Orange Football

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior running back Ja’ki McDaniels. And the Defensive Player of the Week is linebacker Jayden Medley. On Labor Day weekend, the Orange football team defeated Chapel Hill 21-13. McDaniels had the first 100-yard rushing game of his career, going for 130 yards. He also scored three touchdowns as the Panthers defeated the Tigers for the first time since 2019. McDaniels scored the game-winning touchdown off a short pass from quarterback Hank Nunnery. Coming into this year, there was a hole in the running back position after three-year starter Nate Sorrells graduated to play at Mars Hill College. McDaniels, who had been a linebacker, asked head coach DeVante Pettiford to move to running back. Medley had eight tackles for the Panthers. The most critical defensive play of the night for Orange came when Medley picked off a pass in the first half and returned it 74 yards to the 15-yard line. As Chapel Hill was making a last ditch effort to tie the game, Medley tackled Tigers quarterback Josh Roberson at the 7-yard line on the last play of the game to preserve Orange’s 21-13 win. Medley is also a wrestler for head coach Spenser Poteat during the winter. Orange will travel to Montgomery Central on Friday night.

Orange Panther of the Week: Ja’Ki McDaniels; Defensive Player of the Week Jayden Medley

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior running back Ja’ki McDaniels. And the Defensive Player of the Week is linebacker Jayden Medley. On Labor Day weekend, the Orange football team defeated Chapel Hill 21-13. McDaniels had the first 100-yard rushing game of his career, going for 130 yards.

In a few years, if Orange can maintain its current levels of participation at the junior varsity level, they’ll be better prepared to win a battle of attrition.

It’s the battle that Vance County has dictated against the Panthers over the past two years. At another time, say in 2017, when the varsity roster was at 55 players Orange would have been equipped for the challenge.

On Friday night, with a roster of 29 players (but with a growing junior varsity team), the Vipers gradually worked its way past the Panthers.

Senior Jontavious Nile rushed for 113 yards and a touchdown while Antoine Doyle caught seven passes for 95 yards to lift Vance County over Orange 14-6 at Auman Stadium to ruin the Panthers’ home opener.

The Vipers held Orange to 145 yards total offense and seven first downs, but the Panthers had a chance late because of senior Deandre Brown. A wrecking ball on defense who finished with eleven tackles, Brown also scored Orange’s only touchdown midway through the fourth quarter on a three-yard plunge. Brown jump started the dormant Orange offense and the crowd when he roared up the middle for a 20-yard gain on a 3rd-and-19 from the Vipers 49-yard line. It was Orange’s only 3rd down conversion of the night.

Orange running back Ja’ki McDaniels ran up the gut for 21 yards to break into the Vance County red zone for the first time, leading to Brown’s first touchdown of his senior season.

Before that drive, Orange had been held to 70 yards and four first downs in the opening three quarters simply because the Vance County running game kept Orange’s offense off the field. The Vipers ran 35 plays in the first half. Orange ran 12.

Orange’s Keyshawn Farrington made a stop on Nile on 3rd-and-eight as Vance County went 3-and-out in its opening drive. After Orange couldn’t move the ball on its first series, the Vipers alternated between a spread setup and the old Power-I formation to control the ball on its next drive, a 14-play, 95-yard drive. Quarterback Javion Vines-Holder threw to Andre Perry for 12 yards on a 3rd-and-2, the first of three 3rd-down conversions on the Vipers opening touchdown drive. On a 3rd-and-12 from the Vipers 33-yard line, Vance County went to the perimeter to show off its speed advantage as Vines-Holder tossed a slip screen pass to Perry for 20 yards.

There appeared to be daylight for Orange after brown tackled Nile for one yard on 2nd-and-10. But on 4th-and-7 from the Panther 18-yard line, Nile took a handoff and followed blocks from halfbacks Maurice Jackson and Zion Thornton for an 18-yard touchdown run. Aidan Labra kicked the extra point to put the Vipers ahead 7-0.

The Vipers chewed up the majority of the second quarter clock with a 11-play drive that stalled out at the Orange 5-yard line when Panther linebacker Jayden Medley stopped Symahj Charles for a two-yard gain on 4th-and-3.

After the subsequent Vance County drive died out in Viper territory, punter Ayden Foster fielded the snap while on his knees, giving Orange the ball at the Viper 30-yard line with 38 seconds remaining in the first half. Orange dialed up a double pass that was intercepted by Vines-Holder, who is also a defensive back.

