Orange Football

Payton Wilson: In his final year at N.C. State, Wilson continues to rack up honors. For September, Wilson was named the National Linebacker of the Month by the Butkus Foundation. In the opening five games of the year, Wilson averaged 11.5 tackles per game, which led the Atlantic Coast Conference. He led the Wolfpack in tackles in all five games. This week, Wilson was named ACC Linebacker of the Week for the third time this season. Against Marshall on Saturday, Wilson had 14 tackles as the Wolfpack defeated the Thundering Herd 48-41 at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh. Wilson finished with one sack. Wilson also had a fumble recovery for a ten-yard return as the Wolfpack improved to 4-2. Marshall’s top running back came into the game averaging 113 yards per game, but the N.C. State defense held him to 63 yards. Wilson is averaging 11.3 tackles per game, which leads the ACC and is fourth in the Football Bowl Subdivision. This Saturday night, the Wolfpack will travel to Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham to face #17 Duke. It will be the Wolfpack’s first trip to Wallace Wade Stadium since 2013, when Dave Doeren was in first season as the Wolfpack head coach. The Wolfpack is 1-1 in the ACC.

Bryse Wilson: The Milwaukee Brewers season ended in the National League Wildcard Series when the Arizona Diamondbacks swept the best-of-three series at American Family Field. Wilson’s only appearance was in game one, when he retired Gabriel Moreno to ground out to first base for the final out for Arizona. In his first season with Milwaukee, Wilson had a 6-0 record with a 2.58 ERA in 53 appearances, all out of the bullpen. He had three saves. In 76.2 innings of work, Wilson had 61 strikeouts with 22 walks. The Brewers won the National League Central division championship.

Darius Satterfield: Virginia Union defeated Elizabeth City State 42-20 at Roebuck Stadium in Elizabeth City last Saturday. Satterfield had seven punts for an average of 36.9 yards per boot. His longest punt was 47 yards. One was downed inside the 20-yard line. Another went for a touchback. Elizabeth City State is 1-5 overall, 0-4 in the CIAA. They travel to Pennsylvania on Saturday to face Lincoln University.

Trenton Gill: Last Thursday, the Chicago Bears earned its first win of the season with a 40-20 win over the Washington Commanders at FedEx Field in Landover, MD. Gill averaged 43.7 yards on three punts. His longest was 47 yards. One punt was downed inside the 20-yard line. Gill also held on extra points and field goals for placekicker Cairo Santos. The Bears are 1-4 and will host Minnesota at Solider Field this Sunday.

Braxton Mergenthal: The Division III Hampden-Sydney football team bounced back to defeat Ferrum 48-10 at Everett Stadium in Hampden Sydney, VA on Saturday. Mergenthal had a career-high five tackles as the Tigers improved to 3-2 overall. They’re 1-1 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Hampden-Sydney will travel to face Averett in Danville, VA on Saturday.

Ivy Garner: The Liberty women’s soccer team played to a scoreless tie against Florida International at FIU Soccer Stadium in Miami on Saturday. Garner, who started at midfielder, had one of six shots on net for the Flames. Overall, Liberty had 12 shots. Garner played 73 minutes. Liberty will travel to El Paso, TX to face UTEP in another Conference USA matchup on Sunday. The Flames are 11-1-1 overall, 2-1-1 in Conference USA.

Emerson Talley: The Lenoir-Rhyne women’s soccer team is now ranked #21 in Division II. On Wednesday, the Bears rolled past Coker 7-0 at Moretz Sports Campus in Hickory. Talley started at midfield and played 45 minutes for Lenoir-Rhyne. On Saturday, the Bears defeated Carson-Newman 3-0 at McCown Field in Jefferson City, TN. Talley started and played 65 minutes for the Bears, who are 10-0-3, 8-0 in the South Atlantic Conference. Lenoir-Rhyne will host Newberry in Hickory on Saturday night.

Lottie Scully: The Binghamton volleyball setter was named the America East Setter of the Week on Tuesday. Last week, Scully tallied 75 assists and 28 digs as Binghamton defeated the University of New Hampshire and Bryant University. On Tuesday, Binghamton defeated Long Island University 3-1 on scores of 22-25, 25-15, 25-22, 25-18 at NEC Front Row in Brooklyn. Scully had 43 assists and 15 digs for her fifth double-double of the season. She also had three kills and an ace. Binghamton is 10-8 overall, 3-0 in America East. They will face the University of Albany on Saturday.

As usual, it was the Orange defense that carried the weight for its football team. The defense scored two touchdowns and a safety in the Panthers’ 43-0 win over Cedar Ridge at Red Wolves Stadium on Friday night. Garrett Sawyer started with a 15-yard interception return for a touchdown with 1:58remaining in the first half. That triggered a sequence where the Panthers scored 20 points in a span of one minute and 29 seconds. Wide receiver Kingston Purefoy-Farrington scored the first touchdown of his career with a 32-yard catch with :16 remaining in the first half. Tyler Narold had three interceptions on the night for Orange, including a pick-6 of his own with 7:37 remaining in the third quarter. Narold also kicked the subsequent extra point. Narold was also the starting quarterback, the starting safety, the punter and placekicker. Orange is battling to make the 3A State Playoffs for the first time since 2017. If the season ended today, the Panthers would be in the field of 64. On Friday night, Orange will face Person in the Highway 57 rivalry for Homecoming at Auman Stadium. Orange has defeated Cedar Ridge 12 straight times. 

