Orange senior defensive end Khaleb Smith played his final game at Auman Stadium on Friday night. He had a fumble recovery in the fourth quarter as the Panthers defeated Chapel Hill 30-6 to finish the season on a three-game winning streak. Smith was second on the team in tackles this season with 57. Entering Friday’s game, he was tied with classmate James McAdoo with 20 tackles for loss. On October 25, Smith made a huge interception to thwart a Northwood drive with the Chargers driving for a touchdown ahead 17-0. The Panthers would go on to win 31-30 in overtime. Smith played offense and defense the past two years. A big influence was Orange defensive line coach Eric Villines, who joined Khaleb on this interview. In a related note, Villines will become a grandfather next week, which will likely impact his ability to watch his beloved Dallas Cowboys. 

The Orange football team ended its regular season with a 30-6 win over Chapel Hill at Auman Stadium on Friday night. Senior wide receiver Zyon Pettiford tied his season-high of three receptions for 49 yards. In his final regular season game, Pettiford also had his first career interception. Orange’s Machai Holt ended his season with 55 rushing yards on ten carries. Holt had 337 rushing yards for eight touchdowns in the regular season. He also had 168 receiving yards for two touchdowns. Among the most memorable moments of Holt’s career will be the interception he had against Northwood two weeks ago, which led to him scoring the game-tying touchdown pass. Holt also scored the game-winning touchdown in overtime. Pettiford and Holt hope to play one more game together when the state playoff brackets are unveiled on Saturday morning. 

Friday night will be the end of the chapter of the lives of Braedon Thompson and Braxton Mergenthal. It will be their last football game as Cedar Ridge Red Wolves when they face Vance County in Henderson. Thompson and Mergenthal have been teammates on the gridiron for over a decade of their young lives. Aside from one year when Mergenthal moved to Germany, they’ve been teammates more often than not. While Cedar Ridge is 1-9 this season, the key role for Thompson, Mergenthal and the rest of the Cedar Ridge seniors wasn’t simply about winning. It was keeping the program alive. Cedar Ridge didn’t field a varsity team in 2018. Instead of transferring, Thompson, Mergenthal and the rest of the seniors stayed at Cedar Ridge and played junior varsity football last year. Whatever success the Red Wolves have in the future will be directly because of the sacrifice that the Red Wolves seniors made this year. Hillsboroughsports.com will broadcast Cedar Ridge at Vance County tonight at 6:55 with Tim Hackett on the play-by-play. Kickoff will be at 7.

Leading into last Friday’s game against Cedar Ridge, Orange had struggled to get off to a good start in its last three games. They trailed Northern Durham 17-0 in Hillsborough. At Vance County, they trailed 20-0 midway through the second quarter. Against Northwood, the Chargers led 17-0 and were 21 yards away from going ahead 23-0 before Khaleb Smith came up with an interception that sparked an Orange comeback.

Last Friday, Orange didn’t have that problem against crosstown rival Cedar Ridge. The Panthers scored touchdowns on four of its five possessions. The only exception came with a failed fourth-down conversion deep inside the Red Wolves red zone.

Orange had its best offensive game of the season. compiling 299 rushing yards. They finished with 418 yards total offense, eclipsing its previous high of 407 yards against East Chapel Hill.

Going through this edition of the Dire Dozen, you’ll notice how great an all-around game junior linebacker Elliott Woods played. He had the most important defensive play of the game for the second week in a row, plus he finished with a career-high 87 rushing yards and two touchdowns. On top of that, sophomore Omarion Lewis also had a career-high with 170 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

Here are the twelve plays that decided Orange’s win over Cedar Ridge. We have video of ten of them.

1. Orange’s opening possession, 3rd-and-7 from the Orange 43-yard line, Wyatt Jones hits Zyon Pettiford with a 57-yard touchdown pass.

Pettiford opened the season with eight receptions for 117 yards in the opening five games. This was his longest reception of the year and his third touchdown. On opening night against R.J. Reynolds, he scored on a 56-yard touchdown from Jones. It was also Jones’ longest touchdown pass of 2019.

2. Cedar Ridge leads 8-7. Orange ball, 3rd-and-9 from its own eleven yard line, Jones throws to Joe Kiger for 19 yards.

After Pettiford’s touchdown catch, Cedar Ridge had a long strike of its own when William Berger threw to Desi Raspberry for a 55-yard touchdown pass. Berger threw to Zach Holmes on the two-point conversion to give Cedar Ridge an 8-7 lead. Orange faces a 3rd-and-9, but they stood up to a blitz. Good blocking by Orange left guard Dari’us Matkins gave Jones a steady pocket to find Joe Kiger, who finished with a career-high five receptions for 62 yards and a touchdown.

3. Orange ball, 3rd and 4 from the Orange 36-yard line, Elliott Woods with a 31-yard gain.

A strong block from pulling guard Juan Navarro helped spring Woods for his longest run of the game. After being thrown back to its own 11-yard line following a 9-yard tackle for loss by defensive tackle Braxton Mergenthal, Orange crossed midfield with this run.

