Orange Football

The old saying in football is 12 plays decide every game. After Orange’s 40-7 victory over East Chapel Hill on Friday night, the Panthers are 2-3, 1-0 in the Big 8 Conference. Courtesy of Shayne Thompson of Thompsonteamfilms.com, here are the 12 plays that led to Orange’s victory in the Big 8 opener.

1. Jake DeFranco’s first catch of the game.

Orange scored on its opening drive for the 2nd straight game. On a 14-play, 60-yard drive, the longest gain came when senior quarterback Wyatt Jones threw to wide receiver Jake DeFranco for 22 yards. This led to Nigel Slanker’s 22-yard field goal that put Orange ahead 3-0. DeFranco led Orange in receiving with four receptions for 74 yards.

2. J.J. Torres converts a 3rd-and-3.

Orange was limited at its skill positions on Friday night, but J.J. Torres got his first carries since the Williams game in the first half. His best gain of the night was this six-yard run on a 3rd-and-3 to continue another punishing drive for Orange.

3. Wyatt Jones scores on a quarterback sneak

Orange scored four touchdowns in the 2nd quarter to pull away from the Wildcats. For the 2nd time this year, Wyatt Jones scored on a quarterback sneak to put Orange ahead 9-0.

4. Omarion Lewis rushes for 24 yards

Sophomore Omarion Lewis had his 2nd 100-yard rushing game in four varsity contests against East Chapel Hill. He started Orange’s 2nd touchdown drive with his longest run of the night, this 24 yard gallop to immediately put the Panthers in business leading 10-0.

5. Joe Kiger catches his first TD pass of the season.

Joe Kiger was tied with Zyon Pettiford for the team-lead in receptions after three games. Kiger focused on defense against Riverside, but he was a factor against Williams. He had three carries for 18 yards as a wingback. Midway through the second quarter, he caught his first touchdown pass from Jones from 14 yards out to put Orange ahead 16-0.

6. James McAdoo with a 10-yard sack.

Over the past three games, defensive lineman James McAdoo has forced three fumbles, all of which led to Orange takeaways. He also had two sacks against the Wildcats. This one immediately led to another Panther touchdown.

7. Joe Kiger rushes to force a botched East Chapel Hill punt

Joe Kiger not only had a strong game on offense, but he had a good night on special teams. As usual, he handled all of Orange’s long snapping duties. However, when East had a punt in the 2nd quarter, Kiger put up a rush that caused a miscue from the Wildcats and led to an immediate touchdown.

8. Omarion Lewis scored on a 13-yard touchdown run

Lewis scored his 3rd touchdown of the season on a 13-yard carry.

9. Wyatt Jones throws to Cameron White for a 46 yard gain

Orange’s longest play from scrimmage came late in the 2nd quarter with a 24-0 lead. On the opening play of their final scoring drive of the 1st half, senior wide receiver Cameron White made a 46-yard catch, his only grab of the night.

10. Elliott Woods scores his first varsity touchdown

Elliott Woods had a strong overall game for Orange. Playing wingback on offense and linebacker on defense, Woods had a career-high 60 yards rushing. He also had three tackles. Woods scored his first varsity touchdown on a five-yard scamper late in the first half.

11. Elliott Woods makes a 17-yard gain on 3rd-and-12.

In addition to his 60 yards rushing, Woods had two receptions for 37 yards. His biggest catch of the night came on Orange’s first drive of the 2nd half for 17 yards on a 3rd-down-and-12.

12. Woods scores his 2nd varsity TD.

Woods second touchdown came on a 4th down. It was the final Orange touchdown of the night.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior defensive end James McAdoo. After missing the first two games of the season, McAdoo’s return has led to the Orange defense having its best outings of the season. McAdoo returned against Walter Williams and had eight tackles, including three for a loss. The following week against Riverside, McAdoo forced two fumbles. The first was recovered by Will Torain, leading to a Panther touchdown. The other was recovered by McAdoo himself. Last Friday against East Chapel Hill, McAdoo had two sacks as the Panthers won 40-7. McAdoo is a second generation Panther. His father, James, graduated from Orange in 1991 where he played for Coach Greg Gentry. 

Last week, the Orange women’s tennis team defeated Cedar Ridge for the first time since 2013. The Cedar Ridge volleyball team maintained its share of first place in the Big 8 with a five-set victory over Vance County, then rolled past Southern Durham on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Orange volleyball team showed its depth. They started the week with a convincing 3-1 disposal of East Chapel Hill, the Wildcats’ first Big 8 Conference loss of the season. Orange, despite missing senior Emma Clements and sophomore Avery Miller, still swept Northern Durham on Thursday for its third win in four days.