Vance County scored on its opening drive of the second half. Vines-Holder found Doyle on a 3rd-and-17 for 20yards to advance the ball into Orange territory. Vines-Holder hit Doyle again for a 10-yard touchdown pass on a slant.

Following Brown’s touchdown, Orange still had time to get the ball back, but the Vipers successfully ran out the clock with another time-draining drive to improve to 3-0.

Orange (1-2) will make its first-ever trip to Montgomery Central on Friday night. Last year, Orange shut out the Timberwolves 20-0 in Hillsborough.

As a former defensive lineman at Virginia Union, it should come as no surprise that Orange football coach DeVante Pettiford has a build like an elephant.

And a memory like one, too.

In the 2021, he was an assistant under head coach Van Jones when Chapel Hill pulled a stunning 22-21 comeback victory when kicker Noah Westrom booted through a 40-yard field goal as time expired. It gave Chapel Hill a share of the Big 8 Championship, cost Orange a winning season and ended Orange’s 10-game winning streak against the Tigers.

It was such a classic game that Jones said he wasn’t even mad about being on the losing end. It was one of the rare times where Jones and he assistants were on different pages.

On Friday night, Orange returned to Culton-Peerman Stadium and came away with possibly its biggest triumph in nearly four years.

Senior running back Ja’ki McDaniels rushed for a career-high 131 yards and scored three touchdowns as the Panthers held on during a chaotic final minute to defeat the Tigers 20-13. It was Orange’s first win over Chapel Hill since 2019.

Chapel Hill’s Josh Roberson made a final attempt to score a game-tying touchdown in the waning seconds, but was tackled after a 14-yard gain at the 7-yard line by senior linebacker Jayden Medley, who made big plays throughout the night. The clock stopped with :2.5 seconds remaining after Chapel Hill got the first down, but time ran out while the Tigers were still trying to line up for its next play.

It was the first time that Orange won a game decided by seven points or less since they upset Northern Durham 7-6 on March 12, 2021, the Panthers’ last football game inside Durham County Stadium.

“My emotions go back to before I was head coach, Pettiford said. “They kicked a field goal with three seconds left to beat us in 2020, the COVID year. We haven’t beaten them ever since. This has all been building. To finally put this together with these boys, the hard work they’ve put in…”

McDaniels was a linebacker in 2023 and didn’t have a carry all season. He came away with Orange’s first 100-yard rushing game since Nate Sorrells against Cedar Ridge last year.

“He came to me and said he wanted to be a running back,” Pettiford said. “I can make it happen. We saw it today. I’m proud of everybody, but especially Ja’ki.”

Chapel Hill lost starting quarterback Jonah Berman late in the first quarter when he was stripped of the ball on a sack by Orange linebacker DeAndre Brown. Starting running back Josh Roberson was pressed into quarterback duties, which relegated the Tigers offensive play calling to mainly quarterback draws, keepers and short passes the rest of the game.

Orange was without sophomore wide receiver Kayden Bradsher, who was injured in practice last week. Bradsher is also a starter as a defensive back.

After registering a paltry 20 yards rushing against Southeast Alamance in its season-opener, McDaniels served notice immediately that Friday night would be different when he peeled off a 54-yard gain on the first play from scrimmage. Deandre Brown continued the 86-yard drive with a 27-yard gain down to the Tigers’ 5-yard line. McDaniels would scored his first varsity touchdown with a scamper over the middle. The extra points was blocked.

Chapel Hill converted an early 4th down when Berman ran a sneak up the middle to the Orange 40-yard line. Berman found Tyler Olario for a 16-yard pickup. The Tigers faced a 4th-and-1 from the Orange 18-yard line, but Nahjour Kenion blew up the play and sacked Berman on a keeper for a loss.

Roberson was forced to play quarterback after Berman’s injury, but Medley picked off his first pass and returned it 74 yards to the Tiger 15-yard line. Chapel Hill’s Duece Geer thwarted the Orange drive when he intercepted a pass from quarterback Hank Nunnery in the end zone.

The Tigers drove to the Orange 38-yard line after Roberson rolled off a 21-yard run, but Medley pounced on a fumble following a botched exchange between Roberson and Tyler Jackson on a jet sweep.

Orange made the Chapel Hill turnovers hurt. As Orange faced a 3rd-and-2 at its own 46-yard line, the Tigers jumped offside. Nunnery found freshman Owen Phillips for 25 yards and tacked a roughing the passer penalty onto it. On a fourth-and-goal from the Tiger 5-yard line, Nunnery was flushed out of the pocket by linebacker Justin Albouy and found McDaniels along the near sideline for a touchdown. McDaniels broke a tackle attempt by James Lunsford for a two-point run to put Orange ahead 14-0 to conclude an 11-play, 62-yard drive.

