Jeff Hamlin

Orange quarterback Jayce Hodges had a week. On Monday, he walked into practice and agreed to start taking snaps at starting quarterback after first-stringer Nigel Slanker was injured against Southern Durham. Hodges engineered a new-look wishbone offense for Orange, a team that had only 25 yards rushing against Southern last week. With Hodges at quarterback on Friday night, Orange had 112 rushing yards as Orange defeated Northern 7-6 at Durham County Stadium. Hodges also completed all three of his passes for 35 yards. Orange senior cornerback Eric Brooks had several big defensive plays that helped hold Northern to 100 yards total offense after the Knights’ first drive of the game. Trey Grizzle had two big sacks, as well as a 15-yard catch in the first quarter, so he was Orange’s leading receiver. It was a high note for these three seniors who have had their final year at Orange cut short because of the pandemic.

The rivalry between Orange and Northern Durham breeds on Thursday night junior varsity games, where the Knights and the Panthers have dueled for the Big 8 Championship for years. Then when those JV players move to the higher level, the hostilities carry over to Friday night. In a grueling battle of attrition on Friday night, the Panthers defeated the Knights 7-6 at Durham County Stadium. Wingback and linebacker Elliott Woods led Orange with 47 scrimmage yards and the only Orange touchdown. Defensive end Nate Hecht had four carries for 18 yards, while Brendon Worsham had two big sacks of Northern quarterback Kyle Barnhill. Hecht and Worsham played junior varsity last season for Orange and lost to Northern last season, so the taste of victory was extra sweet on Friday night in the final Big 8 Conference game between the two rivals before realignment goes into effect this summer.

The Orange men’s soccer team won its senior night game over Southern Durham on Tuesday night. The Panthers captured its first win of the year. Here are some photos from that night from Monica Franklin, who always is very generous with her time for the website.

If Thursday was Aiden Kehoe’s final game in a Cedar Ridge lacrosse uniform, he went out on an effort to be proud of. While Chapel Hill defeated the Red Wolves 7-3 at Culton-Peerman Stadium, Kehoe did his part as goalkeeper to keep Cedar Ridge in the game. Despite Chapel Hill holding the ball the entire first quarter, Kehoe kept the Tigers without a goal in the first twelve minutes. The majority of Chapel Hill’s goals came off transition opportunities when Kehoe didn’t have a full defense in front of him. Kehoe started playing lacrosse in fourth grade with the Durham Blues travel team. This season, he was between the pipes as the Red Wolves finished in second place in Conference 9. Kehoe and the rest of the Red Wolves now will wait for the North Carolina High School Athletic Association to release the pairings for the 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs, where Cedar Ridge is holding out hope for a wildcard spot.

If there’s such a thing as going into the state playoffs with momentum after a loss, the Orange lacrosse team has it. Chapel Hill appeared to be cruising to a comfortable victory over the Panthers, leading 9-4 with 8:54 remaining. But the Panthers scored four goals in a span of seven minutes and 25 seconds to narrow its deficit to 9-8. Orange had a man-advantage opportunity with 2:39 remaining after a Tigers’ player was called for using an illegal stick, but the Panthers’ came up short in a wild final seconds to tie the game. In his final regular season game at Auman Stadium, long stick midfielder Duncan Grant notched a hat trick Grant scored off an assist from Cy Horner with 3:32 remaining. Grant also scored Orange’s final goal of the first half off an assist from Caleb Davis. The Panthers, champions of Conference 9, will now wait to see who they will host in the opening round of the 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs. The game is scheduled for Monday.

In her sophomore year, Orange center Erin Jordan-Cornell continues to collect postseason honors.

On Wednesday, Jordan-Cornell was named the District 6 Player of the Year by the North Carolina Basketball Coaches Association. Joining Jordan-Cornell on the All-District 6 team was her teammate, junior guard Aaliyah Harris. Both Jordan-Cornell and Harris were named first-team All-Big 8 Conference on Monday.

In addition, Orange coach B.J. Condron was named District 6 Coach of the Year.

The All-District 6 first-team was comprised entirely of underclassmen. East Chapel Hill freshman center Laynie Smith, Bunn sophomore Kaitlyn Adams and Chapel Hill junior Laney Beale completed the first team.

District 6 covers nine counties across the north central part of the state: Orange, Durham, Franklin, Granville, Person, Rockingham, Vance, Warren and Caswell Counties.

Like most teams across the state, the Orange women’s team was directly impacted by the pandemic. Its top shooter, Mary Moss Wirt, missed the season after committing to play softball at Elon University. Condron gave regular minutes to sophomores Jada Reed, Makalya Alston and Nikayla Whitted. The Panthers wound up with a 6-4 record in a Big 8 Conference that included powerhouse Northwood, who went to the Final Four of the 3A State Tournament.

Condron will enter the 2021-2022 season with 91 career wins at Orange.

Jordan-Cornell’s ubiquitous presence could trigger the Panthers at any moment. She led the team in scoring, rebounding, and blocked shots. Even when Orange’s offense was lethargic, such as the season finale against Southern Durham, Jordan-Cornell could find ways to come up big in the clutch. Her 3-point play against the Spartans, off an assist from junior forward Jarmil Wingate, in the final minute put Orange in the lead for the first time in the game and was enough to pull out a victory on the road.

“She does all the little things,” Condron said of Jordan-Cornell. “Not only does she perform on the court, but she is a good student teammate, and person.”

Even though she’s a 5-11 center, Jordan-Cornell was third on the team with assists.

“I think it starts with her unselfish attitude,” Condron said. “I don’t think she cares whether she scores or someone else does, as long as it gets done. She really bought into “passing up a good shot for a better shot” which is something we talked about a lot this year.”

Jordan-Cornell was also an All-Big 8 Conference performer in volleyball, where Orange upset defending 3A State Champion Chapel Hill in its season opener.

Without Wirt, Harris had a greater scoring load on her shoulders. In her third year playing varsity, she was second on the team with 10.6 points per game. She had a season-high 16 points against Southern Durham on January 22, which was Orange’s first win of the season.

“Cool that Aaliyah made first team also,” Condron said. “She works really hard on her game and showed a lot of improvement from last season.”

Orange had only one senior on the team, Jala Rainey. Jordan-Cornell, Harris, Wingate, guard Samantha George and Jada Reed are all starters expected to return in November in a brand new conference that will include powers like Eastern Alamance, Person and the aforementioned Northwood Chargers.

Orange’s 5-game winning streak set up a game against Chapel Hill on February 15 where the winner would make the state playoffs. The Tigers captured the game and lost to eventual 3A Eastern Regional Champion Asheboro in the opening round.