played for Coach Greg Gentry. 

At the request of Tyler Werden, the trio of Werden, Yioanni Guzman and Jose Beltran will now be known as “The Drippy Team.” That’s after the trio all scored goals as the Orange men’s soccer team defeated Southern Durham 3-1 in extra time on Monday night at Orange Soccer Park. Werden, who scored two goals in Friday’s loss to Carrboro, scored the game-winning goal in the opening 5-minute extra time session. Guzman knocked in a rebound for the final goal with just over one minute remaining in the game. The win improves Orange’s record to 5-7 overall, 2-4 in the Big 8 Conference. Orange will travel to Northern Durham on Wednesday night for a game at Jack Armstrong Stadium. he Panthers have four home games remaining. They host East Chapel Hill next Monday.