Roberson broke free for a 51-yard touchdown run to open the second half. The extra points by Mattheus Hobler reduced Orange’s lead to 14-7.

In the fourth quarter, McDaniels got free for a 28-yard gain to move to the Tiger 21-yard line. As Orange got down to the Tiger-14, Chapel Hill recovered a fumble. Three plays later, Jaydin Klieforth pounced on a Chapel Hill fumble, the Tigers third turnover.

McDaniels immediately made the Tigers pay when he scored on a 21-yard run to put Orange ahead 20-7.

Chapel Hill put together its longest sustained drive of the night, a 10-play, 85-yard drive. Roberson ran it in from two yard out, but the extra point missed wide left.

On the game’s final possession, Chapel Hill got the ball back at its own 29-yard line. Roberson hooked up with Olario for 19 yards, but after Roberson’s long run, time ran out on the Tigers.

ORANGE 20, CHAPEL HILL 14

ORA–6   8    0     6–20

CH–0      0    7      7-14

ORA–Ja’ki McDaniels 3 run (kick blocked)

ORA-McDaniels 5 pass from Hank Nunnery (McDaniels run)

CH–Josh Roberson 51 run (Mattheus Hobler kick)

ORA-McDaniels 2 run (run failed)

CH–Roberson 2 run (kick failed)

RUSHING–ORANGE 33-188 2TD (McDaniels 20-131 2 TD, Deandre Brown 9-53, Kingston Purefoy-Farrington 2-14, team 1-(-3), Nunnery 1-(-7).

CHAPEL HILL: 35-232 (Roberson 23-201 2 TD, Tyler Jackson 9-46, team 3-(-15))

PASSING–ORANGE (Nunnery 5-9 66 yds TD, INT) CHAPEL HILL 9-16, 77 yards (Jonah Berman 4-6 24 yards, Robertson 5-10 INT 53 yards)

RECEIVING–ORANGE (Owen Phillips 1-25, Garrett Sawyer 1-19, Hunter Albert 1-9, Hunter Frazier 1-7, McDaniels 1-5 TD) CHAPEL HILL (Tyler Olario 3-46, Nathan Kenyon 3-27, Nik Demas 1-3, Ethan Smith 1-4, Tyler Jackson 1-(-2))

HS Football: Orange @ Chapel Hill – LISTEN LIVE!! – The Rodcast!

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This week, college sports fall season gets underway. Here are some of the graduates from Orange and Cedar Ridge High Schools that will continue or start their college careers in various sports this week. (There are other athletes who will start next week.)

Darius Satterfield: A former Orange High punter and kicker, Satterfield will start his junior season at Elizabeth City State University when the Vikings face Shaw University in Raleigh on Saturday afternoon. Darius has also been selected as a student representative for the NCAA Division II Student-Advisory Committee. He currently serves as Elizabeth City State’s SAAC Vice President. He will lead a new CIAA SAAC Executive Board.

Nate Sorrells and Jaylan Sorrells: Nate is a former Orange High running back/defensive back. Jaylan is a former offensive and defensive lineman. They are now at Division II Mars Hill, who will start the season against Delta State at Meares Stadium in Mars Hill this Thursday night.

Malachi Justice: St. Andrew University, a NAIA team, will open against Erskine University, an NCAA Division II squad, at J.W. Babb Stadium in Greenwood, S.C. Justice led Orange in sacks last season and is a freshman.

Cameron Lloyd: The all-time kills leader in Cedar Ridge volleyball history, Lloyd starts her sophomore season for the Bucknell volleyball team. The Bison will open with two matches in the Bearcat Classic in Vestal, NY on Friday. They start with Toledo on Friday afternoon, then will take on Merrimack. To show how small a world it is, Lloyd will face a former Orange High product when Bucknell faces Binghamton on Saturday. As we’ll detail later, Binghamton’s setter is former Orange High product Lottie Scully. Last season, Lloyd had 168 kills for Bucknell, who finished 15-11.

Cameron Lanier: The former Cedar Ridge middle blocker will start her sophomore season at Elon University in the Wildcat Classic at Davidson on Friday. Last year, Lanier started 23 matches for the Phoenix and was second on the team with 223 kills in her freshman year. That included 14 kills against Georgia State on September 1. Elon finished 5-22 last season.

