Orange Football

It may not always stand out, but any good offense in football starts with a good snap.

It’s the ignition to any hot car, the prologue to any good book, the backbeat to a flawless band.

Without a good backbeat, the band sounds like Maroon 5. And without a good snap, an offense looks like the New York Jets.

That’s where Orange found itself far too often in the most unique season opener in team history.

In the final game between the two rivals in the Big 8 Conference, Southern Durham defeated Orange 20-0 on Friday night at Auman Stadium. The Spartans (2-0, 2-0 in the Big 8) defeated the Panthers for the second straight time and finished 7-3 against Orange in their eight years as conference rivals.

Southern quarterback Omari Smith, a four-year starter, threw two touchdown passes as the Spartans claimed its eleventh consecutive Big 8 Conference win. Wide receiver Cinsere Clark had five receptions for 82 yards.

Orange, in its season debut, took the Spartans out of its offensive pattern for the meat of the game. But the offense, with only two returning starters, could only muster 65 yards total offense and three first downs (not counting two pass interference penalties against Southern).

The biggest part of the problem stemmed from a practice last week. Orange’s starting center broke his right thumb, which was the hand he uses to snap. Ethan Fortner played on Friday night, but was forced to use his left hand. That led to repeated snaps that went over the head of 6-foot-5 senior quarterback Nigel Slanker.

Orange coach Van Smith inserted two other centers, but Southern’s pass rush kept the Panther offense in second gear. Orange crossed the 50-yard line only twice.

“You have to have consistency,” said Orange Coach Van Smith. “We weren’t very consistent and that hurt us quite a bit.”

Southern scored touchdowns on its first two possessions. Smith found Clark for a 37-yard reception to invade the Orange red zone, then Clark caught a touchdown pass two plays later from 15 yards out. Alex Phelps ran in a two-point play on a trick play to put Southern ahead 8-0.

Bad snaps cost Orange 30 yards in field position on its second drive, which forced Slanker to put from his own end zone. After Smith hit Clark on a 22-yard gain on a jailbreak screen, Ariyon Page crossed the goal line off a jet sweep.

From that point forward, the Orange defense largely took Southern out of the game. On its next seven drives, the Spartans were shut out and held to four first downs. Smith completed six of his first seven passes, but completed just two of his next six and was sacked twice.

“I was so proud of the defense,” Smith said. “Last year, we opened against R.J. Reynolds, and they played the opening week while we had a bye. It was the same thing in this game. It’s hard to have a bye and then play a team that’s already had a game. You can’t simulate game speed in practice. You need to iron out little things, like bad snaps.”

Orange’s best chance to score came on its final possession of the first half when Slanker found Elliott Woods for a 33-yard gain. Southern free safety Shawn Chappell saved a touchdown after he tackled Woods at the Southern 7-yard line. After J.J. Torres was wrestled down for a one-yard loss, Orange was hit with a personal foul penalty. The Panthers eventually shanked a 38-yard field goal wide left.

Orange had more opportunities in the third quarter, opening two drives near midfield. They both ended in turnovers.

Orange committed four turnovers, all in the second half.

Smith broke Southern out of its doldrums in the fourth quarter when he hit Jawalace Holmes for a 57-yard gain. Jaybron Harvey, a starting forward for Southern’s basketball team, scored the Spartans’ only touchdown of the second half on a 7-yard pass from Smith.

There was a sense of finality in the postgame, where Southern Coach Darius Robinson and Smith embraced at midfield. It was a moment of respect in a rivalry the had plenty of contentious moments over the past eight years, which is to be expected with two teams full of competitors.

It wasn’t long ago that the Orange-Southern game would determine the Big 8 Conference champion. For six straight years, it did, featuring names like Kendall Hinton, now with the Denver Broncos. Or Payton Wilson, possibly the best linebacker in the ACC. Or Bryse Wilson, who earned a victory in the National League Championship Series last October for the Atlanta Braves. Or Maurice Trowell, Hinton’s favorite target on Southern’s 2013 3-AA State Championship team who went on to play at N.C. State.

Through the 80s and 90s, Southern and Orange fought to become the kings of Orange-Durham County football, only to always get knocked down the hill by Northern Durham, who captured 17 consecutive PAC-6 Conference championships. That domination ended when Southern claimed the state title. Later, Orange won three straight Big 8 titles from 2016-2018, beating Northern each year.

