Orange Football

Payton Wilson: The former Big 8 Player of the Year made his long-awaited debut for N.C. State in its season-opener against East Carolina at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh on Saturday. Wilson made six tackles, including two tackles for loss, in his first college game as the Wolfpack hammered the Pirates 34-6. Wilson was part of a stout Wolfpack defense that kept the Pirates out of the end zone. ECU was held to 41 rushing yards and 269 yards total offense. East Carolina didn’t cross the 50-yard line for eight consecutive drives. The Pirates didn’t snap the ball in Wolfpack territory at all in the second half until a meaningless final drive that ended with a field goal. Wilson, a redshirt freshman, will return to action against Western Carolina at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh.

Trent Gill: The 2017 Cedar Ridge graduate also made his college football debut for N.C. State in the victory over East Carolina. Gill delivered the opening kickoff to the Wolfpack’s season, He also had five punts for an average of 41.6 yards. His longest kick was 53 yards. As placekicker, he had two touchbacks. As a punter, he downed two punts inside the 20-yard line.

Keshawn Thompson: A 2017 Orange High graduate, Thompson played extensively in for FCS Campbell in its 43-14 loss to Troy at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Troy, AL on Saturday night. Thompson made five tackles against the Trojans. Thompson, who was placed on scholarship during the summer, was named to the Big South Presidential Honor Roll last year. In 2018, he played in all eleven of Campbell’s games. The Camels will host Division II Shaw in Buies Creek next Saturday.

Kayla Hodges: On Friday night, Hodges notched her first college assist. Not only that, but she assisted on the game-winning goal as Elon defeated Radford 2-1 at Cupp Stadium in Virginia. Off a corner kick, Hodges headed the ball to Taylor Paradoski, who fired it into the net from four yards out in the 67th minute. Elon is 3-0, already equaling its win total from 2018. Hodges has started all three games. Elon travels to Furman on Sunday afternoon.

Brittany Daley: After going undefeated during the regular season in 2018, the Division III Greensboro women’s soccer team dropped its opener to Washington & Lee 2-0 in the Washington & Lee Tournament in Lexington, VA on Friday. Daley, a 2018 Cedar Ridge graduate, started for the Pride. On Saturday, Greensboro rebounded with a 2-1 win over Bridgestone College in the consolation game. Daley also started that game at centerback.

Jordan Rogers: A 2018 Orange graduate, Rogers started her sophomore season with Division III William Peace University’s women’s soccer team on Friday night. St. Andrews defeated the Pacers 2-1 in Laurinburg. Rogers started at midfield.

Lionel Reid-Shaw: The Division III Dickinson’s men’s soccer team started its season with two wins. Reid-Shaw, a senior who graduated from Orange, started in a 3-0 victory over Rensselaer at Miller Memorial Field in Carlisle, PA on Saturday night. Reid-Shaw started at wingback. He also played in Dickinson’s 6-3 victory over Plattsburgh on Friday.

Lili Henry: The Division III Methodist volleyball team started its season in the Oregon Trail Volleyball Tournament in Newberg, OR. The Monarchs dropped all four of its matches against Linfield College and George Fox University on Friday. On Saturday, Pacific University and Lewis & Clark College defeated Methodist. In the 3-0 loss to Linfield, Henry led Methodist with 18 assists and three aces. She also had three kills. Against George Fox, Henry had 22 assists, four digs and a block. In Saturday’s 3-1 loss to Pacific University, Henry registered 24 assists, three kills, and five digs. The finale against Lewis & Clark, a 3-0 loss, featured Henry with 26 assists and seven digs.

Bailey Lucas: Lucas started her sophomore year as a member of the Division III Meredith Volleyball team with three wins and a loss at the Route 42 Classic this weekend. On Friday, the Avenging Angels defeated Catholic 3-0 and fought back to defeat Eastern Mennonite 3-2 in Yoder Arena in Harrisonburg, VA on Friday. Meredith defeated Lynchburg 3-1 before falling to Bridgewater 3-0 on Saturday.

