Month: March 2021

It was the end of the line for Orange lacrosse seniors Leif Mahaney, Duncan Grant and Tristin Watson in the 3A/2A/1A/ State Lacrosse quarterfinals on Monday night. East Chapel Hill scored six unanswered goals to beat the Panthers 15-12 at Auman Stadium. The seniors on Orange’s team can say they did something that no other Panther team had ever done. They reached the state quarterfinals and won a conference championship. Long stick midfielder Duncan Grant scored two goals. Midfielder Leif Mahaney helped sophomore Jake Wimsatt to numerous face off wins in the first half by getting to ground balls. Tristin Watson provided reliable defense. As Orange looks to the future, the class of 2021 will be remembered for laying a foundation that the success of later generations will be built on.

The Cedar RIdge softball team breezed to its first win of the season on Monday. 3rd baseman Takia Nichols, who homered off the scoreboard in the Red Wolves’ home opener last year against West Johnston, drilled a deep drive to dead center for her second dinger off the year against Chapel Hill on Monday. It was Nichols’ 15th career home run, which is believed to be the school record. That’s despite the fact that Takia draws an incredible amount of walks. Cedar Ridge is 1-1 as they travel to Orange on Tuesday. It’s an important game for the Red Wolves, as it always is against its crosstown rival. Only the first meetings will count in the Big 8 Conference standings this year. Last week, Cedar Ridge lost to Northwood, so the matchup against the Lady Panthers takes on increased importance, particularly after Orange opened the season with a victory over East Chapel Hill last week. Nichols continues to add her name to the Cedar Ridge record book, even during a pandemic, which shortened her sophomore season to four games and will limit her junior season, as well Cedar Ridge hosts Northern Durham on Thursday.

Jaden Hurdle: The former Orange High first baseman had a big weekend as Patrick Henry Community College swept Cleveland Community College in a doubleheader on Sunday. Collectively, Hurdle went 6-for-7 with two doubles, a home run and four RBIs as the Patriots swept the doubleheader 5-3 and 23-3 in Shelby. In the opening game, Hurdle went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, and a run scored after a home run. According to records from the National Junior College Athletic Association, it was Hurdle’s second home run this season. In the second game, Hurdle went 4-for-4 with two double. She scored twice with two RBIs. Hurdle closed the second game as pitcher. She threw two-and-two thirds innings. She surrendered three hits, one run and one walk with two strikeouts.

Mia Davidson: #5 Florida swept the Mississippi State softball team over the weekend at Nusz Park in Starkville, MS. In Friday’s 1-0 loss to the Gators, Davidson hit a double.

Montana Davidson: Montana started all three games against Florida at third base. The Bulldogs are 15-11 overall, 0-6 in the Southeastern Conference.

Tori Dalehite: Dalehite scored in the opening game of the UNC Greensboro softball team’s doubleheader against Elon on Friday. In the Spartans’ 11-3 win over the Phoenix, Dalehite replaced Kayleigh Willis as a pinch runner. Dalehite scored off a wild pitch in the 4th inning to increase the Spartans lead to 6-1. UNCG split the Friday doubleheader, but swept Elon in another doubleheader on Saturday. UNCG is 13-6.

Kaylen Campbell: A member of Orange’s 2016-17 Big 8 Women’s Basketball Conference Championship team, forward Kaylen Campbell was honored on Senior Night for the Division III Trinity College over the weekend. Campbell’s senior year was canceled because of the pandemic, but the Bantams played two exhibition games against Connecticut College on Saturday and Sunday. Campbell was named a Captain for this year’s team. Last year, Campbell played in 20 games for the Bantams and averaged 2.6 points and 2.1 rebounds. She is majoring in music at Trinity and is the co-founder of Trinity’s Athletes of Color Coalition. At Orange, Campbell was the Captain of a team that won a school-record 21 consecutive games to open the season, swept the Big 8 regular season and postseason tournaments and reached the third round of the 3A state playoffs.

Bryse Wilson: Wilson had a strong spring training start for the Atlanta Braves on Saturday. He allowed one run over 4 and two-thirds innings as the Braves defeated Boston 8-2. Wilson is 2-0 this spring. He surrendered five hits and three walks with three strikeouts. In the first at-bat of the game, Wilson had a comebacker go off his calf, but remained in the game until the fifth inning.

Landon Riley: The Liberty Flames closer didn’t get a save this weekend. He got his first win instead. On Saturday, Riley threw the ninth inning in Liberty’s 3-2 win over VCU. He entered with the game tied 2-2 and threw another shutout inning. He surrendered two walks and struck out one batter. The Flames got the win in the bottom of the ninth when Aaron Anderson hit a walkoff double to left field. Liberty has won eleven in a row, including a two-game sweep of UCF and two midweek wins over North Carolina.

