This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior middle hitter Kaitlyn Werden. The Orange volleyball team has won five straight matches headed into Tuesday’s Big 8 Conference opener against Vance County, and Werden has been a big reason why. On August 28, Werden had ten kills, ten digs, 21 assists, two aces and two blocks in a 3-1 upset of previously undefeated Person. The next day, Orange swept South Granville in Hillsborough. Werden finished with two kills, six assists, four digs and one block. Currently, Werden is tied for second on the team with 24 kills. She leads the team with eight aces and 67 assists. Orange is 5-3 with a big week ahead. After Tuesday’s conference opener against the Vipers, they face crosstown rival Cedar Ridge on Thursday in Hillsborough.   

They recovered two onside kicks within 13 minutes, picked up eleven first downs in the second half after getting only one in the first, and stumbled upon a potential star running back who led the team in rushing even though he wouldn’t have played if not for Hurricane Dorian.

And that was just the second half.

Yet even with all that going for them, the Orange football team couldn’t get its first win of the season.

South Granville (1-2) pushed past the Panthers 20-15 at Viking Stadium in Creedmoor on Friday night. Freshman quarterback Khawan Bobbitt, in just his second game after sitting out the Vikings’ loss to Sanderson last week, scored the game-winning touchdown with a four-yard carry out of the Vikings wishbone offense.

Bobbitt factored in on all three Granville touchdowns in its home opener. He finished with 76 yards rushing and two touchdowns.

After being totally dominated in the first half, Orange found a game changer in sophomore running back Omarion Lewis, who didn’t play in last week’s season opener against R.J. Reynolds and was absent during the first half against the Vikings.

In the second half, he sparked a lackluster Orange offense with 119 rushing yards on 12 carries and his first varsity touchdown.

The Panthers needed something after wingback and safety Machai Holt missed the game because of an injury suffered against Reynolds last week. Holt scored a touchdown, made an interception, blocked a field goal and an extra point against the Demons.

Yet if it wasn’t for Dorian, Lewis probably wouldn’t have seen the field Friday night.

Lewis, a sophomore, was penciled in by the coaching staff to play on the junior varsity. The Orange JVs were scheduled to host South Granville in its season opener on Thursday night, but the game was canceled on Tuesday ahead of forecasts calling for Dorian to bring rain across the Triangle.

Instead, Lewis found himself on the varsity Friday night playing his first game. Orange went from trailing 14-0 at the half with a measly 39 yards total offense in the opening two quarters to 194 yards total offense in the 2nd half with a chance to win late.

“He’s kind of been on the bubble as to where he’s going to be,” said Orange coach Van Smith. “We knew he’s got that spark, that strength. He has as good a vision as anybody about seeing things and hitting those holes. He kind of needed a tryout, so to speak.”

After a lethargic first half, Orange’s got a jolt when Cameron White returned the 2nd half kickoff 45 yards. Elliott Woods’ nine-yard carry set up Orange outside the Granville red zone, which the Panthers never came close to in the 1st half. Nigel Slanker kicked a 38-yard field goal to put Orange in the board.

The subsequent onside kick took a quirky bounds on the thick brush on the Vikings field, which doubles as its baseball outfield during the spring. Jayce Hodges made the recovery in front of a raucous Panther side to send the offense back on the field.

It set up Orange’s opening 49-yard touchdown drive, of which Lewis had 33 rushing yards. On third-and-goal from the Viking 14-yard line, quarterback Wyatt Jones found classmate Zyon Pettiford in the middle of the end zone.

Orange simply couldn’t stop Granville when it counted most. The Vikings finished 8-for-12 on third down conversions. Three of the four times they failed, they went on to convert on fourth down.

It was never anything fancy. Under Mike Hobgood’s wishbone offense, the Vikings biggest weapon was a simple toss sweep that burned Orange constantly.

The Vikings’ opening drive of the 2nd half came with 5:14 remaining in the third quarter, but they made it worth their while. With Bobbitt at quarterback, they converted one third down and two fourth downs, twice using the toss weep. Following Jaydon Crabtree’s four-yard run on a 4th-and-1, Bobbitt scored from four yards out. The extra point was wide right.