The shared respect between Robinson and Smith, in the culmination of the final conference game between the two rivals, was a reminder that as tense seemed to be between Southern and Orange over the years, it really was a civil war after all.

Civil being the key word.

And they both benefitted.

SOUTHERN 20, ORANGE 0

SOUTHERN 14 0 0 6-20

ORANGE 0 0 0 0-0

SOU-Cinsere Clark 15 pass from Omari Smith (Alex Phelps run)

SOU-Ariyon Paige 5 run (kick failed)

SOU-Jaybron Harvey 7 pass from Smith (run failed)

RUSHING-SOUTHERN 31-79 (Phelps 8-38, Smith 10-22, Takes Brickous 6-14, Kerry Turner 4-14, Paige 1-5 TD, Tayshawn Smith 2-(-14)

ORANGE 23-25 (Elliott Woods 5-39, Nigel Slanker 5-9, Eric Brooks 2-9, J.J. Torres 9-0, Ethan Fortner 2-(-32))

PASSING-SOUTHERN (Smith 13-22 149 2TD)

ORANGE (Slanker 5-19 40 2 INT)

RECEIVING-SOUTHERN (Clark 5-82, Paige 2-8, Brickous 2-6, Romello Mungo 2-2, Jawalace Holmes 1-57, Harvey 1-7 TD)

ORANGE (WOODS 3-30, Brooks 1-7, Torres 1-3)

There’s a different feel to Orange football practice this year. Usually when workouts begin at Stanford Baseball Field, it’s closer to 95 degrees. Last Monday, it was around 35 degrees. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, literally and figuratively. With football starting on February 26, it will be the first time in school history that Orange will play a football season in the spring. Along with the multitude of safety adjustments required by the pandemic, Orange Coach Van Smith has to deal with personnel changes. Wyatt Jones, who had been the starting quarterback the past two years, is now on the Mercer University men’s lacrosse team. Nigel Slanker, who has been the Panthers’ triple-threat kicker, is penciled in as Jones’ replacement. That’s just one of the changes as Orange prepares for its final season in the Big 8 Conference in its current form. Orange travels to East Chapel Hill to start the unusual season a week from this Friday.

Marvin Jones: The former Cedar Ridge star captured the high jump championship in this weekend’s Camel City Invite in Winston-Salem. Jones’ jump of 2.10 meters, two inches better than runner-up Tony Jones of Wake Forest. Jones matches his career-best leap. In four indoor events this season, Jones has now won the high jump twice and finished second twice. At the JDL January Kickoff in Winston-Salem, Jones had a jump of 2.06 meters, good enough for 1st place. UNC Pembroke’s Bradley Thompson finished second at 1.96 meters.

Jamar Davis: The 2018 Orange High graduate has started his junior season with the N.C. State track and field team. On January 16, Davis opened the indoor campaign with a fifth-place finish in the long jump at the Gamecock Opener at the University of South Carolina. His best jump was 23-feet, 7.25 inches. At the Hokie Invitational at Virginia Tech, Davis finished 6th with a leap of 7.08 meters.

Mia Davidson: As she starts her senior season at Mississippi State, Mia Davidson has been named a 2nd-team All-American by Justin’s World of Softball. A 2019 All-American, Davidson is a lifetime .369 hitter in Starkville. he holds Mississippi State’s career leading for home runs with 52, and slugging percentage at .789. In 2019, Davidson set the school and Southeastern Conference record with 26 home runs on her way to a school-record .882 slugging percentage.

Her junior season was limited to 21 games because of the pandemic. She hit .330 with a .659 slugging percentage.

Montana Davidson: Montana, Mia’s older sister, will return for her senior season with the Bulldogs. Mississippi State starts its season with a doubleheader against Miami (Ohio) on Friday.

Tori Dalehite: The former Big 8 Hitter of the Year will start her freshman season at UNC Greensboro on February 12. The Spartans face North Carolina at the Carolina Classic at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, S.C. During the three-day event, UNC-G will also face Louisville and South Carolina.

Grace Andrews: Fate has a funny way of working in college sports. In Grace Andrews’ first softball game at Catawba Valley Community College in Hickory, she faced Patrick Henry Community College, featuring Andrews’ longtime teammate at Orange, Jaden Hurdle. In fact, Hurdle and Andrews comprised the right side of Orange’s infield when they defeated Piedmont to win the 2017 3A State Championship. So naturally, for Andrews first at-bat for the Red Hawks, the pitcher she faced was Hurdle–in the 8th inning of a tie game. Andrews lifted a sacrifice fly to score Lillie Pennington as the Red Hawks won 4-3 in the opening game of the Catawba Valley Clash in Hickory.

