Orange High School

WIth its second consecutive winning season and a playoff spot still within reach, the Orange volleyball team put away Hillside thanks to its young lions.

Freshman Chloe Riley and junior Libby Jones had six kills while junior Meg Gattis added four aces to help the Panthers to a sweep of the Hornets on scores of 25-17, 25-5 and 25-11 on Thursday night at Jim King Gymnasium.

Riley had a .273 hit percentage. Senior Faith Foushee finished with 13 digs while sophomore Emma Clements added five stops. Seniors Caroline Compton and Bailey Lucas provided solid passing. Compton finished with 13 assists, while Lucas added 11.

Orange improves to 9-6 4-5 in the Big 8. They host Bartlett Yancey on Monday night.

Cedar Ridge was the latest team to run into the Chapel Hill buzz saw on Thursday, falling 3-0 to the Tigers. Individual statistics from the Red Wolves were unavailable. They fall to 6-8 overall, 2-7 in the Big 8. They will host Orange in a rematch on Tuesday night at 6 o’clock. Orange captured the first match between the two teams on August 31st 3-1.

Our Orange Panther of the Week is Caroline Branan, who is the #1 singles player for the Orange girls tennis team. Branan has been a part of five victories over the past two weeks as Orange has won four of its last five dual matches. In her spare time, Caroline is a violinist for plays everything from Beethoven to Sting to The Who.

The Orange JV put its long winning streak in the line Thursday night and came away with a 37-14 victory over East Chapel Hill. Quarterback/Cornerback Wyatt Jones threw two touchdown passes, ran for another and made two interceptions. Joe Kiger had a strong defensive game while Machai Holt scored a touchdown as the Panthers remain undefeated with Southern Durham coming to town next Thursday.

The Orange Girls Tennis team has now won four of its last five dual matches following Thursday’s 9-0 victory over Hillside. Chandler Woods and Leah Gates each earned singles victories. The seniors discussed their improvement over the past few years. Gates, who has a 4.6 GPA, is hoping to attend UNC-Chapel Hill, where her older brother Adam is a senior and is going to the UNC-Duke game this Saturday at Kenan Stadium.

Orange beating Chapel Hill in soccer is one thing, a rare treat for Panther fans as rare as a North Carolina blizzard.

But R.J. Pherribo took drama to a new level on Wednesday night, scoring the game’s only goal with three seconds remaining as the Panthers stunned the Tigers 1-0 in Hillsborough.

It’s just the second time in the last seven years that Orange has defeated the Tigers in boys soccer. The other time was on October 19, 2005, when the Panthers earned a 2-1 win.

Orange goalkeeper Noah Miller earned his second consecutive clean sheet for the Panthers. He also shut out Northwood 2-0 on Monday.

The victory continued a string of close games for the Panthers against teams from the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School System. Orange played Carrboro to a 2-2 tie in August, a game that featured the Jaguars earning the equalizer within the final five minutes. East Chapel Hill defeated Orange 2-1 in a defensive battle at Wildcats Stadium.

Orange is now 7-3-2 overall, 4-1 in the Big 8. The Panthers are tied with Chapel Hill and Northerrn Durham for second place.

East Chapel Hill maintains the top spot in the Big 8 after a 7-0 victory over Cedar Ridge in Hillsborough on Wednesday night. The Wildcats are 4-0 in the Big 8.

Next week, Orange hosts Southern Durham on Monday. Cedar Ridge returns to action at Hillside on Monday night.

The Orange girls’ tennis team has won three consecutive matches.

After dropping the first three singles matches against Northern Durham on Monday, the Panthers swept the final six to defeat the Knights 6-3 at Orange Panthers Tennis Courts.

Chandler Woods earned the Panthers’ first win at #4 singles with a 6-3, 5-7, 10-4 win. Leah Gates followed with a 6-4, 6-3 victory. Sara Beth Campbell earned the first of her two wins with a 6-4, 6-1 win at #6 singles.

Orange won the three doubles matches with ease. Caroline Branan and Emma Williamson earned an 8-2 win at #1. Payton Clayton and Campbell teamed together to earn an 8-2 victory, which ensured the overall win. Gates and Woods teamed to win the final doubles match 8-3.