Orange still had its chances. Defensive end Khaleb Smith recovered a fumble at midfield. Lewis took over the final three plays of the drive with runs of eleven and four yards before scoring his first varsity touchdown from eight yards out.

The Panthers recovered yet another onside kick, this time with Jacob Chapman pouncing on the ball. Orange advanced to the Viking 36-yard line after a seven-yard bootleg by Jones, but the drive stalled after four incomplete passes.

Granville opened the game with a 13-play, 80-yard drive that took 6:53 off the clock. Bobbitt scored on a quarterback sneak from two yard away.

The last thing Orange needed from its offense was a three-and-out, which is exactly what happened. Granville scored on its next possession when Bobbitt found Bryson McCall for a 42-yard touchdown pass. Though McCall plays regularly, it was his first touchdown of the season.

Total offense in the first quarter: South Granville 85, Orange 3.

‘I was tickled to death with the defense,” Smith said. “After the first two possessions, I thought it was going to be 42-0 and they were eating the clock up. Our defense came back and held them to one score the rest of the way.”

Orange labored through the first half. A fumble recovery by linebacker Caulin Fansler helped the Panthers come up with its first stop.

Orange, which has now lost eight in a row, hosts Burlington Williams next Friday night.

“I was worried last week,” Smith said. “I feel better this week.”

South Granville 20, ORANGE 15

SG-Khawan Bobbitt 2 run (Jackson Erwin kick)

SG-Bryson McCall 42 pass from Bobbitt (Erwin kick)

O-Nigel Slanker 38 FG

O-Zyon Pettiford 14 pass from Wyatt Jones (kick blocked)

SG-Bobbitt 4 run (kick failed)

O-Omarion Lewis 8 run (pass failed)

RUSHING–ORANGE: 30-158 (Lewis 12-119 TD, J.J. Torres 5-21, Elliott Woods 5-19, Jones 5-3, Jacob Chapman 1-3, Joe Kiger 3-(-7).

South Granville: 53-251 2 TD (Malachi Flowers 14-87, Bobbitt 15-76 2 TD, Jaydon Crabtree 8-46, Ethan Josselin 3-26, Micah Wilkerson 10-23, team 3-(-3) McCall 1-(4))

PASSING: ORANGE: (Jones 7-16 TD 75 yards)

SOUTH GRANVILLE (Bobbitt 2-6 56 yards TD)

RECEIVING: ORANGE (Pettiford 3-24 TD, Kiger 2-31, Woods 1-14, Daniel Champion 1-6)

SOUTH GRANVILLE: McCall 1-42 TD, Dominic Deloatch 1-14

Article by Tim Hackett

Two weeks ago, Cedar Ridge High School fans saw something they hadn’t seen in nearly two years: a varsity Red Wolves football game. For a school that’s hoping to rebuild, revitalize and renew its football program, that was Step One. This week, Cedar Ridge was searching for success at Step Two: winning a varsity football game for the first time in exactly 750 days. 

But instead of Step Two, the Red Wolves (0-2) took a big step back, falling 42-0 to the Bartlett Yancey Buccaneers (3-0) Friday night in Hillsborough. After Cedar Ridge was unable to capitalize on seven Carrboro turnovers in the game two weeks ago, the Buccaneers showcased how to convert mistakes into points – five of the six Bartlett Yancey touchdowns came immediately off Cedar Ridge turnovers, and the sixth came courtesy of a muffed snap that the Buccaneer defense fell on in the end zone. 

The Red Wolves began their first Friday night game of the season with a three-and-out but quickly got back on offense as KJ Barnes soared to pick off a pass from Chase Johnson, the senior quarterback’s first giveaway this season. But just a couple of plays later, Cedar Ridge quarterback returned the favor with an undercooked pass down the right sideline that Shahiem Boyd nabbed, and the Buccaneers converted that into a 22-yard touchdown run by standout junior running back Michael Slade, who was averaging 12 yards per carry heading into Friday. Berger’s muffed snap led to the defensive score and a 12-0 lead for the visitors early in the second quarter, and before Cedar Ridge could escape the shadows of its own goal posts Boyd picked off Berger again to set up the Buccaneers inside the red zone and allow Johnson to scamper in on a QB keeper for a 20-0 lead. 