Lottie Scully: Binghamton will host the Bearcat Classic at the Bearcats Event Center starting on Friday. They will face Merrimack and Toledo in a doubleheader, then face Bucknell in the aforementioned matchup on Saturday. Scully is a junior from Hurdle Mills who was named second-team All-America East Conference last season. She was named the America East Setter of the Week four times and led the conference with 679 assists.

Addie Reid: The 2023 Cedar Ridge Homecoming Queen, Reid will start her freshman year at North Carolina Central against longtime rival North Carolina A&T at the Corbett Sports Center in Greensboro on Friday. Reid was the middle blocker for the 2021 3A State Championship team.

Graylinn Serge: Serge, who was a starting outside hitter for Cedar Ridge last season, will start her freshman year at UNC Greensboro on Friday. UNCG will host the Spartan Classic and begin with Robert Morris. Later that day, the Spartans will face Missouri State at Fleming Gymnasium. Serge helped the Red Wolves win the 2023 Central Conference Tournament.

Julie Altieri: Along with Lloyd, Lanier, Reid, Serge and Grace Young, Altieri won the 2021 3A State Championship with Cedar Ridge. Altieri was the starting setter for Division III Salisbury Sea Gulls when they won the Coast to Coast Conference championship last season. Salisbury will start its season in the Margie Knight Classic in the Maggs Physical Activities Center against Catholic University on Friday. As a freshman, Altieri was second in the conference averaging 6.54 assists per set. She played in 29 matches and recorded 225 digs.

Grace Young: Last spring, Young transferred from UNC Asheville to Division III Greensboro College. The Pride will start its season in Atlanta in the Emory Invitational. Greensboro will open with Emory University on Friday.

Ivy Garner: After helping the North Carolina Courage U-23 team win the United Soccer League W League Championship, Garner has started her junior year at Liberty University with a flourish. The Flames are 4-0 after wins over Old Dominion, High Point, VCU and East Tennessee State. Garner scored the game-winning goal in the 80th minute in a 2-1 win over VCU on Thursday.  Garner started and has six shots in the win over the Buccaneers on Sunday, a 3-1 Flames victory in Summers-Taylor Stadium in Johnson City, TN. Garner had two Scots on goal as the Flames defeated High Point 3-1 on August 15, which was the season-opener. Garner assisted on the game-winning goal scored by Hallie Engel in a 2-0 win over Old Dominion at Osborne Stadium in Lynchburg, VA.

Fiona Cunningham: The former Cedar Ridge volleyball coach is now an assistant coach at East Carolina. Cunningham was an assistant at North Carolina Central, where she recruited Reid, for one season. Cunningham led Cedar Ridge to three regular season conference championships, two Central Conference Tournament championships, the 2021 3A State Championship and Eastern Regional championship during her three seasons at Cedar Ridge from 2020-2023.

HAW RIVER–An optimistic observer will walk away from Orange football’s season opener proud of two things.

Its defense, which threw Southeast Alamance off rhythm in the final three quarters. And the breakout performance from senior wide receiver Kingston Purefoy-Farrington, which gave Orange a fighting change in its first-ever trip to Southeast Alamance.

But opening night football games are synonymous with mistakes, and Orange made the biggest ones on Friday night.

Southeast Alamance’s Bubba Sims recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown with :19.6 remaining in the first half, shredding the momentum the Panthers had built in the latter parts of the second quarter. Orange flailed offensively for the remainder of the game, committing five turnovers in a 31-17 loss.

The Stallions’ scored 14 points off turnovers. Sophomore Drew Easter picked off a soft screen pass by Orange quarterback Hank Nunnery and returned it 49 yards for a touchdown with :58 remaining in the first quarter to put Southeast Alamance ahead 21-0.

The Stallions offense only produced 55 yards in the final three quarters.

Meanwhile, Purefoy-Farrington finished with 217 yards receiving and two touchdowns, which gave the Panthers a fighting chance despite a dismal first quarter. Purefoy-Farrington, who regularly competes in the 100 yard dash in track & field, had the first multi-touchdown game of his career.

“He’s the guy,” said Orange coach DeVante Pettiford. “We want to feed him the rock. He’s worked hard. He’s been waiting for his moment. His number got called and he answered.”

Through the course of any game, there are some mistakes that you don’t stop paying for. Orange’s cardinal miscue came late in the first half after a stellar 55-yard punt from the Stallions’ Cruz Nelms, which pinned the Panthers back to its own 2-yard line with :19.6 left.