Orange travels to powerful East Chapel Hill at Lindsay Linker Tennis Courts on Wednesday.

Jamar Davis scored the final goal in Orange’s 4-1 victory over Cedar Ridge last week. On Monday night, he picked up where he left off.

After a sluggish first half, Davis scored two goals in the second half as Orange defeated Northwood 2-0 in Pittsboro. Davis’ first goal came on an assist from Luke Wirzba. The second goal came off a feed from Rohan Kasthuri.

Davis now leads Orange with ten goals. Goalkeeper Noah Miller earned the clean sheet. The Panthers took another step towards securing its first winning season in at least seven years, improving to 6-3-2, 3-1 in the Big 8. Orange is tied with Northern Durham for third place in the league.

Orange faces a huge match at Chapel Hill tonight.

Meanwhile, at James Armstrong Soccer Stadium in Durham on Monday night, Northern Durham shut out Cedar Ridge 3-0. Victor Lopez, Seth Wilson and Maykel Lopez scored goals for the Knights. Northern piled up 15 shots on net against the Red Wolves.

Cedar Ridge, who fell to 2-8, hosts East Chapel Hill tonight.

After winning the 3-A state championship in June, former Orange softball shortstop Abby Hamlett started to cry after her final game at N.C. State Dail Softball Complex because it would be the last time she would play with her teammates.

But it won’t be the last time she plays softball.

Over the weekend, Hamlett made the East Carolina softball squad during a walk-on tryout. She was the only walk-on to make the team under Coach Courtney Oliver. East Carolina will start its fall schedule on September 29th against Campbell at ECU Softball Stadium. Fittingly, ECU will also play at N.C. State on October 6th, where Hamlett played her final high school game. It’s possible that Hamlett will receive a scholarship in the future.

Ashley Muench: UNC-Greensboro senior volleyball outside hitter Ashley Muench was named to the All-Tournament team over the weekend during the Tussle in the Triad at Fleming Gymnasium. Muench, a native of Hurdle Mills, had 38 kills in three matches as the Spartans defeated High Point on Friday, but lost to Navy and Elon on Saturday. In the victory over the Panthers, Muench had 20 kills, seven digs and a block. UNCG Coach Cory Carlin was pleased with Muench’s effort. “Her performance was huge.” Carlin continued, “She came up big for us in so many spots. Its good to have the senior leadership we do on this team and her performance tonight was a big factor in this win.” UNCG is now 7-5 on the season.

Tiffany Brooks:  Tiffany Brooks, a native of Efland, had 18 digs on Sunday as Shaw swept Chowan 3-0 to wrap up an undefeated weekend at the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Round-Up at the C.E. Gaines Center in Winston-Salem. On Saturday, Shaw swept Virginia Union and Lincoln University of Pennsylvania, each by 3-0 scores. In the win over Union, Brooks had five digs, two assists and an ace. She had six digs against Lincoln as Shaw improved to 10-2 on the season, 3-0 in the CIAA.

Jordan Lloyd: The Brevard College Tornadoes defeated Emory & Henry 3-1 on Saturday in the second match of a doubleheader. White Cross-native Jordan Lloyd played in all four sets, finishing with two kills and a dig. Brevard also lost to Washington & Lee 3-0. Lloyd had three digs against the Wasps. Brevard is 4-2.

Andie McKinnon: Emory volleyball has now won seven straight matches after defeating sixth-ranked Juniata 3-0 in the East/West Challenge at the Woodruff PE Center in Atlanta on Saturday. Andie McKinnon, a sophomore, finished with twelve digs as the Eagles improved to 8-1.

Rachel Shinnick: Rachel Shinnick saw action in the Wofford women’s soccer team’s victories over Alabama A&M on Sunday (4-0) and Charleston Southern (1-0) on Friday. Shinnick has played in eight matches this season.

No one knows when adversity will happen.

For Orange football, it came on the second drive against Riverside on Friday night. Quarterback Rodney Brooks, who rushed for over 100 yards and threw for 106 last week against Rolesville, collapsed after planting his leg on an option carry around right tackle Juan Navarro.