4. Orange ball, 2nd-and-3 from the Cedar Ridge 4-yard line. Woods scores on a four-yard touchdown run.

Since the Northern Durham game, Orange has used a full-house formation on goal line situations with Courtney Edwards and Owen Brimmer as halfbacks. On his first touchdown of the game, Woods followed his halfbacks behind Matkins for the touchdown that put Orange back in the lead.

5. 2nd quarter, Orange ball, 1st-and-10 from the Cedar Ridge 10-yard line, Woods scores on a 10-yard touchdown run

In its final possession of the first quarter, Cedar Ridge marched right back down the field on Orange. After Mergenthal took the ball to the 1-yard line, Berger scored on a quarterback sneak. Orange methodically went down the field on the opening drive of the second quarter on a 9-play, 65-yard drive. Woods scored on a 10-yard touchdown run to put Orange ahead 22-14.

6. Cedar Ridge ball, 2nd-and-12 from the Red Wolf 28-yard line, Woods sacks Berger.

Woods had perfect timing on this blitz up the middle. He leads Orange in tackles. Woods is third on the team with eight tackles for loss.

7. Cedar Ridge ball, 4th-and-22 from the Red Wolf 18-yard line, Orange’s Caulin Fansler blocks a punt.

Against Southern Durham, Fansler had an interception that led to an Orange touchdown to bolt the Panthers to a 14-0 lead. This block was set up by a bad snap. Jackson Phillips rushed over to recover the loose ball, setting up another Orange touchdown. For those wondering, a blocked punt doesn’t count as a turnover. This was the first game all season where Orange didn’t score a point off a turnover.

8. Orange ball, 4th-and-12 from the Cedar Ridge 19-yard line, Jones hits Joe Kiger for a 19-yard touchdown.

A days worth of rain made a 36-yard field goal too much of an undertaking for junior kicker Nigel Slanker. Instead, Coach Van Smith and offensive coordinator Marty Scotten relied on Jones once again, who chucked a gorgeous pass to Kiger. It was Kiger’s 2nd touchdown catch of the season.

9. 3rd quarter, Orange ball, Omarion Lewis scores on a 12-yard touchdown run.

Lewis rushed for 119 yards in his first game agains South Granville on September 6. in Creedmoor. This was his 2nd 100-yard game. This five-yard run was Orange’s only touchdown in the 3rd quarter.

10. Orange ball, 1st-and-10 from the Orange 18-yard line, Lewis runs for 59 yards.

This was Lewis’ longest run of the season. It was the final play of the 3rd quarter.

11. 1st-and-10 from the Cedar Ridge 23-yard line, Lewis runs for eleven yards.

Lewis followed the blocks of Matkins and Kalen Moore around guard to push the ball into the red zone. Video not available.

12. 1st-and-goal from the Cedar Ridge 2-yard line, Lewis scores his 2nd touchdown of the game.

Lewis now leads the team with eleven touchdowns after Orange pushed one in here.

With basketball season only two weeks away, the Orange men’s and women’s basketball teams won’t wait until the season-opener against Northern Guilford to ring in the new year.

Instead, they’re starting things in grand fashion on Friday afternoon.

The first-ever Panther Hoops Tip-Off Celebration is scheduled for Friday afternoon at 4:15 inside Orange High Gymnasium. The brainchild of Orange men’s basketball coach Derryl Britt, the event will include a grand introduction for the men’s and women’s players that will start the season at Northern Guilford on November 22 in Greensboro.

The event will include a 3-point shooting challenge, a dunk exhibition, and an Orange-White intersquad scrimmage. Each of the players for the 2019-20 season will be introduced with music and fanfare. Cost for the event is $3 for students and $5 for non-students.

The tipoff will take place just before the Orange football team’s Senior Night game against Chapel Hill at nearby Auman Stadium.

The Tip-Off Celebration will also include a cheerleading and dance presentation at 4:30. There will also be a drumlins presentation. The women’s team will be introduced at 4:45.

The Orange High women, which finished 2nd in the Big 8 Conference last season, are coached by B.J. Condron. They will look to replace co-Big 8 Player of the Year Icez Barnett, who now plays at Division II Chowan University. Orange also lost guard Lauren Cates, who led the team in scoring last season. Cates now plays at Wake Tech.

“It’s Coach Britt’s idea,” Condron said. “He’s been very persistent about it. He’s worked very hard to get it going and I think it will be a great way to introduce our team to the community this season. I’m looking forward to it.”

The men’s team will be introduced at 4:50. Britt, now in his second season, returns senior Joey McMullin, who started on Orange’s 2015-16 Big 8 Conference regular season championship team that reached the state quarterfinals. Jason Franklin, now on his third year on the varsity team, provides valuable backcourt scoring for the Panthers after being a regular starter last season.

Among the other events at the Tip-Off Celebration will be a relay race at 5:00. There will be a women’s 3-point shootout at 5:15, following by a men’s 3-point shootout at 5:30.

The women’s team will have a scrimmage starting at 6, following by a men’s scrimmage at 6:20. The event will wrap-up at 6:40 to give fans and students plenty of time to walk over to the football stadium to watch the final home football game of the season.