Lucas didn’t play on Friday, but did see action against Lynchburg. Lucas had two kills, 16 assists and three digs. She also played all three sets against Bridgewater, where she registered one kill, seven digs, one dig and one block.

Orange football spent much of 2018 running off the fumes of three consecutive Big 8 Championships and was left trying to find replacements for quarterback/linebacker/punter/everything else Payton Wilson, running back Marvante Beasley and wide receiver Milton Purcell.

They opened 2019 trying to find replacements for linebackers Colin Guntensberger, Jett Satterfield and Jeremiah Bailey, and the results weren’t pretty.

In the first-ever matchup between the two teams, R.J. Reynolds’ quarterback Caden Davis factored in on six touchdowns to push the Demons past the Panthers 47-24 at Auman Stadium on Friday night. Davis ran for 104 yards and three touchdowns and threw for three touchdowns.

It was the most points Orange has surrendered in a game since Cedar Ridge hung 49 on the Panthers on August 26, 2011.

Orange (0-1) dropped its fourth straight home game dating back to 2018, and has lost seven of its last eight at Auman Stadium.

The Panthers had one returning starter on defense back from last season. That’s senior defensive end James McAdoo, who missed Friday’s game because of an eye injury suffered in a scrimmage against Person on August 17.

Orange coach Van Smith didn’t want to talk about players who graduated three months ago after losing for the 11th time in the last 14 games.

“We’ve got to get tougher on both sides of the ball,” Smith aid. “I was not very good tonight. We were not prepared. We were not organized. Our intensity was not very good from me and from the assistant coaches. Therefore, it carried down to the players.

There were positives for the new double wing offense designed by offensive coordinator Marty Scotten. Orange totaled 329 yards, which would have been the fourth best total among 12 games from last year. Orange also had 14 first downs compared the Reynolds’ 12. They were also 7-for-12 on 3rd down conversions.

The result obscured a spectacular performance from senior wide receiver Machai Holt, who nearly single handily carried Orange to the lead in the first half. In one of his rare gaffes on the night, Davis floated a pass that Holt picked off on the first play from scrimmage and streaked 36 yards on the return.

Holt went on to score Orange’s opening five-yard touchdown. He also blocked an extra point, caught a 27-yard pass from senior quarterback Wyatt Jones to set up Orange’s 2nd touchdown, and blocked a field goal late in the first half when the Demons were one yard away from going ahead 33-16.

After Holt’s interception and score put Orange ahead 7-0, the Demons scored touchdowns on four consecutive possessions. Williams running back Tyreik Leach, who finished with 66 yards on 13 carries, converted a 3rd-and-1 with an eleven yard game. The Demons offense never looked back the rest of the half. After Davis completed consecutive passes to Tobias Johnson for 20 and eleven yards, Davis scored on a three-year keep around right end.

On the subsequent kickoff by Reynolds’ Jack Doherty, the Demons Nassir Gibbs recovered at the Orange 21-yard line. On a swing pass, Leach weaved his way around several Panthers into the end zone from 13 yards. Despite a missed extra point, Reynolds led 12-7.

Orange took the lead right back at the end of the first quarter. After Holt’s one-hand catch for 27 yards, Jones found J.J. Torres out of the backfield for a 16-yard touchdown pass across the left corner of the end zone.

Reynolds didn’t blink. Davis started the ensuing drive with a 20-yard pass to H-back Greg Hunter on the opening play of the second quarter. On a 3rd-and-12, David again hit a cutting Johnson for a 41-yard touchdown. Doherty’s extra point gave Reynolds the lead for good at 19-13.

Reynolds was flagged for consecutive pass interference penalties on 3rd downs to keep the next Orange drive alive. Junior Nigel Slanker, replacing Tucker Krogstad, easily kicked a 30-yard field goal for the Panthers’ final points of the half.

The Demons started the next drive in Orange territory after a personal foul penalty. It only took three runs by Davis to break into the end zone, ending with a 17-yard gallop for his 2nd touchdown to end the Demons ahead 26-13 going into the locker room.