Joey Berini: #9 East Carolina fell to UNC Wilmington 10-2 at Brooks Field in Wilmington last Wednesday. Joey Berini entered the game in the eighth inning as a pinch hitter and grounded out to third base. East Carolina rebounded to sweep a weekend series against Illinois State. Berini has played in three games this season for the Pirates.

Phil Berger: The former Cedar Ridge pitcher started the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader against Brevard College. Brevard swept the doubleheader, taking the nightcap 9-7. Berger earned a no-decision. He completed four innings and surrendered four hits, two runs and one walk. Berger struck out six. Through six games, Berger is 2-1 with a 2.14 ERA for the Pacers. He has ten walks and 16 strikeouts.

Dylan Boyer: The Lenoir-Rhyne men’s lacrosse team, ranked #5 in Division II, defeated # 12 Queen’s University 15-7 on Saturday night at Dickson Field in Charlotte. Former Orange High midfielder Dylan Boyer actually helped the Royals build a 3-1 lead. He scored two goals, including an unassisted marker in the first quarter. Boyer added a man-up goal in the fourth quarter. It was his first goals at the college level. Queen’s is 3-3 overall, 3-1 in the South Atlantic Conference.

Jaylin Jones: The Division III Pfeiffer men’s lacrosse team defeated William Peace 21-9 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Raleigh on Wednesday night. Jones scooped up a ground ball for the Falcons. On Sunday, Pfeiffer defeated Methodist 18-8 at Lefko Field in Misenheimer. Jones also played for the Falcons and had another ground ball.

Luke Hernandez: Hernandez, a member of Cedar Ridge’s 2017 Eastern Regional Championship team, entered the game as a defenseman for the Falcons in the victory over Peace. Hernandez has played in two games this season. Pfeiffer is 5-1, and sits atop the USA South Athletic Conference at 3-0.

Adam Chnupa: The Elon Phoenix football team fell to William & Mary 31-10 at Zable Stadium in Williamsburg, VA on Saturday. Chnupa, the former All-Conference selection in football at Cedar Ridge, got some snaps on offense for the Phoenix.

Photo by Bernard Thomas

In its most basic form, the double wing offense is built on power and deception.

If it’s operated the way it’s supposed to, the double wing can wear opposing defenses down, generate long drives that takes lots of time off the clock, keep an potentially explosive quarterback off the field and puts the ball in the hands of many skill players, if they’re available.

In other words, basically what Orange did on Saturday night.

After an early hiccup, Orange scored 22 unanswered points to defeat Vance County 22-8 at Auman Stadium. Senior Eric Brooks, who had never scored in his varsity career, finished with three touchdowns.

No less than ten players registered carries for Orange as they piled up a season-high 238 rushing yards in its second game with a new look offense engineered by senior quarterback Jayce Hodges, who replaced the now-departed Nigel Slanker against Northern Durham on March 12.

Orange is 2-1, the first time since September 2017 that the Panthers have been over .500.

“(Offensive coordinator) Coach (Marty) Scotten told the guys after the game that the style we’re running can run down the opposing team,” said Orange Coach Van Smith. “You can tell they got worn down. They were taking knees in between plays.”

After being held to a dismal 50 yards total offense and three first downs in the season opener against Southern Durham, Orange’s new double wing alignment has shown week-to-week improvement. Against Northern Durham, the Panthers had 151 yards, ten first downs, but finished 3-of-11 on 3rd down conversions. Against Vance County, they had 250 yards total offense, a season-high 16 first downs and was 8-of-15 on 3rd down conversions.

Orange shifted the pace of the game midway through the second quarter, when Vance County held an 8-7 lead. With 8:23 remaining in the first half, Orange started a drive at its own 11-yard line. From that point forward the Panthers ran 30 of the next 36 plays from scrimmage.

Orange opened the second half with a 10-play, 66-yard drive that took 4:59 off the clock, but it easily could have fizzled earlier. On 3rd-and-10, J.J. Torres took the ball from Elliott Woods on a double handoff and pushed forward for a 12-yard gain to move the sticks. And the shape of the game changed.

Orange began finding more running room as the Vance County defensive front logged more minutes. Brooks dashed around right end for a 13-yard gain to barge into the red zone, then scored his second touchdown over right guard. He also added the two-point conversion to push Orange ahead 14-8.

