For the Orange High Class of 1991, the album that had the longest lifespan was Janet Jackson’s “Rhythm Nation.”
Released in 1989, it was so popular, eight singles emerged from it, including “Miss You Much.” “Alright.” “Escapade.” “Come Back to Me.”
“Black Cat,” at least to a headbanger like me, is a heavy metal song performed by a R&B singer. It became.an unofficial fight song for the Orange football team when it started to ascend in 1990.
Of course, there was also a title track which envisioned a more unified world, at least racially.
I cranked it up last spring during one night of writing and I thought it sounded utopian, bordering on unrealistic, 35 years later. Then it dawned on me that, in 1991, it was entirely realistic in northern Orange County.
Because of Don Snipes.
In my senior yearbook, Don was quoted as saying “One of my favorite things to do is meeting people and getting to know them.” The editors of the yearbook chimed in “As a result, Don know everyone.”
That wasn’t hyperbole. In the modern day world, when the media landscape in incentivized to divide people, I’m not sure its possible to express how much of a unifier Don was. It didn’t matter what social phase anyone went going through. Don wanted to meet you.
Yes. You.
Whether it was at Orange High, on the gridiron, the baseball field, or at his Efland home on a random weekend with many, many others, Don truly had a love of people that was unmatched.
For someone that was sheltered, I stood back and viewed Don’s presence in quiet awe. He was harmless, hilarious and had a freaky vertical. I would often see Don sneak up from behind and leap frog over unsuspecting people just standing around. He would stick the landing like a gold medal gymnast and had just a wide smile, getting upset at him would be impossible. He did it me one night at Orange High baseball field and I felt like I had been baptized into an unofficial Orange High group.
He also had a loud whistle. In his senior year, Don played left field for Dean Dease’s baseball team. During a game one night, he whistled the melody to “Charge” and everyone in the dugout yelled “CHARGE” in unison. Even fans in the visitors’ section doubled over in laughter.
Don finally showed off his athletic ability in an organized way in 1990 when he went out for football. His timing was perfect.
After struggling for years, Orange football caught fire under second-year head coach Greg Gentry. Damon Scott, then a sophomore, ran for over 100 yards in the first game of his varsity career in a 14-12 win over Eastern Alamance in Auman Stadium. A few weeks later, Orange beat Chapel Hill 20-13 when Jermaine Lattie returned a fumble for a touchdown with 6:55 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Three weeks later, when Orange beat Durham High 34-0 at Durham County Stadium, Don caught a touchdown pass from quarterback Scott Satterfield and broke out M.C. Hammer’s dance in the end zone. The official must have been impressed because he didn’t even throw a flag on him.
The following Friday night, October 5, 1990, Person forced five turnovers to stun Northern Durham 12-7, also inside Durham County Stadium. It ended Northern’s 25-game regular season winning streak.
It was their only PAC-6 Conference loss of the 1990s. They would go on to win 69 straight conference games.
Going into 1990, Northern had won five straight conference championships. And they would get bigger and better.
Every August, the same question would arise among local football observers: “Who can beat Northern?”
For three years in the 1990s, when Northern Durham was the premiere football program locally and across the entire state, the answer was Orange.
Though they never did beat Northern in the 90s, among local teams, Orange came the closest.
Particularly in 1990, 1991 and 1992.
In 1990, Orange beat the Person team that beat Northern–in Roxboro. Following the logic of Ric Flair, “To be the team, you have to beat the team.” Orange had beaten the team that beat the team.
But could they beat the team when it mattered the most?
To make it more enticing, Gentry had played at Northern Durham under the legendary Kenny Browning.
On November 2, 1990, Orange faced Northern at Auman Stadium with the 1990 PAC-6 Conference championship on the line on a surreal day. The previous week, Orange lost to Hillside in Durham. But on the day of the Northern game, the Durham Herald-Sun newspaper broke a story that Hillside would have to forfeit the Orange win, along with three other victories, because they used an ineligible player.
It was Senior Night for Satterfield, who had committed to Appalachian State, along with wide receivers Chris White and Torrey Pettiford, Lattie and safety Chris Ratliff.
