Month: September 2018

Garrett Cloer: While he didn’t start at wide receiver for the first time this season, Garrett Cloer played in Cornell’s 43-24 victory over Sacred Heart at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, NY on Saturday afternoon. It was the Big Red’s first win of the season. Cloer, who played quarterback at Orange, started at wide receiver in the Big Red’s opening two games of the season, losses to Delaware and Yale. Next week, Cornell hosts Harvard.

Eryk Brandon-Dean: The former Orange High running back rushed for 14 yards on four carries as Division III Guilford lost its homecoming game to Bridgewater on Saturday afternoon at the Armfield Athletic Center in Greensboro. The Quakers are now 1-2. Brandon-Dean played in two of those games, rushing for 45 yards on 12 carries. Guilford travels to face Randolph-Macon in Ashland, VA next Saturday.

Brittany Daley & Jordan Rogers: Daley, who graduated from Cedar Ridge last summer, went head-to-head with a former high school rival on the college pitch on Saturday. Daley currently plays centerback with Greensboro College, who faced William Peace University at Pride Field. Jordan Rogers, who graduated from Orange in June, started for Peace. Greensboro defeated Peace 3-0 in both team’s USA South Athletic Conference opener. Daley was credited with a shot. Rogers, who scored her first college goal last week, has started all seven games this season for the Pacers. Greensboro is now 8-0. Peace, who was held without a shot on goal, is now 2-4, 0-1 in the USA SAC.

Lionel Reid-Shaw: The Dickinson Red Devils men’s soccer team defeated Ursinus 5-1 in Collegeview, PA. Reid-Shaw got another start for Dickinson and was credited with a shot. Dickinson is now 6-3-1, 3-1 in the Centennial Conference. Reid-Shaw, who graduated from Orange in 2016, has started every game this season for Dickinson. On Tuesday, Dickinson will face Misericordia.

Lili Henry: The Methodist volleyball team split two matches during a tri-match at Mary Baldwin University in Staunton, VA on Saturday. Methodist swept Mary Baldwin 3-0 in the opening match (25-9, 25-20, 25-22). Henry, who graduated from Cedar Ridge in 2017, assisted on 40 of the Monarchs’ 50 kills. Henry also had six digs. Meredith defeated Methodist 3-1 (16-25, 25-14, 27-25, 28-26). Henry finished with 45 assists against the Avenging Angels, as well as one ace and six digs. Methodist is now 8-3 overall, 1-0 in the USA South Athletic Conference.

Bailey Lucas: Also in the tri-match at Mary Baldwin, Lucas played for Meredith in its second match against Mary Baldwin. She had a dig as the Avenging Angels defeated the Flying Squirrels 3-0. After sweeping both of Saturday’s matches, Meredith has won six in a row and is 11-3 overall. Meredith starts a three-match homestand on Tuesday with a match against William Peace. They also host Salem on Thursday.

Jordan Lloyd: Division III Brevard College hosted a USA South Athletic Conference tri-match on Saturday afternoon at Boshamer Gymnasium. LaGrange defeated Brevard 3-1 (25-15, 21-25, 25-17, 25-9). Lloyd, who graduated from Orange in 2017, finished with five kills, two aces, seven digs and one block. Maryville (Tennessee) defeated swept Brevard 3-0 (25-18, 25-13, 25-22). Against the Scots, Lloyd finished with five kills and six digs. Brevard is now 0-14, 0-4 in the USA South Athletic Conference.

Orange Senior Jake DeFranco has made big special teams plays throughout the season. DeFranco, the Panthers’ free safety, returned a punt 34 yards during the 2nd quarter of Orange’s 27-17 victory over Southern Durham on Friday night. On the first play of the 3rd quarter, DeFranco picked off a pass, leading to running back Hunter Pettiford’s first touchdown of the game. DeFranco, who transferred from Cedar Ridge over the summer, will now prepare to face undefeated Northern Durham next Friday at Durham County Stadium. 

Orange Safety Jake DeFranco Talks Win over Southern Durham

Orange Senior Jake DeFranco has made big special teams plays throughout the season. DeFranco, the Panthers’ free safety, returned a punt 34 yards during the 2nd quarter of Orange’s 27-17 victory over Southern Durham on Friday night. On the first play of the 3rd quarter, DeFranco picked off a pass, leading to running back Hunter Pettiford’s first touchdown of the game.

Before Friday night, the Orange Panthers hadn’t defeated the Southern Durham Spartans in Hillsborough since 1985. However, Orange ended that dry spell with a 27-17 victory over the Spartans at Auman Stadium. Hunter Pettiford rushed for 196 yards on 27 carries. Linebackers Colin Guentensberger and Jett Satterfield and nose tackle Jeremiah Bailey all made huge defensive plays throughout the game. Senior co-captain Eryk Mercado helped limit the Southern passing attack, as well as making a huge catch on a 2nd-and-23 for 24 yards in the third quarter, leading to Pettiford’s 2nd touchdown. After an 0-3 start, Orange is now 2-0 in the Big 8 Conference.