In the second game, Catawba Valley defeated Surry Community Center 7-0. Andrews, playing shortstop, went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a triple and a run scored.

On January 30, the Montreat junior varsity defeated Catawba Valley 8-7 in eight innings in the opening day of a doubleheader. Andrews, starting at shortstop again, went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

In the second game, Catawba Valley shut out Cleveland Community College 9-0. Andrews went 0-for-1 with a walk.

Through four games, Andrews is hitting .500.

Wyatt Jones: The former Orange High midfielder and starting quarterback quietly made history over the weekend. Jones became the first Orange lacrosse player to play as a member of a Division I college team. The Mercer Bears defeated the Division II Lenoir-Rhyne Bears 17-4 at Five Star Stadium in Macon, Georgia. Jones entered the game as a reserve in the fourth quarter. Jones was named to the All-State team as Orange ended the 2020 campaign ranked #3 before it abruptly ended because of the pandemic. He was also a member of the Carolina Hilltoppers summer travel team coached by Franklin and Chandler Zirkle. On Saturday, Jones will sorta come home when Mercer faces #1 Duke at Koskinen Stadium in Durham.

Dylan Boyer: During the summer, Boyer signed with Division II Queens University in Charlotte men’s lacrosse. Boyer, who graduated from Orange in June, is slated to start his college career on February 20 when Queens travels to Mount Olive.

Jaylin Jones: A former Orange High midfielder and safety, Jones will start his senior season at Division II Pfeiffer men’s lacrosse on Saturday when the Falcons host Centenary.

Luke Hernandez: A former defenseman at Cedar Ridge, Hernandez will start his junior season with the Pfeiffer men’s lacrosse team, as well.

Aidan Poole: Last week, the Division III USA South Athletic Conference announced they will have a spring season, despite the pandemic. That means Poole, formerly of Cedar Ridge, will suit up for the Greensboro College Pride. Poole, a sophomore, played in seven games last season for Greensboro. He scored goals against Guilford and Chatham and recorded an assist against Hampton, which turned out to be the season-finale.

Payton Wilson: There’s a famous scene in the 1989 film “Lethal Weapon 2” where detective Martin Riggs, portrayed by Mel Gibson, dislocates his shoulder in order to escape a straight jacket and win side bets in the police office. If case you don’t date that far back in the Lethal Weapon canon:

In a more discreet way, former Orange High linebacker Payton Wilson did the same thing against Georgia Tech on December 5 in Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh. Except Wilson dislocated both of his shoulders in the first half. Despite playing a season-low 53 snaps, Wilson made eleven tackles as the Wolfpack defeated the Yellow Jackets 23-13 to finish the regular season 8-3. Wilson was named ACC Linebacker of the Week for the fourth time this season.

This season, Wilson leads N.C. State with 108 tackles. He also leads the team in tackles for loss (11.5) and interceptions (two). This week, the All-ACC team will be announced and Wilson is expected to make the first-team as a redshirt sophomore.

Wilson had a season-high 19 tackles on October 17 against Duke. He has had double-digit tackles in seven of N.C. State’s eleven games (Wilson didn’t play against Virginia Tech on September 26.) He recorded at least ten tackles in each of State’s final five games.

Trenton Gill: The redshirt junior who played football and soccer at Cedar Ridge has been N.C. State’s punter for the second straight season. Gill was named second-team preseason All-ACC by Athlon. This season, Gill had 49 punts for a 44.8 yard average. His longest was 62 yards against North Carolina on October 24. He also had a 60-yard punt in a win against Pittsburgh on October 3 at Heinz Field. Gill had 15 punts travel 50 yards or longer. He had 17 downed inside the 20-yard line.

As placekicker, Gill had 64 kickoffs. Only one went out of bounds. N.C. State is expected to accept a bowl bid later this week after winning seven ACC games this season, the most conference wins in school history. The Wolfpack also closed the season with four straight wins for the first time since 2008.