Yet Cedar Ridge and Orange will hardly get a chance to enjoy their victories. Both teams have monster road games this week.

Cedar Ridge starts the week tied with Chapel Hill for 1st place in the Big 8. The Red Wolves travel to CHHS on Thursday.

Orange has a rematch against East Chapel Hill, this time at Wildcat Gymnasium on Tuesday.

In football, it’s Orange-Southern Durham week. From 2012-2017, the winner of Orange-Southern dictated the Big 8 Conference Champion. After Southern’s 13-0 shutout of Northern Durham on Friday night, the Spartans appear poised to win its first conference title since 2015, when current Wake Forest wide receiver Kendall Hinton was the quarterback for Southern.

On top of all that, the Cedar Ridge women’s cross country team won the women’s invitational race at the Greensboro Cross Country Invitational on Saturday afternoon. Cedar Ridge finished with 55 points, beating East Chapel Hill, who wound up with 63.

And the Orange football team won its Big 8 opener over East Chapel Hill on Friday 40-7.

Think the candidates’ list for the Magnificent 7 was long this week? Well, it was. As always, two of the following seven athletes will be named the Orange Panther of the Week and the Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week on Tuesday.

Here is the Magnificent 7 for Week 6 of the Fall Sports season.

1. Anne Morrell: The Cedar Ridge junior was the top finisher at Saturday’s Greensboro Cross Country Invitational at Hagan Stone Park. Among 106 runners, Morrell finished 7th with a time of 20:52.34. Last season, the Cedar Ridge women finished 2nd in the Greensboro Invitational.
2. Emma Vosburg: In the Orange volleyball team’s 3-1 win over East Chapel Hill, Vosburg had eight kills, one ace, nine blocks, three digs and an assist. Orange would go on to defeat Southern Durham and Northern Durham over the subsequent three days.
3. Cameron Lanier: Another one of the power Cedar Ridge volleyball freshmen with Cameron Lloyd and Julie Altieri. Lanier had ten kills, one ace, one block and five digs in the Red Wolves victory over Bartlett Yancey. Cedar Ridge is guaranteed its first winning season since 2015.
4. James McAdoo: The Orange defensive end helped the Panther defense hold East Chapel Hill to 173 yards total offense. McAdoo caused a fumble for the third game in a row. McAdoo had two sacks as the Panthers secured back-to-back home wins for the first time since 2016.
5. Elliott Woods: The junior Orange wingback had a career-high 58 rushing yards and scored the first two touchdowns of his varsity career. Woods also leads the team in tackles at the end of five games. Woods added two receptions for 37 yards.
6. Lindsey Jouannet: The Orange junior tennis player won her match at #5 singles against Cedar Ridge 6-2, 6-1 on Monday. Jouannet teamed with Sydney Allison to win at #3 doubles 8-2 to sew up Orange’s first win over Cedar Ridge in women’s tennis since 2013.
7. Isaiah McCambry: Gave the Cedar Ridge football team its first lead of the season against Northwood by scoring a first quarter touchdown. McCambry also had Cedar Ridge’s first 100-yard rushing game since 2016 against the Chargers. Though Northwood won 24-8, McCambry showed more promise as a running back as the Red Wolves return home to face Northern Durham on Friday night at Red Wolves Stadium.

Payton Wilson: Florida State defeated N.C. State 31-13 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, FL on Saturday night. In his fifth college game, Wilson had a career-high with seven tackles, including a sack of Seminoles quarterback Alex Hornibrook. Wilson also had a pass breakup. As Florida State pulled away in the second half, Wilson’s impact wasn’t lost on longtime Raleigh News and Observer sportswriter Joe Giglio.

As a redshirt freshman, Wilson is 3rd on the team with 23 tackles. He has three tackles for losses, tied for third on the Wolfpack.

Trent Gill: The former Cedar Ridge star had six punts for N.C. State against Florida State. Gill averaged 47.5 yards per punt. Two of the punts landed inside the 20-yard line. Two more went over 50 yards. Gill also had four kickoff, three of which went for touchbacks. Gill, who instructs current Orange kicker Nigel Slanker, is averaging 47.2 yards per punt on 20 punts this season. N.C. State is off next weekend. They return to action on October 10 against Syracuse in Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh.

Keyshawn Thompson: The FCS Campbell Camels defeated Mercer 34-27 at Five Star Stadium in Macon, GA on Saturday night. Thompson, who was put on scholarship over the summer, played defense put didn’t record a tackle. Campbell is 3-1. They host Presbyterian in its Big South Conference opener next Saturday at Barker-Lane Stadium in Buies Creek.