That’s when the wheels came off for the Red Wolves. After that touchdown, Miles Jefferson kicked off for the visitors and KJ Barnes received it. But somewhere during the return he coughed the ball up and Bartlett Yancey recovered it. A few plays later, Johnson found Boyd for a score. After that touchdown, Miles Jefferson kicked off for the visitors and Jaikel Gibbs received it. But somewhere during the return he coughed the ball up and Bartlett Yancey recovered it. The next play, veteran back Jacob Scales took it to the house for a score. After that touchdown, Miles Jefferson kicked off for the visitors and Elijah Whitaker received it. But somewhere during the return he coughed the ball up and Bartlett Yancey recovered it. A few plays later, Johnson hit Davon Lipscomb for a touchdown and the Buccaneers had a 42-0 lead. Three virtually identical plays with three identical outcomes: treasure buried in the end zone, unearthed by the Buccaneers. 

Something changed for Cedar Ridge after halftime. Sure, the visitors were able to coast somewhat with a massive lead the Red Wolves never threatened to reduce, but the Buccaneers played their starters, including Johnson, for the entire third quarter and much of the fourth. Sure, he mercy rule running clock went into effect after halftime, meaning neither team had to run nearly as many plays, but the Red Wolves still shut out Bartlett Yancey after the break. After a slow start, Isaiah McCambry had a strong second half on both sides of the ball, proving the week one suspicion that he is someone Cedar Ridge can build around. Braxton Mergenthal was a tackling force and clearly showed himself as the best defensive player wearing the dark uniform. And though they benefitted from more than a few Buccaneer drops in the second half, the Cedar Ridge secondary also improved as the game went on. Still, after a frustrating loss to Carrboro and this lackluster loss to Bartlett Yancey sandwiching the team’s only bye week, new head coach Torrean Hinton must turn the page quickly as his team gets set to head to Sanford to face Southern Lee for the first of three straight road games next week.

Third-year Bartlett Yancey head coach Jason Brumfield said this summer his main goal was to win more games than last year. After a 3-8 campaign a season ago, the Buccaneers seem primed to plunder one their most prosperous seasons in recent history. As for Cedar Ridge, their quest for their first varsity win since August 2017 will have to wait at least another week.

After helping the Gwinnett Stripers win a franchise-record 81 games and the International League’s Southern Division championship, Bryse Wilson has been named the Stripers’ Most Outstanding Pitcher.

As Gwinnett honored Wilson, he was promoted to Atlanta on Monday. Wilson entered Tuesday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays and tossed a scoreless sixth inning. He ran into problems in the seventh as Rowdy Tellez launched a solo homer over the left field wall. Wilson went one-and-one-thirds innings, and allowed four hits and two earned runs.

The Braves defeated the Blue Jays 7-2 for its sixth straight win. Atlanta now leads the Washington Nationals by six-and-a-half games in the National League East.

Wilson started 2019 in Atlanta. His latest promotion is his fifth stint with the Braves this season and seventh since 2018.

In his final six starts for Gwinnett, Wilson threw 40 innings and had a 0.90 ERA. He struck out 37 while conceding 31 hits. Opponents hit only .217 against him. Wilson had six quality starts and went 6-0 in that span, helping the Stripers rally past the Durham Bulls in the standings for its second division championship since moving to Georgia from Richmond, VA in 2009.

Gwinnett will start play in the Governor’s Cup Playoffs against the Columbus Clippers on Wednesday. Game one of the best-of-five series will be in Coolray Field in Larenceville, GA.

Scott Satterfield: 1991 Orange High graduate Scott Satterfield made his head coaching debut with the Louisville Cardinals on Monday night. #8 Notre Dame pulled away from the Cardinals 35-17 in Cardinals Stadium. It was Satterfield’s first game after five seasons at his alma mater, Appalachian State. In Boone, Satterfield led the Mountaineers to three consecutive Sun Belt Conference championships in its transition from the Southern Conference of the Football Championship Subdivision to the Football Bowl Subdivision. Satterfield was a quarterback at Orange and also played safety. In his high school career, the only varsity year he was healthy was 1990, when Orange went 7-3. Satterfield tore his ACL int he season-opener of the 1989 season at Eastern Alamance.