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Midway through the 2018 season, it appears the Orange football team has its final schedule set. At least, until the next rainout.

On Thursday night, Orange announced that the Panthers will travel to Randleman on November 2 at 7PM. Randleman replaces Chapel Hill on Orange’s schedule. On August 13, four days before the season opener, Chapel Hill announced it would not field a varsity football team because of a lack of participation.

Randleman is a 2A team that plays in the PAC 7 Conference. They’re currently 5-0 overall, 1-0 in conference play. In 2016, the Tigers won the PAC 7 Conference Championship with a perfect 6-0 record. They finished 11-2 after advancing to the 3rd round of the 2AA State playoffs, where they lost to East Duplin 21-13. Randleman was held under 30 points just twice all of last season, finishing the season with seven consecutive wins by a cumulative total of 328-48.

So far this season, Randleman has defeated Asheboro, Southwestern Randolph, Ledford (who handed Randleman its only regular season last season), and Union Pines. Last week, the Tigers won its PAC 7 Conference opener over Wheatmore 28-14 in Trinity.

Through the course of this week, Orange has gone from nine scheduled games for the 2018 season to eleven. On Monday morning, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association extended the regular season to November 9, citing the number of schools in Coastal and Sandhills Counties that have yet to resume classes because of Hurricane Florence. Within hours of that announcement, Orange rescheduled the Riverside game that was postponed on September 14 because of Florence. The Riverside-Orange game will be the regular season finale for the Panthers.

Because of Cedar Ridge and CHHS not fielding varsity teams and Hurricane Florence, this Orange team will have the unusual distinction of finishing the season with three straight nonconference opponents. On October 26, Eastern Guilford will visit Orange. The Wildcats replaced Cedar Ridge on the schedule the day after the Red Wolves canceled the varsity football season in June.

It was important for the Panthers to get an eleventh game scheduled for playoff purposes. Currently, Orange is 1-3 going into Friday’s night contest against Southern Durham, who have dropped two straight to the Panthers, both at Spartan Stadium.

Orange isn’t the only team playing football schedule gymnastics. On Thursday afternoon, the Cedar Ridge junior varsity team announced that its game against Northern Durham, which was suspended by lightning on Wednesday night, will resume on November 5 at Cedar Ridge Stadium. The Red Wolves and the Knights completed the first quarter tied 6-6 before lightning stopped the proceedings.

There’s no word yet on if Cedar Ridge’s game against Northwood, which was supposed to take place last week, will be rescheduled. The contest was slated for Pittsboro but was postponed because of unplayable grounds at Northwood High.

Despite being the final week of September, Cedar Ridge has only completed three games this season, sporting a 1-2 record. The Red Wolves defeated Rocky Mount Preparatory on September 6 for its first win on the gridiron in over a year.

All Orange varsity and Cedar Ridge junior varsity games can be heard on Hillsboroughsports.com.

Cedar Ridge was set to take the field for the first time in three weeks on Wednesday night, but they only got one quarter in. Cedar Ridge’s game against Northern Durham was stopped because of rain at the end of the first quarter with the game tied at 6-6. Hillsboroughsports.com’s Curran Campbell spoke with Cedar Ridge Football Coach Antonio King about the game and what he’s thought of his team so far.

Cedar Ridge Football Coach Antonio King Discusses the rain-shortened game against Northern DUrham

Cedar Ridge was set to take the field for the first time in three weeks on Wednesday night, but they only got one quarter in. Cedar Ridge’s game against Northern Durham was stopped because of rain at the end of the first quarter with the game tied at 7-7.

Jordan Rogers: Division III William Peace defeated Hollins University 6-0 on Tuesday night in Roanoke, VA. Peace freshman Jordan Rogers, who graduated from Orange in June, scored her first college goal in the 26th minute when she picked up a loose ball and chipped it over the head of Hollins goalkeeper Kendra Rich. In the 57th minute, Rogers picked up her 2nd assist of the season on a goal scored by Alyssa Gasperini. Rogers fired three shots. She has started all six games for the Pacers this season, accumulating 321 minutes. She is credited with 12 shots, four of them on net. William Peace is 1-3-1 with a match set for Thursday against Methodist in the USA South Athletic Conference. During her career at Orange, Rogers was named All-Big 8 Conference all four of her varsity seasons. She was also a BETA Club student.