Adam Chnupa: The 2018 Cedar Ridge graduate made his debut for FCS Elon on Saturday. #2 James Madison defeated the #24 Phoenix 45-10 at Rhodes Stadium at Elon. Chnupa, a redshirt freshman who was an All-Big 8 Conference football and baseball player at Cedar Ridge, entered the game in the fourth quarter. Elon, now 2-3, will travel to New Hampshire next Saturday.

Rodney Brooks: The Livingstone Blue Bears defeated Lincoln University (PA) 35-19 at Lions Stadium in Pennsylvania on Saturday. Brooks registered two tackles. Livingston is 4-0, 1-0 in the CIAA. They host Virginia Union next Saturday in Salisbury.

Kayla Hodges: The Elon women’s soccer team defeated UNC Wilmington 3-1 at Rudd Field in Elon in its Colonial Athletic Association opener on Thursday night. Hodges, who was featured on the front of the team’s program that night, assisted on the final Phoenix goal scored by Jessica Carrieri. Hodges, a sophomore, has started all ten of Elon’s games this year. Elon is 7-2-1 going into Sunday’s game against Hofstra in Hempstead, N.Y.

Taylin Jean: Division II Barton College defeated Limestone 2-0 at Bulldogs Athletic Complex in Wilson on Saturday. Jean started in net for Limestone. She made five saves in the loss.

Jordan Rogers: The Division III William Peace University women’s soccer team defeated Mary Baldwin 6-2 in its USA South Athletic Conference opener on Saturday at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary. Rogers made her ninth start of the season, this time as a wingback. Peace is 4-4-1 overall, 1-0 in the USA South Conference.

Brittany Daley: The Division III Greensboro College women’s soccer team defeated Salem 2-1 in its USA South Athletic Conference opener at Varsity Field in Winston-Salem on Saturday. Daley started at centerback for the Pride, her tenth start of the year. Greensboro is 7-3.

Lilli Henry: The Methodist volleyball team had a tri-match in USA South Athletic Conference action on Saturday at the Riddle Center in Fayetteville. The Monarchs defeated North Carolina Wesleyan 3-1 to end the day. Averett started the afternoon by beating Methodist 3-1. In the Monarchs’ win over Wesleyan, Henry had 22 assists, seven digs and an ace. In Averett’s victory against Methodist, Henry finished with 12 assists, seven digs and an ace. Methodist is 2-9, 1-2 in the USA South.

Orange sophomore Omarion Lewis has played four varsity football games. He has rushed for 100 yards twice. On Friday night, Lewis ran for 106 yards and two touchdowns as Orange defeated East Chapel Hill 40-7. The Orange coaching staff debated whether to put Lewis on the junior varsity before the season, but that debate ended on September 6 when Lewis ran up 119 yards against South Granville. Lewis didn’t even enter the game against the Vikings until the second half. In his very brief varsity career, Lewis has emerged as a reliable rusher for Orange in offensive coordinator’s Marty Scotten’s double wing offense. Orange had a season-high 316 rushing yards against East Chapel Hill.

The Orange football team defeated East Chapel Hill 40-7 in its Big 8 Conference opener on Friday night. Wingback Elliott Woods rushed for a career-high 58 yards and scored the first two touchdowns of his varsity career. Jones also starts at linebacker and leads the team with 39 tackles, including three for a loss. Woods had some key plays in the Panthers’ opening win of the season against Walter Williams, including a huge 14-yard catch to convert a third down. The Panthers eventually scored the game-winning touchdown on that drive. Woods and the rest of the Panthers will gear up for Southern Durham this Friday at Spartan Stadium. 

In 2006, East Chapel Hill defeated Orange 33-30 at Auman Stadium in Hillsborough. It was the only win of David Thompson’s final season during his turbulent two-year stint as Wildcats head coach. It was East’s second straight win over Orange, which was on its way to its 13th consecutive losing season.

Plenty has changed since then.

Orange’s football program went through a renaissance under head coach Pat Moser. There was enough budding talent at Stanford Middle School to win three conference championships and five consecutive 10-wins seasons from 2012-17.

In the meantime, East hit the reset button on varsity football, not fielding a team in 2017. While the talent lines in northern and southern Orange County are vastly different, East can look towards Hillsborough and take solace that time and persistence can change things.

On Friday night, Orange defeated the Wildcats 40-7 at Auman Stadium. Sophomore Omarion Lewis rushed for 106 yards and a touchdown. Junior Elliott Woods added a career-high 58 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

It’s the first time Orange won back-to-back home games since 2016, when they ended the regular season with a victory over J.F. Webb to wrap up the Big 8 title, then defeated Wilson Five in the state playoffs.

“Omarion is getting better and better,” said Orange coach Van Smith. “The cuts he makes and the moves he makes, the vision that he has, he’s getting better and better.”