Satterfield went on to become an FCS (then I-AA) All-American at Appalachian State. As fate would have it, the top tailback on his offense was 1993 Orange graduate Damon Scott, who would also become an FCS All-American. Together, the two helped Appalachian win the 1995 Southern Conference Championship, beating a Marshall team that included future NFL Hall of Famer Randy Moss.

Satterfield also was the offensive coordinator at Florida International and quarterbacks coach at Toledo before returning to Boone, where he succeeded his mentor Jerry Moore as head coach.

Louisville hosts FCS Eastern Kentucky on Saturday night.

Kayla Hodges: The Elon women’s soccer team suffered its first loss of the season on Sunday. Furman defeated Elon 3-0 at Stone Soccer Stadium in Greenville, SC. Hodges started at midfield, as she has all of the Phoenix’s games so far this season. Elon is 3-1 and travels to Richmond on Thursday.

Brittany Daley: The 2018 Cedar Ridge graduate made another start for the Division III Greensboro College women’s soccer team on Sunday. The Pride defeated Bob Jones University 5-1 in Greenville, S.C. Greensboro is 2-1 and faces Southern Virginia University on Saturday.

With its biggest tests still ahead against the southern end of Orange County, the Orange volleyball team has momentum headed into its Big 8 Conference opener.

On Wednesday night, the Lady Panthers quickly finished Roxboro Community School 3-0 at Panther Gymnasium in Hillsborough. Orange won its fifth straight on scores of 25-18, 25-17 and 25-11.

After starting the season 0-3, the Lady Panthers will host East Chapel Hill in its conference opener in Hillsborough on Thursday night in Hillsborough.

Freshman Erin Jordan-Cornell, the younger sister of former Orange offensive lineman Jace Jordan-Cornell, finished with seven kills and two blocks. Last week, Jordan-Cornell had eight kills in a 3-0 win over South Granville in Creedmoor.

Senior Kaitlyn Werden and Emma Clements tied Jordan-Cornell with a team-high seven kills. Werden, who had a team-high ten kills in an upset over Person last week, also finished with 16 assists, five digs and three aces. Clements added seven digs and one ace.

Senior Brooke Fryar and sophomore Lottie Scully each registered 15 digs. Scully also led Orange with 17 assists.

Tuesday’s match was the last before Orange enters Big 8 Conference play. In addition to Thursday’s match against East Chapel Hill, Orange will make its first-ever trip to Vance County on Tuesday. Vance County replaced Hillside as a member of the Big 8 Conference during the summer after the Hornets returned to 4A. Though its located in Henderson, Vance County is a separate entity from Northern Vance and Southern Vance, which consolidated to create the new school. It is located at the location of the previous Southern Vance High.

Orange’s next nine matches will be conference affairs. Their next nonconference tilt will be a return trip to Roxboro Community School on October 4, which is also slated to be its final nonconference game of the year.

Men’s Soccer: Orange 7, Hillside 1

After scoring three goals in a span of 13 minutes last week in a 5-3 victory over Eastern Alamance, the Orange men’s soccer team continued its fireworks with a 7-1 victory at Hillside on Tuesday night.

Jose Beltran, who notched the first hat trick of his career against the Eagles, added another goal against the Hornets. Elliott Sikes had the biggest night of all for Orange, racking up two goals and two assists. Leif Mahoney, Jason Franklin and Tyler Werden each had one goal and one assist. Nick Catalano also scored a goal for Orange. Rohan Kasthuri assisted on two goals for the Panthers, who have opened the year 3-1.

Orange will play one more nonconference game on Friday night at Riverside inside Line Wrenn Stadium in Durham. That is slated to be the final nonconference game of the year, but those plans may change. The Panthers had contest against Carrboro and Eastern Alamance rained out during the first week of the season. There has been no word on whether those games will be made up.