Keyshawn Thompson: With many teams in the Football Championship Subdivision waiting until the spring to play a full-fledged regular season because of the pandemic, Campbell University played four games this fall, racking up plenty of mileage along the way. The Camels went 0-4 against Georgia Southern, Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina and Wake Forest. Thompson, a redshirt junior, earned his first career start against Coastal Carolina. Against the Chanticleers, he had a career-high four tackles. He also had 2 tackles, including one-half tackle for loss, against Georgia Southern. He finished the year with nine tackles.

Campbell coach Mike Minter said the Camels would not play in the spring. The Camels next game will be September 4 against Liberty in Lynchburg, VA.

Colin Guentensberger: A redshirt freshman walk-on for the Appalachian State football team, Guentensberger has not played in a game this season for the Mountaineers. Appalachian completed its regular season with a 34-26 victory at Georgia Southern on Saturday night. After finishing 8-3, Appalachian accepted a bid to the inaugural Myrtle Beach Bowl on Sunday night. The Mountaineers will face North Texas at Brooks Field on December 21. Appalachian has won four straight bowl games.

Connor Crabtree: Crabtree made his debut for the Richmond Spiders on Sunday. The former Orange Panther, who transferred to Richmond after spending his freshman year at Tulane, played one minute in an 87-71 loss to #11 West Virginia on Sunday in at the WVU Coliseum. Crabtree hit a three-pointer, his only shot from the field. He finished with five points and two rebounds. Crabtree, a redshirt sophomore, missed Richmond’s first four games as he recovered from two hip surgeries earlier this year. To open the year, Richmond upset #10 Kentucky 76-64 on November 29 at Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY.

By Jon Franklin:

On Friday, April 24, 2020 at approximately 2:00 pm, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) and the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association (NCISAA) formally canceled all outstanding sporting events that had been previously postponed. The basketball state championship games and all spring sports were caught in the crossfire after Governor Roy Cooper canceled all in-house classroom activities.

Since the March 15th announcement from Governor Cooper and the NCHSAA / NCISAA that postponed all activities until May 15th, I began to see that all of the remaining athletic competitions were facing a very grim situation. Even if sports started the following day on Saturday, May 16th, there would be almost no time to acclimate the athletes to season form, play a modified season, and then play a modified form of state playoffs. Even the basketball state finalists would have scurried to find a way to return to top form, just to complete their quest for a state championship.

The problem with all of this was not figuring out how to stay in shape, how to learn electronically, receive e-mails of plays, or to balance all of that with all of the craziness we’ve seen in the news.

The problem was the WAIT.

To paraphrase the line used by the late Gloria Stuart (portraying Rose Dawson Calvert, the elder Rose) in the 1997 film “Titanic” – student-athletes, coaches, and fans had nothing to do but wait. Wait to play, wait to practice, wait for an absolution that would never come.”

My issues during this period of abeyance was that it appears that no guidance or direction was issued by the NCHSAA about any potential ideas on how to resume. While we all realize that the COVID-19 situation has been very fluid and ever changing, one would have thought that there would be been some hints about how these events could have resumed.

Nick Stevens, managing editor of HighSchoolOT.com, on the other hand, was very proactive in suggesting ideas on how the NCHSAA could resume activities once an order was issued or rescinded. Perhaps the NCHSAA administration could have utilized some of his plans to at least have people prepared.

Imagine if you’re head coach Allen Byrd and the players and assistant coaches making up the Cedar Ridge softball team. You’re poised for some great things. Last season, you won the Big Eight Conference championship, won two state playoff games, and ended the season to the eventual state champions in the third round. This season, you’re 3-1, batting a sterling .450 average, churning out a tremendous .711 slugging percentage, six of eleven recorded batters are averaging over .350, Takia Nichols has crushed five home runs in four games (one damaging the scoreboard), and a new scoreboard was installed.

Now enter the world of COVID-19, and all activities are suspended.

What is a student-athlete, coach, or an athletic director to do? You can’t play or practice, meetings now are by Face Time or Zoom, and any ideas of independent activities are shot due to governmental rules & regulations. So for now, it’s a wait and see situation to see if any future high school athletic competition will resume.

So how can a student-athlete use this period of inactivity to their advantage? Here’s a few ideas.

1) INSTRUCTION

Since the suspension of in-house scholastic instruction, online education has flourished. If all academics is now online, coaching can be performed the same way.