Orange put the game away with four touchdowns in the second quarter. Quarterback Wyatt Jones, who tied his second-high with 161 passing yards before the starters were pulled midway through the third quarter, scored Orange’s first touchdown off a quarterback sneak. On the next Orange drive, Jones hit Joe Kiger with a gorgeous 14-yard fade pass into the end zone. It was Kiger’s first touchdown of the season.

Orange played without leading rusher Machai Holt and leading receiver Zyon Pettiford. The extra garbage time led to a eight-quarter player’s delight. 15 different players touched the ball for Orange.

After winning the coin toss in the opening four games of the year, Orange’s streak ended on Friday, which was the only thing they lost. With the late September humidity lingering into the early evening, Orange wore down the Wildcats with a 13-play, 60-yard drive set up when Jones found wide receiver Jake DeFranco for a 22-yard field goal. After Jones misfired on 3rd-and-goal, Nigel Slanker kicked a 22-yard field goal.

The Orange defense, which allowed only two first downs through the first three quarters, pitched a three-and-out on East’s first possession. Orange responded with another grueling drive that spilled into the second quarter, a 13-play, 85-yard drive that ended with Jones’ sneak.

Later in the second quarter, Orange finished a 82-yard drive when Jones hit Cameron White for a 46-yard pass. That set up Woods’ seven-yard touchdown run to give the Panthers a 24-0 lead.

After East botched an attempted punt on its next drive, Lewis scored his only touchdown on a 13-yard run that comprised a one-play drive.

East scored its only touchdown late in the second quarter. Quarterback Anton Enoch found Zaion Vaughn for a 45 yard pass. Two plays later, Enoch hit his twin brother Anthony for a 10-yard touchdown.

Woods’ scored Orange’s only touchdown in the second half, converting a 4th-and-3 with a five-yard scamper up the middle.

Next up for Orange will be a road trip to Southern Durham. After missing the state playoffs for the past two years, the Spartans appear to have reemerged as the favorite to win the Big 8 after shutting out Northern Durham 13-0 on Friday night at Durham County Stadium.

“They’ve won some games against some good teams,” Smith said about Southern. “They’ve beaten 71st out of Fayetteville, whose usually pretty good. They’ve beat Hillside. It’s Southern Durham.”

ORNAGE 40, EAST CHAPEL HILL 7

ECH–0 7 0 0-7

ORA-3 28 9 0-40

ORA-Nigel Slanker 22 FG

ORA-Wyatt Jones 1 run (Slanker kick)

ORA-Joe Kiger 14 pass from Jones (Slanker kick)

ORA-Elliott Woods 7 run (Slanker kick)

ORA-Omarion Lewis 13 run (Slanker kick)

ECH-Anthony Enoch 10 pass from Anton Enoch (Nick DiMasi kick)

ORA-Woods 5 run (Slanker kick)

ORA-Safety, ball snapped out of end zone.

RUSHING:EAST CHAPEL HILL 13-14 (Anton Enoch 7-11, Anthony Enoch 6-3)

ORANGE: 61-316 (Lewis 18-106 TD, Woods 11-58 2 TD, Curtis Ward 8-50, J.J. Torres 5-28, Khaleb Smith 3-21, Kiger 3-18, Jake DeFranco 3-10, Zahmir Watkins 3-7, Courtney Edwards 1-5, Slanker 1-5, Brandon Worsham 1-5, Connor Ray 1-3, Jones 1-1 TD, team 1-(-1))

PASSING: EAST CHAPEL HILL 11-24 159 yds TD INT (Anton Enoch 7-16 96 yds TD, INT, Ben Smith 4-7 63 yds, Zaion Vaughn 0-1)

ORANGE 10-13 191 yards TD INT (Jones 8-10 161 yards TD, INT; Slanker 2-3 30 yards)

RECEIVING: EAST CHAPEL HILL (Vaughn 4-107, Isaiah Roberson 2-26, Ahmad Walker 2-9, Anthony Enoch 1-10 TD, Devin Cornish 1-5, Nicholas Weaver 1-2)

ORANGE: (DeFranco 4-74, Woods 2-39, Cameron White 1-48, Connor Raye 1-17, Elijah Danley 1-13)

The Orange junior varsity football team shutout East Chapel Hill 35-0 at David Thaden Stadium in Chapel Hill on Thursday night. For sophomores Eli Danley, Brendon Worsham and Connor Ray, it was another successful outing in a year that started at the varsity level. Danley, Worsham and Ray played in the Orange varsity team’s opening games against R.J. Reynolds and Walter Williams. Orange scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter in a game where the contest was shortened to eight-minute quarters. After winning its first Big 8 Conference game, the junior varsity will return to Auman Stadium in Hillsborough next Friday for a game against Southern Durham.