Orange will open Big 8 Conference play at East Chapel Hill next Wednesday inside Dave Thaden Stadium.

On Wednesday night, the Cedar Ridge men’s soccer team will travel to the Durham School of the Arts. The Red Wolves, who had a game against Bartlett Yancey postponed last week, is slated to face the Buccaneers on Monday night in Yanceyville.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior tennis player Olivia Ward. During her time at Cedar Ridge, Ward has been a member of a Big 8 Conference Championship team, qualified for regionals twice and qualified for the state championships in doubles. Last week, she won three matches, including over Chapel Hill’s #1 singles player. She also won matches against Orange and Bartlett Yancey. On Tuesday night, Ward continued her strong senior year by winning a match over Northern Durham. Along the way, Ward had to undergo surgery on her right arm less than 18 months ago. Now, she’s recovered and set to end her storied Cedar Ridge career in style. Special thanks to our new Hillsboroughsports.com correspondent, Tim Hackett, for conducting this interview with Ward, who has been very cooperative over the past four years with us in doing interviews. 

As a new feature on Hillsboroughsports.com, we’ll honor the seven best performances from the previous week in fall sports. Last week was a solid one for Cedar Ridge and Orange volleyball. Cedar Ridge women’s tennis defeated Orange for the 11th straight time.

1. Olivia Ward: Won three matches for the Cedar Ridge women’s tennis team last week. She started with a thrilling three-set victory over Chapel Hill’s top singles player, Lauren Bolzan, 4-6, 6-4, and won 10-8 in a ten-point tiebreaker. The following day, Ward defeated Orange’s Jera Hargraves 6-1, 6-4, then teamed with Nora Sauers to win at #1 doubles and capture the dual match for the Red Wolves. The following day, Cedar Ridge edged Bartlett Yancey 5-4 at Red Wolves Tennis Courts. Ward captured her third win in four days, winning a match shortened to one set 8-5.
2. Cameron Lloyd The Cedar Ridge volleyball team won three road matches last week. On Wednesday, they defeated Durham School of the Arts 3-1 at Sykes Gymnasium in Durham. Lloyd, a freshman, finished with 18 kills and 18 digs. The previous week against the Durham School of the Arts in a 3-1 Cedar Ridge win, Lloyd had 15 kills, 18 digs and two aces.
3. Jose Beltran: On Wednesday, the Orange men’s soccer team scored three goals in a 13-minute span during the second half to rally and defeat Eastern Alamance 5-3. Beltran scored the first hat trick of his career, including the game-tying goal in the 62nd minute. Beltran also scored the opener for the Panthers in the 6th minute, and added another tally later in the 1st half as Orange won its home opener. The Panthers are 2-1 going into Tuesday night’s match at Hillside.
4. Kaitlyn Werden: In Orange’s stunning 3-1 volleyball victory over previously unbeaten Person, Werden had ten kills, ten digs two aces, two blocks and 21 assists. On Monday, night, Werden had five kills, two aces, three blocks, and ten digs in a 3-0 win over South Granville in Creedmoor. Orange defeated the Vikings again on Thursday night in Hillsborough.
5. Machai Holt: Though the Orange football team lost to R.J. Reynolds 47-24 in its season opener at Auman Stadium on Friday night, Holt was tremendous in the season-opener. He made an interception on the first play from scrimmage of the season. Holt finished the drive with a five-yard touchdown run. Holt also blocked an extra point, blocked a field goal, and led Orange players with 83 yards from scrimmage.
6. and #7 Anne Morrell and Zoe Wade: The Cedar Ridge women’s cross country team started its season at the Grizzly Grade-Level Growler at the Ivey Redmon Sports Complex on Kernersville on August 24. It was the first of what could be a series of strong performances from the Cedar Ridge women. The event was divided into grade classes for each runner. Morrell won the race featuring exclusively juniors with a time of 13:02.00. She beat her nearest competitor by 27 seconds. Wade won the sophomore race, crossing the finish line at 13:20. Her teammate, Ruby Lapham, finished second in the sophomore race at 13:29. An honorable mention goes to Cedar Ridge freshman Sarah Fenwick, who won the two-mile freshman race at 13:20.