If there was ever a sign of how deep the Central Carolina Conference was in football, it came Saturday morning.
Despite finishing 3-7, the Orange football team is in the 3A State Playoffs for the first time since 2017, when current N.C. State linebacker Payton Wilson did almost everything to get the Panthers to the Big 8 Conference championship.
Despite losing to Eastern Alamance 41-27 in its home finale at Auman Stadium on Friday night, the Panthers actually improved on its RPI rating and drew a #29 seed in the 3A East Region. The Panthers will travel to Hanford Stadium in Graham to face Southern Alamance, the CCC Champions.
On Friday night, the Patriots wrapped up an undefeated run through the league with a 16-14 win over Western Alamance, clinching its first outright conference championship in over 20 years.
Southern Alamance defeated Orange 49-0 on October 13, a night where Patriots running back Jackson Parrish rushed for three touchdowns. Senior Logan Faust ran for 153 yards and two scores.
The Patriots (9-1) moved to 3A over the summer after spending two years as a 4A team in the DAC-VII Conference, where they opposed teams like Chapel Hill, Jordan, Riverside and Hillside.
While Orange hasn’t had a victory since they defeated Cedar Ridge on September 29, they are being rewarded for playing a difficult schedule. Of the Panthers ten opponents, eight made the state playoffs. That includes first-year school Southeast Alamance, who Orange defeated 33-20 on August 18 in the season opener. Vance County, who pulled out a 28-19 win over the Panthers in Henderson on September 1, finished undefeated and won the Northern Lakes Conference.
“I don’t care who we play,” said Orange coach DeVante Pettiford after Orange’s . “I just want to make the playoffs. It’s something that this program needs. I know it’s going to be tough sledding. I know we gotta play teams that are at the top, but we see that every week. The program needs that. Guys around here need to know that we’re good enough to make the playoffs. It’s part of taking steps forward.”
On Friday night, the Eagles prevailed in a penalty-marred matchup more reminiscent of a preseason jamboree than the regular season finale. The two teams combined for 27 penalties amassing 233 yards. The Eagles won despite committing three turnovers, plus a turnover on downs at midfield in the third quarter when a 4th-down conversion was botched because of a fumbled snap.
In his final game at Auman Stadium, senior Tyler Narold caught a touchdown and threw a touchdown pass. The Panthers took a 61-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Hank Nunnery with 6:05 remaining in the first quarter.
The Eagles quickly responded when quarterback Jason Ball threw a 44-yards pass to Charlie Deacon. Running back Joshua Murray carried the ball into the red zone off a 15-yard gain, then scored the Eagles opening touchdown off a six-yard run. Reagan Sawyer’s extra point put the Eagles ahead 7-6.
The Eagles drove to the Orange 16-yard line late in the first quarter, but senior Jayden Medley recovered a fumble. On the next play from scrimmage, Eastern’s Jamari Gibbs picked off a pass from Nunnery.
Murray, who rushed for 104 yards, scored a touchdown from seven yards out early in the second quarter to go ahead 14-6. On the subsequent kickoff, Orange freshman Kayden Bradsher ran it back 85 yards. Only Gibbs stopped Bradsher from scoring.
Brandon Cummings caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Nunnery to put the Panthers within two points. Late in the first half, Eagles junior running back Tyrek Samuels, who finished with 110 yards to go over 1,000 on the season, notched his first touchdown off an 11-yard run.
Samuels would add another touchdown in the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Orange sophomore linebacker Jaylen Starks picked off a pass from Ball and returned it 36 yards. Nate Sorrells, in his final game in Hillsborough, scored a touchdown from three yards out.