Replays showed no one touched him as he crumbled to the turf at Tommy Blalock Field. It was a textbook “non-contact” injury.

Brooks limped off the field and never returned, leaving the game in the hands of backup Brenden Huss. In the previous two games, Huss had appeared in one drive, throwing one pass. If there was a time for Orange to panic, this was it.

Riverside, with only one winning season since 2006, is resurrecting its program under Corey Lea, a coach known for being well-prepared and with a wealth of experience against Orange. In two years at Northern Vance, Lea won eleven games at a school that had just nine wins in the previous six years.

A funny thing happen on the way to the panic button.

New potential big play threats emerged. Senior wide receiver Sebastian Flores caught two huge passes, setting up a touchdown. Classmate Morgan Paschal scored his first touchdown of the season. The Panthers didn’t even need Payton Wilson to bail them out of bad situations. Wilson only had four touches the whole game, one on a kickoff return.

On a night when things could have imploded easily, Orange comfortably improved to 3-1 with a  23-3 victory at Linny Wrenn Stadium for its fifth consecutive win over Riverside.

Running back Marvante Beasley rushed for 121 yards on 20 carries, scoring two touchdowns. It was Beasley’s fourth consecutive 100-yard game.

Huss finished 8-of-11 for 90 yards.

Immediately after Brooks injury with 8:25 remaining in the first quarter, Huss threw to Milton Purcell for a 31-yard gain. Francisco McKinley kicked a 33-yard field goal to put Orange ahead 3-0 with 6:06 remaining in the first quarter.

On the subsequent Riverside drive, Pirates quarterback Cole Infinito’s pass was intercepted by Eryk Mercado. Huss threw to Noah Robinson on consecutive passes, gaining nine yards on a 3rd-and-8. Paschall rushed for 19 yards on the next play, and scored his first touchdown of the year on an 18-yard scamper.

Riverside got its only points early in the second quarter off a 21-yard field goal from Lance Rio, trimming the Orange lead to 13-3.

The Pirates opened the third quarter with a lengthy drive that took nearly five minutes off the clock, but ended when defensive end Ryan Sellers pressured Infinito into a  incompletion. Late in the third quarter, Huss invaded Pirate real estate with consecutive passes to Flores for gains of 17 and 19 yards. With :55 remaining in the third quarter, Beasley scored on a 31-yard touchdown run around left end.

Meanwhile, Riverside’s special teams unit became its own worst enemy in the second half. Punter Tre Fitzpatrick had the ball snapped wide to his left on back-to-back drives, setting up Orange deep in Riverside territory twice.

The first time, McKinley attempted a career-long 44-yard field goal, which hit off the face of the crossbar. The second time, Beasley plowed into the left corner of the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown, his fourth of the year.

The Orange defense held the Pirates to 91 yards total offense. Infinite finished 5-of-15 for 25 yards.

The Panthers will take next week off and travel to Southern Durham on September 29th.

Orange 23, Riverside 3

O-10    0      7      6-23

R-0       3.    0.     0-3

O-Francisco McKinley 33 FG

O-Morgan Paschall 18 run (McKinley kick)

R-Lewis Rio 21 FG

O-Marvante Beasley 31 run (McKinley kick)

O-Beasley 13 run (kick blocked)

RUSHING:

ORANGE–Beasley 19-121 2 TD, Paschall 10-45 TD, Payton Wilson 2-4, Rodney Brooks 2-(-7), Brenden Huss 2-(-7)

RIVERSIDE: D’Anthony Bright 14-60, Toriyon Jones 18-50, Kimathi Smith 1-9, Cole Infinito 2 (-10), Tre Fitzpatrick 2-(-43)

PASSING:  

ORANGE: Brooks 1-1, 6 yards; Huss 8-11 90 yards.

RIVERSIDE: Infinito 5-15 28 yards INT

RECEIVING: 

ORANGE: Sebastian Flores 2-36, Milton Purcell 2-33, Noah Robinson 2-14, Wilson 1-7, Paschall 1-5.

RIVERSIDE:

Bright 2-17, C.J. Bell 1-4, Malachi Fuller 1-4, Jalen Adams 1-0.