Northern’s I-formation was too much. Anthony Dash rushed for 179 yards as Northern handed Orange a 24-0 beating. Quarterback Judd Welborn threw for three touchdowns, all in the second quarter.
Only two teams made the 4A State Playoffs from the PAC-6 Conference that year. Northern finished first. Orange was tied with Northern Vance and Chapel Hill for the second spot at 6-2. Back in the day, the go-to place to settle the drawings for playoff ties was the Shoney’s Restaurant on Hillandale Road in Durham, where athletic directors would gather to determine a team’s fate. On that night, Northern Vance won the draw. Orange, with a 7-3 record, was left on the outside looking in.
Satterfield moved on to App State, where he would go on to become a I-AA All-American quarterback, but the games between Northern and Orange would get much more interesting.
In 1991, Orange went to Durham County Stadium and took a 10-7 lead to the locker room. Tim Leonhardt kicked a 25-yard field goal. Mark Pounds, Orange’s quarterback, took an option run 57 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter. The Panthers shut down a late Northern threat at the end of the first half and celebrated on its way to the locker room simply because they were leading the unbeatable Knights at halftime.
Northern instantly turned the game around. Lamont Patterson returned the second half kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown.
In the fourth quarter, Patterson scored on a 1-yard drive to put Northern ahead 21-9. Pounds led a touchdown drive in the final two minutes and scored off a quarterback sneak to cut Northern’s lead to 21-15.
Then Orange got the onside kick, which sent the sizable Panther contingent into a frenzy on the visitor’s section. Gentry called a throwback screen pass to fullback Eddie Davidson on two straight plays. The first time, it worked for a first down to the Northern 40-yard line. The second time, Northern’s Willie Parker (not the former UNC running back) was waiting on it, returning it 57 yards for a touchdown.
Despite losing that night, Orange defeated Hillside in overtime at North Carolina Central University on the final night of the regular season to make the state playoffs. Scott scored the game-winning touchdown. The following week, they defeated J.H. Rose in Greenville where Scott had another huge night. Eventually, he would join Satterfield in App State’s backfield and become a I-AA All American under Mountaineers head coach Jerry Moore.
The rematch between Orange and Northern in 1992 was possibly the most emotional game I’ve ever covered at Auman Stadium.
Six days before the game, Don played pickup basketball. He collapsed due to a heart condition and died.
He was 19 years old.
It didn’t just leave an entire town in shock. It cast a grey cloud from Caldwell to Carrboro. Suddenly, the young man who love to know people had vanished from all the lives he had left his mark upon.
Instead of his customary #6, Pounds wore uniform #81 against Northern, which Snipes wore in 1990.
What followed was a defensive battle unlike any other ever seen in Hillsborough. Northern Durham’s Carlos Mack blocked a field goal in the first quarter. Chris Hensler, a senior would won go on to kick at N.C. State, drilled a 41-yard field goal.
It was the only points of the game.
Orange outgained Northern. Pounds, playing with obvious emotion, found tight end Thomas Parker to get Orange to the Northern 7-yard line to set up first-and-goal. Scott, taking a toss sweep to the right, got to the 2-yard line and tried to break a tackle. But he lost the ball in the process. The fumbled tumbled through the end zone for a Northern touchback.
In the fourth quarter, Pound directed a drive where Orange went from its own 16-yard line to the Northern 33. On fourth-and-4, Mack picked off a pass to preserve Northern’s undefeated season and break Orange’s heart again.
Northern would go on to win the 4A Eastern Regional championship. East Forsyth defeated Northern to win the 1992 4A State Championship in Chapel Hill. The following year, Northern would gain its elusive state title by beating West Charlotte at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill.
I posted a clip from the Durham Morning Herald from Don’s last football game to my Facebook page on Monday. It brought a large reaction from many friends who have never forgotten his larger than life personality, 34 years after his passing. Many people had stories about Don making them laugh all the way through Efland Cheeks Elementary School.
It’s truly proof that even after we’re gone, the spirit carries on.
