Sometimes to take a step forward, you have to take a step back.
Just a month ago, Northern Durham’s offense was lagging after a 27-7 loss to Riverside. Despite a 3-1 record, the Knights had been held under 200 yards three times.
After getting shut out 13-0 by Southern Durham, third year head coach John Hammett made drastic changes. He installed Caleb Steele, the team’s leading wide receiver, as its new quarterback and basically turned his offense from a double wing into a wishbone.
The results have been immediate.
After piling up 510 yards in a 47-12 win over Cedar Ridge last week, the Knights rolled past Orange 31-14 on Friday night inside Auman Stadium. The Knights (5-2, 2-1 in the Big 8 Conference) received a strong effort from junior running back Anthony Freeman, who finished with 122 yards and two touchdowns.
Orange (2-5, 1-2) never recovered after a dismal first quarter, where they failed to pick up a first down in four series. Northern scored on its first play from scrimmage when Freeman carried around right end for a 55-yard scamper. Following a 14-yard punt on Orange’s 2nd 3-and-out, Northern only had to drive 34 yards for its second touchdown, a two-yard run by Steele.
After totaling a season-low 146 yards last week in a 28-14 loss to Southern Durham, Orange was held to 144 against Northern.
Senior Machai Holt finished with 111 yards from scrimmage and scored both of Orange’s touchdowns.
Now, Orange ventures into the final four games needing to run the table in order to secure a winning regular season and likely to make the playoffs. After its most lopsided loss since dropping a 47-24 decision to R.J. Reynolds, Coach Van Smith sounded concerned about his team’s confidence.
“I just told them that I don’t think they understand how good you are,” Smith said after a postgame meeting with his team. “And it baffles me and it confuses me and it hurts me. I think last season (where Orange finished 3-8) was a kick in the pants. And we’ve had some bumps this season. I think our mental state is a little bit down now.”
After Orange bolted out to a 14-0 lead against Southern Durham last week, they were shut out in its final ten series. Eight of those possessions ended without a first down.
In the first half against Northern, Orange remained in neutral. They ended the first quarter with minus-5 yards. The only Orange drove in the first half that crossed midfield came late in the first half, where Orange drove 45 yards on nine plays. The largest gain came when quarterback Wyatt Jones hit sophomore Omarion Lewis on a 14-yard screen pass. The drive stalled once Orange reached the red zone, and ended when Northern’s Darius Channer picked off a pass in the back of the end zone.
Trailing 17-0 at the half, Orange won a battle of field position to get on the scoreboard. Jones found Holt for a 32-yard touchdown pass. Nigel Slanker’s extra point cut the Northern lead to 17-7.
And as quickly as momentum arrived for Orange, it vanished. Javion Hart returned the subsequent kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown to end any drama for the rest of the night.
“I can’t remember the last time when gave up a kickoff return for a touchdown,” Smith said. “It was demoralizing.”
Trey Grizzle recovered a fumble late in the third quarter. The Panthers, who came into the game scoring 30% of its points off turnovers, added seven more when Holt scored off a fullback dive when Orange went with four backs in the backfield out of a T-formation.
Freeman added another touchdown late for Northern long after the game decided that didn’t exactly go over well along the Orange sideline.
Next week, Orange will make its first-ever trip to Vance County for a game that could determine its playoff hopes.
“We’ve got some good senior leadership, we’ve got some good junior leadership,” Smith said. “We’ll buck up a little bit and we’ll come back next week. We have a chance to win four straight. We’ll see what happens.”
NORTHERN DURHAM 31, ORANGE 14
ND-14 3 7 7-31
OR-0 0 7 7-14
ND-Anthony Freeman 55 run (David Brock kick)
ND-Caleb Steele 2 run (Brock kick)
ND-Borck 41 FG
OR-Machai Holt 32 pass from Wyatt Jones (Nigel Slanker kick)
ND-Javion Hart 99 kickoff return (Brock kick)
OR-Holt 1 run (Slanker kick)
ND-Freeman 6 run (Brock kick)
RUSHING-NORTHERN DURHAM 48-283 3 TD (Freeman 21-122 2 TD, Jaylon Chestnut 3-74, Bryant Jones 6-46, Steele 10-28 TD, Nassir Spencer 4-10, Kendrick Brown 2-4, team 1-(minus-1)
ORANGE: 32-71 (Holt 13-69 TD, Elliott Woods 4-18, Jake DeFranco 1-(minus 2), Omarion Lewis 8-(minus 3), Wyatt Jones 6-(minus 11).
PASSING: NORTHERN DURHAM (Steele 1-3 4 yards); ORANGE (Jones 7-20 73 yards, INT)
RECEIVING: NORTHERN DURHAM (Freeman 1-4)
ORANGE (Lewis 4-21, Holt 2-42 TD, Zyon Pettiford 1-10)