On the next Vance County play, Hodges intercepted a pass that was tipped by Elijah Dansler. Hodges returned the interception 34 yards. On third-and-goal, Brooks cashed in for the third touchdown.

For the second week in a row, Orange’s opponent got a touchdown on its opening drive and didn’t score again. Vance County Carl Stephens broke two Orange tackles and won a footrace to the end zone for a 70-yard touchdown run. Quarterback Israel Terry’s pass on the two-point conversion was tipped by Connor Ray, but caught by Kevon Burton only 30 seconds into the game.

Stephens had 80 yards rushing after the first drive, but finished with 86.

After scuffling on its first two drives, Brooks’ first touchdown came with :13 seconds remaining in the 1st quarter. After Jackson Wood converted a 4th-and-1 from the Vipers 35-yard line, Brooks carried the ball on a end sweep and followed the blocks of Jaylen Partin and Brendon Worsham to turn the corner into the end zone.

Late in the third quarter, Vance County had a classic Griswald Drive, going 12 plays and 63 yards only to find that Wally World was closed. Terry converted two 3rd downs, including a scramble for 15 yards to the Orange 29-yard line. Terry hit Stephens for a 7-yard gain to put the ball in the red zone, but the drive ended after an incompletion on fourth down courtesy of a pressure by Orange defensive lineman Will Torain.

Vance County’s last two drives ended with interceptions by Panther junior safety Elijah Danley, including one on the final play of the game.

Orange will start the second half of the season against Northwood in Pittsboro on Friday. Last year, the Chargers had a 24-6 lead against the Panthers, only to lose in overtime.

With Southern Durham in the driver’s seat for a second consecutive conference crown, next week’s game could decide who received the second playoff birth from the Big 8.

“It’s exciting to see those guys develop and grow confidence in the offensive line,” said Orange Coach Van Smith. “They’re getting confidence in their quarterback and themselves. It’s fun to watch.”

ORANGE 22, VANCE COUNTY 8

VC–8 0 0 0-8

OR–7 0 15 0-22

VC–Carl Stephens 70 run (Israel Terry to Kevon Burton)

OR-Eric Brooks 31 run (Darius Satterfield kick)

OR-Brooks 5 run (Brooks run)

OR-Brooks 1 run (Satterfield kick)

RUSHING–Vance County 27-193 (Carl Stephens 5-86 TD, Israel Terry 11-55, Dave Vines-Holder 8-54, Chico Taylor 2-2)

ORANGE–58-238 (Brooks 9-76 3TD, J.J. Torres 14-63, Elliott Woods 14-27, Nate Sorrells 3-25, Jayce Hodges 5-18, Connor Ray 3-13, Nate Hecht 2-13, Jackson Wood 2-3, Jabari Albright 2-2, Will Torian 3-0, team 1-(-2))

PASSING–VANCE COUNTY 3-18 18 yards 3 INT (Allen 3-17 18 yards 3 INT, Sai Mir best 0-1)

ORANGE (Hodges 1-4 12 yards)

RECEIVING–VANCE COUNTY (Kemarrues Jones 1-7, Stephens 1-4, Burton 1-4)

ORANGE (Woods 1-12)

Orange’s Eric Brooks scored three rushing touchdowns in the Panthers 22-6 win over Vance County on Saturday night at Auman Stadium. With Orange trailing 8-0 late in the first quarter, Brooks scored on a sweep from 32 yards out. On Orange’s first drive of the second quarter, Brooks ended a 10-play, 56-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown run, then tacked on the 2-point run for good measure. Brooks ended the night with a career-best 76 rushing yards as Orange defeated Vance County for the first time in school history. Brooks also started in the secondary on defense. Since adjusting to a double wing offense last week, Brooks has been one of the highlight backs in a rushing heavy attack. The Panthers will travel to Northwood next week in a game that could determine a spot in the state playoffs.

We’re introducing a new honor on Hillsboroughsports.com. We’re honoring the interior lineman who best leads his team to victory, even if he doesn’t stand out on the stat sheet. It’s the Hillsborough Hardcore Championship, and the very first honoree is Orange guard/defensive tackle, senior Dari’us Matkins. On Saturday night against Vance County, Matkins was the leader on an offensive line that rushed for a season-best 225 yards as the Panthers defeated the Vipers 22-8. Against Northern Durham last week, Matkins made two tackles for loss as Orange defeated the Knights 7-6. Matkins has been a grizzled veteran of the offensive line the past three years. We’re honored to highlight the first Hillsborough Hardcore Champion, Orange’s Dari’us Matkins.