One tool that has helped athletes remain in shape is MaxPreps. This site, more known to finding out schedules, scores, and stats, has been a home to finding ways to stay in the groove from certified trainer Katerina Kountouris. Each workout also gives a link to Kountouris’ personal website where she offers encouragement as well as meal guides for proper nutrition. Best yet, it’s all free.

Another free coaching option is Class Central. This site offers tutorials in sports management, coaching, nutrition, and psychology.

I can’t speak for all student-athletes, but if I’m going stir-crazy in my house, I got to do something to keep myself occupied. What a better way to keep active that to learn ways to stay fit, eat clean, and even learn some things you didn’t know.

2) INSULATION

What I mean by this point is taking time off to let an athlete’s body heal, both mentally and physically. Think of this as a “reset button”.

With the amount of wear and tear young people are continually putting on their bodies, perhaps this break in the action could be exactly of what their doctors’ ordered.

In July 2019, ESPN published a scathing, two-part article detailing the weathering of youth in basketball resulting in catastrophic injuries. While not just related to basketball, many of these injuries are occurring at much younger ages to where their ability to do basic things are impacted – let alone acquire the scholarship to a fancy D1 school and making big bucks playing professional (insert sport).

The facts in this report told me what many already know: Student-Athletes are playing too much in a specific sport and are overworking their young bodies towards injury.

Back home in Marion, I remember watching kids as young as five play football. These players would play all the way up from youth league to middle school. As their freshman year at McDowell High approached, many didn’t want to play as they were tired of continually getting their heads beat in day after day.

I knew many of these athletes. When asked about why they stopped playing, the most common response I was given was that they had played so much football (or another specialized sport) to where they never knew what it was like to actually be a kid. So by the time they reached the ninth grade, they stopped playing competitive sports – all to become normal.

It’s ok to be a teenager. It’s ok to enjoy hanging out with friends, experience love, and overall take care of yourselves. If you have to take a break (whether forced or unforced), use it to your advantage. Sports will be back when you’re ready.

3) IMPROVEMENT

When I was a kid, my dad would always tell me, “If you get comfortable upon the stool of ‘Do Nothing’, will never be motivated to get up to walk on the path of ‘Do Something’.”

My father, as usual, was right. None of the previous two points actually mean anything if one is not willing to improve themselves.

So instead of playing video games, Tik Tok or Face Time with friends, or do whatever kids do these days, the time is yours to actually improve yourself – athletically and academically. While I don’t want to sound like I’m contradicting myself in saying, “Enjoy the break … Now get to work!”, but student-athletes have to have a restart point.

Imagine that school was able to resume and your sport was cranking back up, would you currently be in a position to be an asset to your team, or would you be a liability? The absurd amount of time off can be detrimental to an athlete, especially if they’re not staying in shape and are out of practice in their disciplines. But imagine if their time was managed wisely, how good can a team be full of prepared athletes?

As this period of athletic dormancy continues, the clock continues to tick down towards the next sports season. Despite the wait, every student-athlete has much work to do to make their team, and themselves better. What you do with the wait is your business. But use your waiting time wisely so you can be the best at what you do.

Alvis Whitted: The 1993 Orange graduate is headed to the NFC Championship game. Whitted, the wide receivers coach for the Green Bay Packers, was on the sideline as Green Bay held on to defeat the Seattle Seahawks 28-23 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay on Sunday night in the NFC Divisional Playoffs. Whitted was a wide receiver and ran track & field for three seasons at Orange. He was a 4A State Champion in the 100 and 200 meters. Whitted was a member of the 1991 Orange team that went to the 2nd round of the 4A State Playoffs. At N.C. State, he played wide receiver/kick returner for Coach Mike O’Cain. Whitted is the last Orange Panther to play in a bowl game, where he suited up as a kick returner in the Wolfpack’s 28-24 win over Mississippi State at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Whitted is also the only Orange Panther to play in the Super Bowl. He played special teams for the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII. Whitted started his coaching career at Orange under Dickie Schock. From there, he went on to Millsaps College, a Division III team in Jackson, Mississippi. He joined Rick Neuheisel’s staff at UCLA in 2011 before starting a seven-year stint as wide receivers coach at Colorado State. Whitted met Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur during a predraft workout at Colorado State with Michael Gallup, one of three All-Americans that Whitted coached in Fort Collins. Green Bay faces San Francisco for the NFC Championship next Sunday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA.

