Orange High School

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.

Our first Orange Panther the Week for the 2024-2025 academic year is senior tennis player Shannon Sollars. Last week, Sollars started her senior year with wins over Voyager Academy and Eno River Academy. Sollars defeated Carrington Foster of Voyager 8-1, then teamed with Molly Kruse to defeat Foster and Addie Baker in doubles. As a sophomore, Sollars was a member of the first Orange tennis team in school history to win a conference championship. She teamed with her sister Erin to reach the 3A State Tournament in doubles play. Since Shannon has been a part of the program, the Lady Panthers have reached unprecedented heights. As a freshman, Sollars played on a team that won in the opening round of the state dual tournament when Orange defeated Wilson Fike. On that day, Sollars won at #6 singles as the Lady Panthers defeated the Golden Demons 5-3. A year later, Orange defeated First Flight for another win in the state playoffs, though they had to drive all the way to Kill Devil Hills to do it. This year, Sollars isn’t playing alongside her sister, Erin. But Shannon is being coached by her. Erin has joined Coach Justin Webb’s staff as an assistant. Sollars will graduate next June as one of the most accomplished Orange tennis players in history. She plans to attend Alamance Community College. Shannon and Orange will face Cedar Ridge on Monday at the Mebane Tennis Center.

Orange Panther of the Week: Shannon Sollars

Our first Orange Panther the Week for the 2024-2025 academic year is senior tennis player Shannon Sollars. Last week, Sollars started her senior year with wins over Voyager Academy and Eno River Academy. Sollars defeated Carrington Foster of Voyager 8-1, then teamed with Molly Kruse to defeat Foster and Addie Baker in doubles.

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)

Orange 5, Durham School of the Arts 3: Five different players netted goals as the Orange men’s soccer team claimed its second home win of the season on Monday night. Senior Isaac Gallegos scored off a penalty kick, his first of the season, as the Panthers improved to 2-1.

Orange led 3-0 at halftime. Junior Yurem Tapia Mendez scored his second goal of the season and finished with six shots on the night. Senior Joseph Lopez added another tally for insurance as the Panthers defeated the Bulldogs for the second straight year. Sophomore Ajali Carter added the first varsity goal of his career as the Panthers bounced back from a 3-0 loss at Southern Durham.

It was the third time this year that Orange played an opponent in the Northern Lakes Conference. Last Monday, in the season opener, Orange defeated Carrboro 1-0 behind a goal from Mendez.

Kace McAuley, who assisted on Mendez’s game-winner last week, added his first goal.

Sophomore goalkeeper Hector Garrido earned his second win, making three saves.

Vance County 3, Cedar Ridge 1: Elmer Mejia-Turcio scored a hat trick for Vance County, who improved to 4-0 with a win in Henderson on Monday night. Jeremy Araujo-Sanisca and Jonathan Barragan Hernandez assisted on the goals for the Vipers, who went 13-11 last year. Vance County avenged a 3-1 loss to the Red Wolves in 2023.

Niko James scored his second goal for Cedar Ridge, who fell to 0-2. Arturo Hernandez assisted on the goal.

Cedar Ridge will face Cape Fear at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary on Friday afternoon at 2PM.

Riverside 2, Orange 0: Amir El-Tanany and Michael Salinas Ordonez each scored in the first half for Riverside, who defeated Orange at Linny Wrenn Stadium in Durham on Wednesday night.

Orange falls to 2-2. Hector Garrido and Durvin Lopez shared time as goalkeeper for Orange. The Panthers will also journey to WakeMed Soccer Park this Saturday afternoon. The Panthers will face West Johnston at 1PM.

Photo by Jacques Morin 

The embryonic stages of any team’s season is a time to grow, develop and learn.

Coming off winning the 3A Eastern Regional championship in 2023, Orange volleyball coach Hope Heverly started this season by scheduling four non-conference opponents, three of whom went undefeated in their respective leagues last year.

Right away, her team started to learn about itself, first in victory, then in defeat against a traditional powerhouse.

On Tuesday, Orange defeated Roxboro Community School in four sets, winning 25-15, 21-25, 25-11 and 25-17. Junior Katie Silcott, who alternates between setter and outside hitter, finished with a triple-double of ten kills, 22 assists and ten digs. She also served Orange out of a competitive opening set with three straight aces to go ahead 24-16. Junior Aubrey Jordan ended the frame off an attack set up by Silcott.