After starting the season against Northern Guilford, the Orange men and women will have its home opener against Granville Central on December 3. Granville Central is coached by Mike McDaniel, a former All-PAC-6 Conference linebacker at Orange who also was once a defensive coordinator for the Panther football team. It will be a rematch of an emotional Orange win over GCHS in front of a packed and heated gymnasium.

The Orange men will have an endowment game against Southern Lee on December 5, which will not include a women’s game. The Orange women will travel to Southern Alamance on December 6.

On Wednesday afternoon, Cedar Ridge tennis senior Olivia Ward formally signed with Methodist University in Fayetteville. On hand for the ceremony were Olivia’s parents, Lynn & Ashley, Cedar Ridge Athletic Director Andy Simmons, tennis coach Lennie Corbett and many of Olivia’s teammates and friends. Over the course of four years of varsity tennis, Olivia was a part of 65 singles and doubles victories. She also has a 4.2 grade point average. Last month, Ward qualified for the 3A State Singles Tournament at the Burlington Tennis Center. In each of the past two years, Ward qualified for the state championships. In 2018, she teamed with Alana Lutz to qualify for the state doubles championship. In her freshman year, Ward was a starter for a Cedar Ridge team that won the 2016 Big 8 Conference Championship, the only team in school history to win a conference title in tennis.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior soccer midfielder Reese Weaver. On October 23, Cedar Ridge defeated Vance County 9-0 at Red Wolves Stadium. Weaver scored six goals against the Vipers. This season, Weaver scored 14 goals for the Red Wolves, which led the team. He scored against Orange on September 18, a game that Cedar Ridge won in penalty kicks 4-3. Unfortunately, Cedar Ridge missed the 3A State Playoffs when the field of 64 was unveiled on Monday. Weaver will have the benefit of saying he swept Orange his senior year, the first time the Red Wolves took the season series from its crosstown rivals since 2015. Once Weaver graduates from Cedar Ridge in June, he plans to attend Durham Technical Community College while trying to transfer to a 4-year college. He also plans to continue his soccer career with the Triangle United travel team. 

Editor’s note: This is the 2nd Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week for this week. It is to make up for Week 7,  when we were unable to interview an athlete because of a lack of practices due to hot weather. 

The fall sports season will officially end in Hillsborough on Saturday—unless Orange football can make the state playoffs.

The possibility of that appears remote, at best, as of Wednesday night. Orange’s current MaxPreps ranking is #69. Assuming that Orange beats Chapel Hill on Friday night, three of Orange’s five wins will have come against teams ranked in the bottom ten of 3A football, according to MaxPreps.

The Cedar Ridge men’s soccer team narrowly missed the state playoffs. The field of 64 was announced on Monday morning. Cedar Ridge was on the bubble, but missed out after losing to Southern Durham in the season finale.

Cedar Ridge ended the season 7-12-1, 5-9 in the Big 8 Conference.

The Cedar Ridge women’s cross country team has a good showing in the 3A Mideast Regionals at Northwood High School in Pittsboro. While Cedar Ridge didn’t qualify for the state championships as a team, like last year, there are several individual Red Wolves who will participate in the states on Saturday at Ivey Redmon Park in Kernersville.

Here is this week’s Magnificent 7, which will be the next-to-last edition for the fall sports season. We’ll begin focusing on winter sports next week.

Anne Morrell: Finished 12th at the 3A Mideast Regional Cross Country Championships at Northwood High. Morrell, a junior, qualified for the state championships for the third year in a row with a time of 20:16.4.

Zoe Wade: Finished 24th at the Mideast Regional Championships. Crossed the finish line at 21:05.84. Wade also qualified for the 3A State Championships. A sophomore, Wade will have participated in the state championships each of her first two years at Cedar Ridge.

Desi Raspberry: Cedar Ridge junior wide receiver had three receptions for 69 yards, including a 55-yard touchdown pass from William Berger against crosstown rival Orange on Friday night. Raspberry had the most yards from scrimmage for the Red Wolves.

Elliott Woods: Had 87 rushing yards and two touchdowns for Orange in a victory over Cedar Ridge at Red Wolves Stadium. Woods also had two tackles. Coming into the game, Woods led Orange in receptions and tackles. He was named this week’s Orange Panther of the Week.

Omarion Lewis: A sophomore, Lewis had a career-high 173 yards rushing against Cedar Ridge. Lewis added two touchdowns. He now leads the team in rushing yards and touchdowns this season, even though he missed the season-opener against R.J. Reynolds because it appeared he would spend this season on the junior varsity team.

Joseph Kiger: Led Orange in receiving with a career-high five receptions for 62 yards and a touchdown. On defense, Kiger led the team with six tackles. He also had ten rushing yards. Kiger also was the long snapper on extra points for kicker Nigel Slanker. He will play his final game in Hillsborough against Chapel Hill on Friday.

Bennett Fleming: The top finisher for the Orange men’s cross country team last week at the Mideast Regionals. Fleming came in 32nd with a time of 18:08.88. At the Big 8 Cross Country Championships at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, Fleming was also the top finisher for Orange.