As the Orange Middle School football team gathered to receive its second consecutive OPAC Football Championship trophy in front of parents and fans, their athletic director reminded them of the importance of celebrating success quietly.
It was just as well. During the proceeding 90 minutes, the Chargers defense was as calm as a bomb.
Orange Middle forced five turnovers and held the Northern Raiders to ten yards total offense for a 22-0 victory in the Orange Person Athletic Conference championship game at Auman Stadium on Wednesday night. It was the Chargers 2nd straight OPAC title. They finished the season with a 9-0 record.
There was more than just the allure of a championship that provided incentive for the Chargers. Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Payton Wilson, who played at OMS when it was known as Stanford Middle School, sent in a video wishing the team good luck in the lead up to the game. Playing under the bright lights of Auman Stadium as opposed to their middle school stadium down the hill from Orange High, the Chargers marched up together as a team and into the stadium to face their biggest out-of-town rival.
It was Northern Middle who came closest to beating the Chargers during the regular season, scoring 20 points in a September matchup in Roxboro. It took a last minute touchdown from Orange’s Cam Royster and a 2-point run by Robbins to secure the win.
On Wednesday night, the Orange defense made sure no late heroics would be required to beat the Raiders this time. Northern was shutout for the first time all season and contained to four first downs.
“This was the best team I’ve ever coached,” said Orange Middle head coach Jamie Bailey. “Our defense has shut down teams all year long. Our defense line was the most important thing. They were dominant all year long. The defensive line is what makes the defense, man. If you can get pressure and create chaos, you get turnovers, that makes a big difference.”
Ayden DeVore, Amir Johnson, Jakia Rawles and Asher DeVore all recorded tackles for loss for the Chargers in the opening 16 minutes.
The first half was a battle of field position where Orange steadily gained control, though they endured a few missed scoring opportunities. Chargers running back Wilbert Torain had a 25-yard touchdown run called back because of a holding penalty on Orange’s first play from scrimmage.
Brayden Robbins, playing as a defensive back, recovered a long pass thrown across the field by Northern quarterback Kasen Evans that was ruled a lateral and, thus, a fumble. Following the change of possession, Robbins ran the ball on offense to the Raiders 6-yard line on a 12-yard run, Northern’s Jamir McClain stepped in front of a screen pass for an interception where Robbins raced him down from behind for a touchdown-saving tackle with 1:47 remaining in the first quarter.
“Brayden is tough,” Bailey said. “Brayden is a man.”
On the very next play, the Chargers won the ball back when Rawles recovered a fumble created off an edge rush by Ayden Devore.
To open the second quarter, the Chargers Asher DeVore and Amir Johnson teamed up to sack Evans on a 4th-and-13, which led to Orange’s first touchdown. Robbins took off around right end for a 26-yard gain on a designed keeper to penetrate the Raiders red zone. On a second-and-goal, Robbins scooped it to Cam Royster on a shovel pass for a touchdown with 5:04 remaining in the first half. Robbins turned the left corner on a keeper to dance in the end zone on the 2-point conversion.
The Raiders had its only sustained drive of the night on their next series. It started when running back Daelyn Washington ran for 12 yards. Later, Washington would convert a 4th-and-2 by a whisker, but Evans was sacked by Johnson on the next play. On 4th down, Evans threw long to Kazorian Thorpe, who was wide open. But Charger defensive back Jakob Silinski got over to batter the pass away to end the drive.
“Silinski is a guy who has been playing offense all year long,” Bailey said. “Tonight, we decided to play him at cornerback. He’s been begging me to play cornerback. So we took him off offense so he could focus on defense. He had a heckuva game.”
The Chargers defense dominated the second half. After the Raiders drove to the Chargers 31-yard line, Amir Johnson wrestled the ball away from Evans. The loose ball was scooped up by Ayden DeVore, who ran 23 yards for a defensive touchdown. Robbins scored the 2-point conversion to vault the Chargers to a 16-0 lead with 2:52 remaining in the third quarter.
Royster ended the third quarter with an interception of an Evans pass.
Orange went into ball control mode to open the fourth quarter with Johnson getting the main share of the carries out of the I-formation. After Johnson ran for eleven yards, Asher DeVore took a handoff from the fullback position and broke free around right guard for a 28-yard touchdown run.
Torain sacked Evans on the next Raiders drive, jarring the ball free. Jamyrie Thompson recovered the loose ball.
The Raiders had another chance to score on its final drive when McClain threw the ball on a trick play to Evans, but once again Silinski batted the ball free, a perfect cap to a perfect defensive night.
Best of all for Orange Middle, many of the players who asserted themselves defensively were seventh graders who are set to return with a third consecutive OPAC Championship on their minds for 2025.
But that can wait. On Wednesday night, it was all about celebrating properly.
“It means everything,” Bailey said. “Just trying to get football back going in Orange County. That way, we can feed it to the high schools and get them going again. I’m proud of this team, but I’m not surprised. I knew we were going to have a good team and we proved that. This is my favorite team I’ve ever coached.”