The Bulldogs, who went 12-0 to win the 1A Triangle North Conference in 2023, captured the second set when they opened up a 12-7 lead following consecutive blocks by senior Kynlee Brooks. The third set was tied 11-11 before Ava Wilkerson swatted down a set by Silcott, which triggered a 7-3 Orange run. Freshman Aubrey Hodges, the latest protege in the lengthy (in several ways) Hodges/Wilson family tree that includes her older cousins Bryse and Payton Wilson, blocked an attack from Brooks for the 24th point, and Orange closed out the set a point later when a Bulldog spike went wide.

Orange sophomore Sawyer White had five kills in the final set, where Orange jumped out to a 7-2 lead. Wilkerson added four more kills and Orange pressed the Bulldogs into attacking miscues to take the final set for its first win of the season.

The following night, D.H. Conley’s Britni Silver racked up 17 kills to pave the way for the Vikings to beat Orange 3-1 in Hillsborough. The Vikings, who improved to 3-0 after beating Hoggard on Friday, ended Orange’s 18-game regular season home court winning streak. Cedar Ridge was the last team to beat Orange in a regular season game on September 6, 2022 (The Red Wolves also defeated Orange in the Central Conference Tournament championship game last year in a postseason matchup).

Each of the first three sets came down to the wire. Wilkerson evened the opening game at 21-21 following an assist from Silcott. Conley took the final four points of the game off a serve from Olivia Jones, which included an ace and a kill by Emilee Wilson.

“With the start of this season, I think we’re a little bit out of shape,” Heverly said. “Their #15 (Silver) found her swing, for sure, in the fourth game. So that helped them on their side.”

Orange evened the match by taking the second set 25-23. The frame was even at 17-17 when Sawyer blocked an attack by Silver, followed by consecutive kills from Wilkerson. Orange had four sets points, but Conley narrowed the lead until a serve by Wilson went wide on set point.

“I was proud of the girls that they didn’t give up, no matter what the score difference was,” Heverly said. “So it was exciting to see the grit that they’re already showing three weeks into our season. So it will be interesting to see how that progresses throughout that season.”

Neither team could get consecutive points to open the third set. There were ten ties before Conley reeled off four straight to take a 14-10 lead, which included consecutive blocks by Olivia Jones. Hodges stuffed an attack by Silver, which led to the largest crowd reaction of the night, to give Orange a side out.

“She’s stepping up big time as a freshman,” Heverly said of Hodges. “She has a really big drive where she wants to continue to get better so we’re excited about the growth she’s gonna have throughout this season.”

Conley won four of the last five points to win the third 25-20. Silver had three kills in the final four points, along with an ace from Olivia Jones.

The Vikings roared out to a 8-2 lead to start the fourth as it appeared Orange was worn down. The Panthers didn’t any closer than 13-6 following a kill by Jordan. Conley’s Emilee Wilson spiked home match point to win the fourth 25-12.

“We always want the win,” Heverly said. “But I was very pleased with how the girls played. They all worked hard. They came together as a team, even in the tough moments. With it being the second match, it wasn’t too bad.”

Orange will travel to Jordan on Tuesday. Falls Lake, the defending 1A Eastern Regional champion, will visit Orange on Thursday.

Without so much as a scrimmage to prepare for its opening game, the Orange volleyball team shook off the rust to win its first game since playing for the state championship last year. The Panthers defeated Roxboro Community School 3-1 in the season opener at Panther Gymnasium on Tuesday night on scores of 25-15. 21-25, 25-16 and 25-17. Junior Katie Silcott finished with a triple-double of ten kills, 22 assists, and ten digs. She also had four aces late in the first set as the Panthers took control of the opening frame after tight moments early. Junior Ava Wilkerson, who just committed to play at UCF, finished with 12 kills. Sophomore Sawyer White had eight kills and nine assists. It was the first time that Orange played against an outside opponent this year. Two scrimmages scheduled for last week were both canceled due to Tropical Storm Debby. It was a solid win over a Roxboro Community School team that finished undefeated in winning the Triangle North Conference championship in 2023 and made it all the way to the state quarterfinals of the state tournament. Orange’s demanding non conference schedule will continue tonight (Wednesday) when they host perennial 4A power D.H. Conley in Hillsborough. The first serve will be immediately following the junior varsity game, which should be around 6:20-6:30. While school hasn’t started yet, it will be a big-game atmosphere in August. Your presence would be welcome. 

Orange volleyball’s Aubrey Jordan and Sawyer White discuss win over Roxboro Community School

Without so much as a scrimmage to prepare for its opening game, the Orange volleyball team shook off the rust to win its first game since playing for the state championship last year. The Panthers defeated Roxboro Community School 3-1 in the season opener at Panther Gymnasium on Tuesday night on scores of 25-15.