Tonight’s season opener for the Orange football team will feel like a family affair, even if it’s the first game in Southeast Alamance history.
It will be the first football game for Southeast athletic director B.J. Condron, who won over 100 games as the Orange women’s basketball coach over ten years. Southeast’s first principal is Eric Yarbrough, who traveled across the state to watch Orange football in its glory days from 2010-2017 when he was the Panthers’ principal.
And there are more parallels. Southeast’s public address announcer for its first home game next week will be Jerome James, known as “Florida,” who played at Orange. Another former Orange player is a Stallions assistant. Throughout the week, there’s been friendly banter through text messages between current Orange staff and members of the new kids on the block within Haw River as the hours before kickoff wind down.
For Orange head coach Devante Pettiford, the Southeast Alamance game is a chance to get the sour taste of the 2022 season out of his mouth. The Panthers went 2-8, including a 70-0 loss at Walter Williams, the most lopsided defeat in school history.
A win over a school playing its first-ever game won’t ease the pain of last year, but it would be Orange’s first win in a season-opener since 2017 when the Panthers routed Northern Nash in Rocky Mount.
Those were the days of Payton Wilson and Marvante Beasley, the last Orange football conference championship team. The Panthers haven’t had a winning season since. Northern Nash played for the 3A State Championship last December.
It used to be that a first-year high school would wait years before winning its first game. But Alamance County is a fertile ground for raising football players, even if there are only just four seniors on its roster.
“It’s going to be a good matchup,” Pettiford said. “It’s a little weird to have so many people from Orange over at Southeast Alamance now. I think it will be a packed, exciting game.”
The Stallions hired longtime Eastern Guilford head coach Tony Aguilar as head coach in March. Aguilar compiled a 37-17 record with the Wildcats over six seasons and has a reputation that precedes him.
“The minute I found out that Tony Aguilar was the head coach, I knew what time it was,” Pettiford said. “He’s a seasoned coach. He has very good connections in Alamance County. I knew what type of product he was going to put on the field.
Orange returns quarterback Hank Nunnery, a junior who threw for five touchdown passes in the first half of last year’s win over Granville Central. Running back Nate Sorrells also returns. Sorrells, who originally had a career in men’s soccer mapped out before he ventured into football, rushed for 201 yards in last year’s win over Cedar Ridge.
“Nate is the guy,” Pettiford said. “He’s play from cornerback for us. He’s the hardest worker I have on my team. He shows up. He communicates. He shows great leadership. He does all I ask him. He has been here everyday this summer for workouts. The only days he missed was so he could attend a camp.”
Nate’s brother, Jaylan, will play both sides of the interior line.
There are also new pieces to the puzzle. Jaydan Medley will line up beside Jaylan Sorrells and senior Malachi Justice along Orange’s 3-3-stack defensive front. Deandre Brown and Starks looked strong during Orange’s scrimmage against Jordan-Matthews and Winston-Salem Carver last week in Siler City.
“Last year was a big learning experience,” Pettiford said. “I was learning on the go. This year, my expectations are 100% in place. These guys know what I want and what I expect. We have a chip on our shoulder.”
Nonetheless, it’s a new, steeper Central Carolina Conference. With the addition of Southern Alamance into the league after the departure of Northwood, half of Orange’s ten regular season games will be against Alamance County schools.
“My goal this year is for us to turn the corner,” Pettiford said. “I think we can definitely have a successful non conference campaign. I want people to come away thinking that Orange is showing up, fighting and competing. I think sometimes you say Orange to other teams and they may giggle or laugh about it. My thing is when other teams see us this year, they have to respect us. I want them to know that we’ll be a team that fights all four quarters.”