At that point, Orange had momentum. Purefoy-Farrington hauled in a 89-yard touchdown pass off a go pattern from Hank Nunnery to cut the Stallions lead to 24-14. Orange linebackers DeAndre Brown followed with a sack of Stallions’ quarterback Ryan Dodson, leading to Nelms’ punt.

With the Stallions limited to one timeout, Orange opted to go from the shotgun out of its own end zone when they should have been trying to run out the clock and get to halftime. Instead, Nunnery fumbled the snap and Sims fell on the ball in the end zone.

“What happened down there is on the coaches,” Pettiford said afterwards. “That’s on the coaches.”

Fielding just its second varsity team with nine seniors, the Stallions moved like a veteran unit in rhythm offensively behind quarterback Landon Dodson, who shared time behind center with his cousin Ryan. Landon engineered a flawless opening drive of 55 yards over seven plays that ended with a six-yard touchdown run by Daniel Bunker. Nelms’ extra point put the Stallions ahead 7-0 and they were just getting going.

Orange went three-and-out in its opening possession. A penalty backed the Stallions up to its own 14-yard line, but they responded with three big plays. Backup running back D.J. Callis opened with a 23-yard run. Landon Dodson found his cousin for a 33-yard pass. Callis hit another one, this time for 37 yards and a touchdown.

Easter’s interception with :58 seconds remaining put the Stallions ahead 21-0, but that’s when Purefoy-Farrington went to work.

On the first play of the second quarter, Nunnery chucked a lateral across to senior Garett Sawyer, who is a relief pitcher for Orange baseball. Sawyer uncorked a fastball to Purefoy-Farrington, who outran the secondary for a 76-yard touchdown.

The Stallions responded with a run-heavy drive where Bunker started with a 15-yard carry, but couldn’t summon much else. After Mason Farmer sacked Dodson on 3rd-and-10, Nelms drilled a 37-yard field goal to increase the Stallions lead to 24-7. It turned out to be Southeast Alamance’s final offensive points.

On a third-and-nine in the shadow of its own goalposts, Nunnery hit Purefoy-Farrington in stride for an 89-yard touchdown pass. it appeared that free safety Josh Gant had an angle to run down Purefoy-Farrington, but the wide receiver turned on the afterburners and left him with no chance.

The difference in the end was the ground game. The Stallions rushed for 118 yards while Orange was held to 13. Nunnery was sacked four times.

“The beginning of the game was first-game jitters,” Pettiford said. “They’re isn’t anything we did to finish this game that we didn’t do in the first quarter. We executed better later in the game. The defense played lights out. I just think we start too slow. If we can play well from the first whistle, we’ll be in a lot better position. I’m proud of what I saw tonight. We did a lot of good things tonight that we weren’t successful at doing in years past.”

SOUTHEAST ALAMANCE 31, ORANGE 14

ORA—0     14   0   0-14

SEA—21     10   0    0-31

SEA–Daniel Bunker 6 run (Cruz Nelms kick)

SEA–D.J. Callis 37 run (Nelms kick)

SEA–Drew Easter 49 interception return (Nelms kick)

ORA–Kingston Purefoy-Farrington 76 pass from Garrett Sawyer (Carson Tucker kick)

SEA–Nelms 37 FG

ORA–Purefoy-Farrington 89 pass from Hank Nunnery (Tucker kick)

SEA–Bubba Sims fumble recovery in the end zone (Nelms kick)

RUSHING: ORANGE 27-13 yards (Ja’Ki McDaniels 18-34, Purefoy-Farrington 1-5, DeAndre Brown 3-1, team 1-(-7), Nunnery 4-(-20).

SOUTHEAST ALAMANCE: 30-126 yards (Bunker 11-66 TD, Callis 7-61 TD, Ryan Dodson 3-3, Aiden Pak 1-1, Landon Dodson 1-(-4), Sims 1-(-4) Marquis Burnette 1-(-5).

PASSING: ORANGE 10-25 2 TD, 4 INT 232 yards (Nunnery 9-24, 146 yards, TD, 4 INT; Sawyer 1-1 76, TD)

SOUTHEAST ALAMANCE: 7-19 78 (L. Dodson 6-18 73, R. Dodson 1-1 5)

RECEIVING: ORANGE (Purefoy-Farrington 5-217 2 TD, McDaniels 4-11, Kayden Bradsher 1-4)

SOUTHEAST ALAMANCE (R. Dodson 2-37, Sims 2-8, Easter 1-24, Josh Gant 1-5, Damonte Corbett 1-4)