Jeff Hamlin

To listen to the Orange-Fike game, go to Jeff Hamlin on Facebook. The link is there. Sorry for the confusion!

The Orange Panthers lost its season opener on Tuesday night to Leesville Road 76-65. Connor Crabtree had 28 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field. The Panthers seek its first win of the season on Saturday at Millsbrook High School against Rolesville. Tipoff is at 12:30.

Orange Coach Greg Motley Discusses Loss to Leesville Road

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For nearly 20 years, Greg Motley has had to focus on coaching one team at Orange.

This year will be unique because he’ll be coaching two teams. The one he has now, and the one who he’ll have at the beginning of 2017. If not sooner.

The Orange team that took the floor on Tuesday night in the HighSchoolOT.com season tipoff against Leesville Road had ten players. Of those, eight played. Three of those were freshman who would be playing on the junior varsity under normal circumstances.

These aren’t normal circumstances. Orange is without Ryan Sellers, Devondrez Moore, Jackson Schmid, and possibly two other players who are still playing football. If Orange makes a deep run in the playoffs, those players may not see the hardwood until after Christmas.

Motley has known this for over a month and prepared accordingly for Tuesday night. To paraphrase the infamous words of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at the height of the Iraq war, Motley went into the game with the army he had, not the army he might have wanted.

Orange almost won anyway.

Leading 59-58 with 3:58 remaining, the Panthers, which played with a six-man rotation,  got tired down the stretch trying to defend Leesville Road’s three-guard lineup. The Pride finished the game on a 18-8 run to defeat Orange 76-66.

Leesville Road advanced to Saturday’s championship game against Riverside. Orange will face Roseville Saturday at 12:30.

As expected, Orange was led by its two leading scorers from last season. Connor Crabtree, who signed with UNC-Asheville last week, had 28 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field. Center Logan Vosburg finished with 14 points and eleven rebounds. In his first varsity game, Mitch Portman had 13 points while freshman Joey McMullin had ten.

The Pride was led by Jalen Benjamin’s 25 points while D.J. Horne added 19.

Orange led 27-21 with 4:21 remaining in the first half behind Crabtree’s 12 first half points. But Leesville Road finished the half on a 11-1 run to take a 31-28 lead.

The lack of depth along Orange’s first line led to the Pride getting 19 offensive rebounds, leading to 68 field goal attempts compared to Orange’s 41. The Panthers had one offensive rebound. Vosburg had little help on the boards. He grabbed eleven rebounds, while the rest of the team had eleven combined.

The Pride’s pressure defense forced 23 Orange turnovers while LRHS committed only seven.

After Saturday, the Panthers play its first home game on Tuesday, November 29th against East Chapel Hill. It will be a varsity doubleheader, starting with the girls game at 5:30.

It’s impossible to have a defense that’s yielded only three touchdowns all season without a good secondary. That’s what Orange safety Keshawn Thompson has delivered to the team this season. Thompson is not only excellent in coverage, but he’s a threat at the line of scrimmage to blitz. Thompson has made 17 tackles for loss, two sacks, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries. He was also named the Extra Effort Award Winner from WRAL’s Tom Suiter last month.

Orange Panther of the Week: Keshawn Thompson

Keshawn Thompson has been the anchor of the Orange secondary during its undefeated romp through the regular season. The senior safety has made 17 tackles for loss, two interception and two fumble recoveries this season. This video featured appearances by Kendall Whitted and Payton Wilson after Orange defeated Oxford Webb in its regular season finale.

The Orange Panthers has received the #2 Mideast Seed in the 3A state playoffs and will face 6-5 WIlson Fike from the Big East Conference.

The bracket can be found here.

It’s the first time that Orange has been in the 3-A bracket. For the past three years, the Panthers have been in the 3-AA playoffs. In 2013 and 2014, the Panthers made it to the 3rd round. Each time, the Panthers lost to eventual state champions: Southern Durham (2013) and Northern Guilford (2014)

The irony of being in the “smaller” playoff is Orange will likely face tougher competition, at least if you trust the Associated Press High School Football Polls.

Of the top ten teams ranked in 3A football, seven will compete in the 3A playoff. In fact, Orange may face Havelock, ranked 5th in the state, in the 2nd round.

Orange is #3 in the state. Also in the 3-A playoffs: Lenoir Hibriten, ranked #1 in the state; Southern Nash, who earned the #1 Mideast seed (#2 in the state); West Craven (#4); Havelock (#5); Rocky Mount (#7); and Canton Pisgah (#9).

The seeding was changed this year by the NCHSAA to reduce the possibility of conference opponents facing each other in the opening rounds of the playoffs. Teams were divided into Mideast and East and were matched up against each other. Orange received the #2 seed in the Mideast behind Southern Nash. Each squad finished 11-0. Southern Nash received the tiebreaker advantage because they were higher ranked on MaxPreps.

The 3-A State Championship game will be held on December 16th or 17th at a location to be determined.