Lionel Reid-Shaw: The former Orange High star started for Dickinson College in a 2-0 loss to #10 Franklin & Marshall on Wednesday night in Carlisle, PA. The loss ended the Red Devils’ four-game winning streak. They’re now 5-3-1. Reid-Shaw has started all nine of Dickinson’s games. Dickinson is now 2-1 in the Centennial Conference. Reid-Shaw, a junior, played in his 40th game on Tuesday night. In his Dickinson career, Reid-Shaw has started 22 games and has one assist, 12 shots, and four shots on goal. On Saturday, Dickinson will travel to Collegeville, PA to face Ursinus College in another Centennial Conference game. The Red Devils return home on Tuesday to face Misericordia.

Lili Henry: After Hurricane Florence forced the Methodist volleyball team to cancel or postpone six matches, the Division III Monarchs returned to action on Tuesday night. Methodist, after 17 days off, defeated Pfeiffer 3-1 in their USA South Athletic Conference opener. Lili Henry, a 2017 Cedar Ridge graduate, had 40 assists, two aces, and nine digs. Methodist improved to 6-2 overall. Henry currently leads the Monarchs with 219 assists and 16 aces. She has played in all eight of Methodist’s matches, starting six of them. She also has nine kills. The Monarchs return to action on Friday night when they take on Eastern Mennonite in Harrisonburg, VA. There’s no word on when Methodist will make up four matches that were postponed, three of which are USA South Conference matches against Salem, Averett and North Carolina Wesleyan. On Saturday, Methodist returns to USA South Conference play in a tri-match in Staunton, VA. The Monarchs will start the day against Mary Baldwin at noon, then face Meredith, which includes former Orange star Bailey Lucas.

Morgan Sellers: Sellers is a freshman for the Fayetteville State volleyball team. Like Methodist and other areas hit hard by Hurricane Florence, the Broncos have been in a holding pattern waiting for the flooding to relent before starting back with volleyball again. Fayetteville State is slated to return to action on Thursday night against St. Augustine’s at Felton Capel Arena in Fayetteville. The Broncos will enter the match 1-7, 1-2 in the CIAA. So far this season, Sellers, who graduated from Cedar Ridge in June, has played in two matches. She has two kills.

Through teams cancelling varsity football seasons and natural disasters, completing a 10-game football schedule has been a minor miracle for the Orange football team.

After its final nonconference game against Riverside, set for September 14, was washed away because of Hurricane Florence there was some doubt within Orange circles whether the game would be rescheduled. Orange and Riverside have each Friday until the end of the season tied up.

On Monday morning, however, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association did Orange, and largely everyone else with state football playoff hopes, a favor by extending the regular season to November 9. The state playoffs are set to start on November 16. Immediately after the NCHSAA issued its statement, Orange announced that its game against Riverside would be played on November 9 at Auman Stadium.

The move means Orange will take the unusual step of concluding its season with two nonconference games. Orange is slated to host Eastern Guilford on October 26. The Wildcats replaced Cedar Ridge on Orange’s slate after CRHS opted not to field a varsity team this season.

There’s no word on whether Cedar Ridge would reschedule its junior varsity game against Granville Central that was also postponed two weeks ago.

The move by the NCHSAA came amidst more uncertainty from schools along the North Carolina coast and Sandhills. On Monday morning, Brunswick County Schools announced they wouldn’t resume classes until October 5. New Hanover and Pender County Schools haven’t held classes since September 11. Florence also destroyed the gym floor at Wilmington Christian Academy. The situation at Purnell Swett High School in Lumberton was so urgent last Tuesday, Principal Clyde Leviner sent out a tweet urging students to contact the football coaching staff because some of the players weren’t accounted for.

Orange faced a similar situation in 2016 during Hurricane Matthew. Coming off a stunning 49-7 blowout of archrival Southern Durham, the Panthers’ home game against Northwood was postponed to the following Monday because of rain. Orange defeated the Chargers 19-3…and then along came Matthew.

The hurricane forced Orange’s (final) trip to Northern Vance to be moved up to a Thursday night, leaving Orange to play two games in four days. Yet again, the Orange defense pitched a shutout, blanking the Vikings 14-0 in what turned out to be the final game ever between the two teams. It was one of five shutouts posted by the Orange defense, which included future N.C. State linebacker Payton Wilson, future Vanderbilt defensive end Stone Edwards and Ryan Sellers, now a walk-on at East Carolina. That Orange defense, arguably the best in school history, set the tone for the Panthers’ first undefeated regular season since 1978 and its second consecutive Big 8 Conference Championship.

Many schools across Cumberland County are scrambling to finish all ten (or eleven, as the case may be) games by the November 9 deadline. Several schools will play two games in five days this week. On Tuesday night, Grey’s Creek, Pine Forest, E.E. Smith and Douglas Byrd all played, and they all have contests scheduled again this Friday. Cape Fear and Overhills will play Wednesday night, then again on Monday.