From the time Jaylin Starks and Malykahi Justice teamed to sack Southeast Alamance quarterback Ryan Dodson on the first play from scrimmage of the season, Orange’s defense has been the heart of the team.

Even though they lack size compared to its rivals from Alamance County, the Panthers were still able to shut out Walter Williams on the second half on September 21, along with causing headaches for Western Alamance and veteran quarterback Erik Kuehnel in the conference opener in Elon.

In the battle for the Victory Bell at Red Wolves Stadium on Friday night, Orange’s defense created offense, which led to its 12th straight win in the series with its crosstown rival.

Garrett Sawyer and Taylor Narold both scored off interception returns for a touchdown, while the Orange defense held the Red Wolves to one yard of total offense as Orange pulled away for a 43-0 victory.

Narold finished with three interceptions on the night.

The Red Wolves defense kept the Orange offense at bay for much of the first half. Narold’s 42-yard touchdown pass to Kayden Bradsher in the opening quarter was the only Orange offensive score for nearly the entire half.

“Kayden makes plays,” said Orange coach DeVante Pettiford. “It’s something special about his determination and how hard he works.”

Orange had three empty trips to the red zone in the second quarter. After Narold found Bradsher in the 4-yard line, Cedar Ridge’s Mason Cates made a touchdown-saving tackle. Narold misfired on 4th-and-goal off a strong pass rush from Graylon Collins, forcing a turnover on downs with 11:05 remaining in the first half.

“I thought our defense played really well tonight,” said Cedar Ridge head coach Brent Bailey. “We forced two turnovers. They put us in position to be successful. Hats off to our defense, for sure.”

Ja’ki McDaniels and Deandre Brown teamed to tackle Cates in the end zone on the subsequent Cedar Ridge drive for Orange’s second safety of the season. Off the free kick, Hank Nunnery returned as the Panther quarterback after sitting out last week’s game against Williams. Nonetheless, Cedar Ridge came up with two big stops in the red zone.

Leading 9-0, Orange chewed up over five minutes of the clock during a 10-play drive that penetrated all the way to the Red Wolves 2-yard line. On 3rd-and-goal, a solid Cedar Ridge pass rush forced an interception by Jordan Oliva with 5:55 remaining in the third quarter.

After Orange forced a three-and-out, the Panthers drove 33 yards to the Red Wolf 1-yard line after Nunnery found Bradsher for a 25-yard gain. Oliva saved a touchdown when he dragged down Bradsher shy of the goal line. On 2nd-and-goal, Joe Garbee recovered a fumble in the end zone off a botched snap.

“We’re together,” Bailey said. “That was one thing that I heard was a problem last year. We’re together and we can hang our hat on that. Also, we fight. Like tonight, even when the score got out of hand a little bit, I thought we stayed the course and played hard. So that’s what I’m most proud of is we never stop playing.”

It appeared the Red Wolves would be behind 9-0 at the half, but Orange came up with a tsunami of 20 points in a span of 1:31. It started when Sawyer picked off  screen pass and returned it 15 yards for a touchdown.

“That just got us going,” Pettiford said. “That was a big energizer play by a big player on our team.”

After a quick 3-and-out by the Red Wolves, Nunnery hit Brandon Cummings for an 80-yard touchdown pass with 29.9 remaining. A missed extra point kept Orange’s lead at 22-0.

“Hank wasn’t the starter coming in, but he took advantage of his opportunities,” Pettiford said. “He started heating up. I was very proud of Hank. He did a good job for us.”

Narold aimed the subsequent kickoff as a sky kick along the left sideline. McDaniels raced in front of a Red Wolves to recover it. Two plays later Nunnery throwing to Kingston Purefoy-Farrington, who tapped danced into the right corner of the end zone to vault Orange ahead 29-0.

In the second half, Narold returned an interception 42 yards, then kicked the extra point. Jaylen Starks added an 11-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Starks also had seven tackles on defense for Orange. DeAndre Brown paced the Panthers with eight tackles.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is freshman wide receiver Kayden Bradsher. The defensive player of the week is senior linebacker Jayden Medley. On September 8, Bradsher scored three touchdowns in Orange’s 22-0 win over Montgomery Central at Auman Stadium. It was the first three touchdowns of his career. In the first half for the Timberwolves, Medley had a fumble recovery. He created two fumbles on the night and also had a sack. Orange pitched its first shutout against a non conference team since they defeated Granville Central last year in Stem, which was head coach’s DeVante Pettiford’s first win as Orange coach. Bradsher led the team with four receptions for 40 yards and three touchdowns. Bradsher’s first touchdown of the night came on a 12-yard run up the middle. Medley finished the game with seven tackles. Medley is a native of Maryland who moved to Hillsborough. Orange’s young group will face Cedar Ridge at Red Wolves Stadium on Friday night in the annual Battle for the Bell.