The fall sports season for Hillsborough middle schools ended with two local team appearing in the Orange-Person Athletic Conference Championship games.
On October 30, Southern Middle School led Stanford 14-0 in the OPAC Football Championship game in Roxboro. The game was stopped a few minutes into the third quarter after Stanford linebacker Jeremy Morrow suffered a concussion following a hard hit. According to Kelly Snow of PersonCountySportsNow.com, one of Southern’s assistant coaches is an ER nurse who treated Morrow immediately. After staying at Duke Children’s Hospital for one night, Morrow was released and returned home. Stanford ends the year 5-3.
On the same day, the Gravelly Hill football team defeated the Stanback Bulldogs 16-6 to conclude its season. Maliky Poole opened the scoring with a 20-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Derick Yanko. On the subsequent 2-point conversion, Yanko scored to push the Grizzlies lead to 8-0.
Gravelly’s other touchdown came when Yanko threw to Mason Cates. Yanko added another 2-point run on the point after.
Running back Tyler Fields had a strong all-around game for the Grizzlies. He had several strong runs on offense and made big tackles on defense as a linebacker.
In addition to his touchdown, Cates had an interception, a fumble recovery and several big tackles on defense. Christian Moore also had a solid day for the Grizzlies to conclude the season at 3-4.
Boy’s Soccer: The Gravelly Hill boys soccer team claimed its 3rd straight OPAC Northern Division championship when they defeated Phillips 5-1. Nathan Sorrells had a hat trick for the Grizzlies, while Konnor Johnson and Carson Condon each scored for the Grizzlies. Smith Middle School defeated the Grizzlies for the OPAC Championship.
Also in the final week of October, the Stanback Bulldogs defeated Stanford 4-0 to conclude its season. It was a special night for the Stanback 8th graders who won its final home game. The Bulldogs were coached by J.P. Joubert and Mary-Kathryn Scheppegrell.
Kevin Wright: In Sunday’s Alumni Update, we didn’t include Kevin Wright’s latest game because he was erroneously reported as having not played during North Carolina Wesleyan’s game against Huntingdon on Saturday. In fact, Wright did play as Wesleyan won 23-7 at Samford Stadium in Montgomery, AL. Wright was credited with three tackles as the Battling Bishops improved to 5-4 overall, 4-2 in the USA South Athletic Conference. Wesleyan will conclude its season against Maryville on Senior Day in Rocky Mount on Saturday.
Finally, last week during a column I wrote regarding the Chapel Hill-Orange rivalry, I mentioned that Orange High School never received a golden football from the National Football League despite the fact that 1993 Orange graduate Alvis Whitted had played in Super Bowl XXXVII for the Oakland Raiders against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That was incorrect. In fact, Orange did receive a gold football from the NFL in 2016 for the 50th anniversary of the Super Bowl and is, in fact, in the trophy case outside the Orange High Gymnasium. I apologize to the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell for the error.
Speaking of which, Whitted is now the wide receivers coach for the Green Bay Packers. Whitted left Colorado State last year and joined the Packers over the summer. He actually started he coaching career at Orange before reaching the college ranks.