Icez Barnett: Barnett, a freshman with the Division II Chowan women’s basketball team, returned to action on January 8 in a 73-67 loss to Mount Olive. Barnett played two minutes and grabbed one rebound. She didn’t play on Saturday as King defeated the Hawks 68-52 at the Helms Center in Murfreesboro. Chowan is 3-11, 3-7 in Conference Carolinas Thus far in her freshman season, Barnett has played ten games. In 80 minutes, she has scored six points and 17 rebounds.

Lauren Cates: The Wake Tech Community College women’s basketball team returned to action with a 94-19 destruction of Fayetteville Technical Community College on January 8 in Raleigh. Cates had the best shooting game of her college career, going 6-of-9 from the field, including 4-of-7 from 3-point range. She finished with 16 points, four rebounds and three assists. On Saturday, Catawba Valley Community College defeated Wake Tech 80-57 to end a four-game winning streak. The Eagles are 9-4, 5-3 in Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association.

Braden Homsey: The Division III Ferrum wrestling team advanced to the championship of the Virginia Duals at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, VA. Kutztown, ranked #16 in Division III, defeated the Panthers 19-13 in the final on Saturday afternoon. Homsey, wrestling at 197 pounds, defeated Anthony Emig 13-11.

In the semifinals, Ferrum upended Waynesburg 29-10. Homsey claimed a 9-6 decision over Dan Verhovsek. In the quarterfinals on Friday, Ferrum advanced past Alderson Broaddus 34-11. Homsey earned a major decision by beating Alex Eaton 15-3. This season, Homsey is 19-7 with one pin.

The Panthers are 5-2 this season.

Ferrum returns to action in the Builder Open next Saturday in Virginia Beach, VA.

Scott Satterfield: The Louisville Cardinals football team ended its season with a 38-28 victory over Mississippi State to win the Music City Bowl in Nashville on Monday. The Cardinals, who trailed 14-0 in the first quarter, scored 31 consecutive points to take its first bowl victory since 2015, when they defeated Texas A&M to win the Music City Bowl. Louisville Head Coach Scott Satterfield, a 1991 Orange graduate, finished his first season in Kentucky with an 8-5 record, one year after the Cardinals went 2-10. He was named the ACC Coach of the Year last month. Louisville was picked to finish last in the ACC’s Atlantic Division this season. Instead, they finished second at 5-3. It was the seventh time in eight years that Louisville finished the year with eight wins. Several members of Satterfield’s family from Hillsborough attended the game in Nashville. After visiting Wake Forest and N.C. State this season, Louisville won’t play a regular season game in North Carolina next year.

Kate Burgess: The UNC rowing team started its season on November 2 in the Head of the Hooch in Chattanooga, TV. Burgess, a freshman at UNC who was selected to the rowing squad last fall as a walk-on, was aboard the first novice boat, which earned the highest finish of the day for the Tar Heels. The novice boat finished 3rd behind Alabama and Eastern Michigan at 17:33.762. Joining Burgess aboard the novice boat was captain Claire Taylor, Emma Brockman, Jessica Judge, Hannah Davis, Tianna Van Cura, Nicole Van Lew, Jackie Wilhelm and Meagan Harrington. On December 2, longtime UNC rowing coach Sarah Haney, who chose Burgess to join the team, abruptly resigned. UNC will continue its season against Clemson and Duke in the Carolina Cup on March 7 in Clemson, S.C.

Braden Homsey: The Division III Ferrum wrestling team returned to action on December 30 at the 2019 Citrus Invitational at the Great Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Homsey finished 5th in the 197-pound division. Getting a bye through to the second round, Homsey started the tournament with a 3-1 win over Wyatt Richardson of Augsburg University. Homsey advanced to the semifinals with a 5-2 decision over Daniel Sblendorio of Williams College. Zeckary Lehman of Baldwin Wallace grinder out a 5-0 decision over Homsey in the championship round. In the consolation bracket, Brad Basham of Washington & Lee defeated Homsey 6-4. Homsey claimed 5th place via forfeit over Liberty’s Austin Amos. Ferrum finished fifth in the team standings with 103 points. Augsburg won the team championship with 192 points. Homsey, a sophomore, is 13-5 with one pin this season. Ferrum will return to action on Saturday in the Crytzer Memorial Tournament in Lexington, VA.