All Orange playoff games can be heard here on HillsboroughSports.com

After receiving offers from Appalachian State, Lehigh and several other Division I schools, Orange forward Connor Crabtree officially signed with UNC-Asheville on Tuesday. He talked about his aspirations for the upcoming season and the future.

Connor Crabtree Talks Signing with UNC-Asheville

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It was Signing Day for many local athletes on Wednesday. Orange center Logan Vosburg signed with Roanoke College in front of Coach Greg Motley, parents and students in Jim King Gymnasium. Logan discussed with HillsboroughSports.com why he chose the school located in Salem, Virginia, and his goals for his senior year.

Orange Center Logan Vosburg Discusses Signing with Roanoke

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This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is cross country runner Elizabeth Zarzar. The senior finished third in the 3-A Mideast Regional Cross Country meet at Northwood High School last Saturday with a time of 20:05. That followed a third place finish at the Big 8 Conference Championships at Chapel Hill High School. It was a strong meet for the Big 8 Conference, as eight of the top ten runners were from Big 8 schools. Cedar Ridge’s Julie Averette finished 8th. Elizabeth also competes in indoor and outdoor track under Cedar Ridge track coach Larry Faucette. Her personal best in the 800 meters is 2:40.20.

On Saturday afternoon, Elizabeth, Averett and fellow Cedar Ridge Red Wolf Ian Elliott will compete in the 3-A State Championship meet at the Ivey M. Redmond Sports Complex in Kernersville.

Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week : Elizabeth Zarzar

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This week Orange Panther of the Week is senior quarterback Jackson Schmid. Last week, Schmid threw for three touchdowns as the Panthers defeated J.F. Webb 49-0. Jackson finished the season throwing 13 touchdowns and 831 yards. He will go down as the quarterback for the first Orange team to go undefeated in the regular season in 38 years.

Orange Panther of the Week: Jackson Schmid

Last week, Schmid concluded the regular season by throwing for three touchdowns as the Panthers defeated Oxford Webb to win the Big 8 Championship. Schmid is the quarterback for the first Orange team to have a perfect regular season in 38 years.

The North Carolina High School Athletic Association released its newest Average Daily Membership numbers on Thursday afternoon, which will be used to set up the upcoming state football playoffs.

The numbers show that Orange High has the lowest ADM of any Big 8 Conference school that will make the playoffs (1,201). The only schools in the Big 8 that have lower ADMs are Cedar Ridge (1,159), Northern Vance (840), and J.F. Webb (875). Northern Vance and Webb will drop down to 2A at the conclusion of the academic year.

The new numbers mean Orange could find themselves playing for the 3-A state championship, or the “Little 3 title,” instead of the 3-AA state championship that Orange has played for each of the past three seasons.

For those unfamiliar with the playoff process, 64 3A teams make the state playoffs. The ADM of those 64 teams are totaled, then divided to finalize an average. Schools whose ADMs fall above the mean qualify for the 3-AA state playoffs. Schools that fall below it compete for the 3-A state playoffs.

Orange hovers near the borderline.

Based on projections from WRAL, if these 64 teams make the playoffs, the mean will be 1,287.

Of course, there’s still two weeks to go in high school football’s regular season because of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association extending the campaign by one week due to Hurricane Matthew’s flooding delaying games for school in the southeast.

Orange finished its regular season last week with a perfect 11-0 record and the Big 8 Championship. It’s the first time the Panthers have gone undefeated during the regular season since 1978.

Don’t forget, things can change. Some of the teams WRAL has slated to make the playoffs, in either the east or west region, may miss out. A school with a much smaller ADM could get in, which may lower the average and vault Orange into the 3-AA playoffs. It won’t take very many alterations since Orange is only 86 students below the borderline.

Time will tell with Selection Saturday coming up on November 12th.

If Orange goes to the 3A bracket, they won’t face Southern Durham in the playoffs. Or Northwood, for that matter.

Instead, the Panthers will likely find themselves in the same tournament as the top six teams in 3A football, according to the most recent poll from the Associated Press.

Among the squads likely to play for the 3A championship: Lenoir Hibriten (ranked #1 in the state with an ADM of 1,014); Southern Nash (ranked #3 with an ADM of 1,101); West Craven (ranked #4, ADM: 971); Havelock (ranked #5, ADM 1, 077);

Orange is currently #2 in the state after receiving three first place votes in last week’s poll.

While ADM changes from year-to-year, it’s worth noting that Orange and Cedar Ridge have the lowest ADMs among the schools that will comprise the new Big 8 conference starting next year. Hillside, who claimed its 7th consecutive 4-A PAC-6 championship last week and will drop down to 3-A in 2017, has the highest at 1,589. The Hornets are just ahead of Northern Durham (1,562) and Chapel Hill (1,532). Northwood, which competed in the 3-A playoffs in 2013, has ballooned to 1,407, ahead of East Chapel Hill (1,376).

The Department of Public Instruction defines ADM as ” The total number of school days within a given term – usually a school month or school year – that a student’s name is on the current roll of a class, regardless of his/her being present or absent, is the “number of days in membership” for that student.”