Kaylen Campbell: The Division III Trinity women’s basketball team had its nine-game winning streak come to an end on Thursday. Smith College defeated the Bantams 58-51 in Hartford, CT. Campbell, a redshirt sophomore, came off the bench and played eight minutes. She scored four points off 1-of-5 shooting from the field. She also had a rebound. On Monday, Trinity defeated Farleigh Dickerson University-Florham 60-36 in Madison, NJ. Campbell played 18 minutes. She finished with four points, two steals and one rebound. Trinity is 9-2. They will host Western New England on Saturday in Hartford.

Five Orange High football players were named to the All-Big 8 Conference football team, including three seniors.

Linebacker/wide receiver Joe Kiger, defensive end James McAdoo and defensive lineman Khaleb Smith were named All-Big 8.

Also making the team was junior wingback/linebacker Elliott Woods and sophomore running back Omarion Lewis. For each of the five players, it was their first appearance on the All-Big 8 team.

Joe Kiger: Named the team MVP by the Orange coaching staff during the team banquet in November, Kiger led the team with 258 receiving yards. He was tied for 2nd on the team with 15 receptions. Kiger had five receptions for 62 yards and a touchdown in Orange’s win over Cedar Ridge on November 2. He was third on the team with 46 tackles.

James McAdoo: The senior defensive end missed the first two games of the season after suffering an injury against Person during a scrimmage on August 17. When McAdoo returned to action against Walter Williams, he made an immediate impact with a team-high eight tackles, including three for a loss. Against Riverside on September 20, McAdoo had six tackles for loss. He led the team with 21 tackles for loss and ten sacks.

Khaleb Smith: A defensive end who occasionally played wingback on offense, Smith was second on the team with 20 tackles for loss. Had an interception against Williams that helped Orange come back from a 13-0 deficit to defeat the Bulldogs. Smith made eleven tackles in the victory over the Bulldogs. Had eleven tackles against South Granville on September 6. Made two sacks in Orange’s overtime win over Northwood on October 25.

Elliott Woods: Led Orange with 18 receptions for 242 yards. He scored three touchdowns in the season-ending win over Chapel Hill on November 2. Also led the team with 87 tackles. He had 18 tackles against South Granville, the most by any Orange player in any game this season. Made 16 tackles against Northern Durham on October 11. Had two interceptions and two fumble recoveries.

Omarion Lewis: The only sophomore on the team for Orange, Lewis originally wasn’t supposed to play on the varsity team this year. He was inserted into the South Granville game in the 2nd half with Orange trailing 14-0, then ran for 119 yards in the second half against the Vikings. Finished the year with 753 yard rushing and eleven touchdowns. He ran for a career-high 170 yards against Cedar Ridge. Also had eight receptions for 77 yards.

In addition Orange had two players named honorable mention: senior quarterback Wyatt Jones and center Brody Andrews.

Jones finished his second season as starting quarterback. He threw for 154 yards and two touchdowns in his final game against Chapel Hill. This season, Jones threw for 1,164 yards and 12 touchdowns. Currently, Jones is preparing for his final year of lacrosse. In November, Jones became the first Orange player to sign with a Division I lacrosse program when he committed to Mercer. He made the All-Big 8 team for football his junior year.

Andrews started at center for all of Orange’s games this year. After transferring from Cedar Ridge after his sophomore year, Andrews remained a mainstay along the offensive line throughout the past two seasons and helped the Panthers in short-yardage situations in wins against Northwood, Williams and Chapel Hill this season.

Orange went 5-6 in 2019, winning its last three games.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior basketball center Machai Holt. It’s been a strong all around year for Holt, only eight games into the season. Holt has four double-doubles this season, including a season-high 22 points and 12 rebounds in last week’s victory over Walter Williams. In addition, Holt had 13 points and 12 rebounds in a win against Southern Lee on December 5. He scored 17 points and grabbed ten rebounds in a 75-70 victory over Carrboro, including several crucial free throws down the stretch. During the fall, Holt was a wingback and safety for the Orange football team. On the first defensive play of the season against R.J. Reynolds on August 16, Holt intercepted a pass. On the subsequent Panther drive, he scored on a five-yard touchdown run. Holt scored 12 touchdowns for the Panthers. The son of Mark Holt, Machai and the rest of the Panthers will start play in the South Granville Holiday Tournament on Thursday at 2 o’clock. The Panthers face Sanderson in the opening round of the Navy Bracket. You can hear the game on Hillsboroughsports.com starting at 1:55 with Tim Hackett on the play-by-play.