Orange controlled the ball for much of the third quarter and its defense didn’t allow a point. On the tenth play of a grueling drive that started after an interception by Orange’s Jared Weaver, Orange appeared to be on the verge of cutting into the lead after covering 84 yard on ten plays. Then Gibbs intercepted a pass intended for Zion Pettiford and flashed 90 yards to put the game out of reach.

Jones found Zyon Pettiford for a 60-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. It was Pettiford’s only catch of the night.

Davis found Johnson for another touchdown of 18 yards in the fourth quarter.

The Panthers travel to South Granville next Friday. The Vikings fell to 0-2 on Friday night with a 23-14 loss to Sanderson in Raleigh.

But Smith will focus on Orange in the week ahead.

“Our coaching staff is going to get better because I’m going to get better,” Smith said. “And our players are going to have to get better.

R.J. REYNOLDS 47, ORANGE 24

RJ 12 14 7 14-47

OR 13 3 0 8-24

OR–Machai Holt 5 run (Nigel Slanker kick)

RJ-Cadin Davis 3 run (kick blocked)

OR-J.J. Torres 16 pass from Wyatt Jones (run failed)

RJ-Tobias Johnson 41 pass from Davis (kick failed)

OR-Slanker 30 FG

RJ-Davis 17 run (Jack Doherty kick)

RJ-Nassir Gibbs 90 INT return (Doherty kick)

RJ-Johnson 18 pass from Davis (Doherty kick)

OR-Zyon Pettiford 60 pass from Jones (Jones run)

RJ-Davis 39 run (Doherty kick)

RUSHING: R.J. REYNOLDS 33-206 3TD (Davis 13-104 3 TD, Tyreik Leach 13-66, Tavarius Goodwin 6-35, Duke Ferree 1-1)

ORANGE 35-130 TD (J.J. Torres 12-59, Machai Holt 8-35 TD, Elliott Woods 9-20, Jacob Chapman 6-16)

PASSING: R.J. REYNOLDS (Davis 11-17 183 3 TD 2 INT) ORANGE 10-22 201 yards 2 TD 2 INT (Jones 9-19 188 2 TD 2 INT, Slanker 1-3 13 yards)

RECEIVING: R.J. REYNOLDS (Wiliams 6-110 2 TD, Antonio Yates 1-21, Greg Hunter 1-20, Leach 1-13 TD, Antonio Yates 1-11, Blase Matheson 1-8.

ORANGE (Holt 3-50, Joe Kiger 2-53, Woods 2-14, Zyon Pettiford 1-60 TD, Torres 1-23 TD, Chapman 1-8.

Payton Wilson: After being on the sidelines for nearly two years, Wilson is expected to make his college debut on Saturday when N.C. State faces East Carolina at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh. On Monday, Wilson was listed as a backup as a weak side linebacker junior Louis Acceus. Wilson will likely share time with redshirt junior Brock Miller. Wilson was the 2017 Big 8 Defensive Player of the Year and helped lead Orange to three consecutive Big 8 Championships, including an undefeated regular season in 2016. Wilson also played quarterback, wide receiver, and punter for Orange under head coaches Pat Moser and Van Smith. Wilson is a redshirt freshman who missed last season after tearing his ACL during spring practice in March 2018. He originally injured the knee against Cedar Ridge on the opening kickoff between the two teams on October 27, 2017.

Stone Edwards: Edwards, who graduated from Orange in 2016, is listed as a second-string defensive end for Vanderbilt going into its season-opener against #3 Georgia at Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville on Saturday. Edwards, a redshirt sophomore who majors in Psychology, is behind junior Dayo Odeyingbo on the two-deep. In 2018, Edwards made his college debut as a redshirt freshman. He played 12 games and compiled seven tackles, one tackle for loss and one sack. Edwards was also part of Orange’s 2017 season that went undefeated in the regular season and only allowed three offensive touchdowns the entire season.

Adam Chnupa: The 2018 Cedar Ridge graduate will be in uniform for the first time this weekend when FCS Elon takes on North Carolina A&T at BB&T Stadium in Greensboro on Saturday. Chnupa is a redshirt freshman for the Phoenix. North Carolina A&T is #20 in the preseason FCS poll and has won three of the last four HBCU National Championships. Elon is #21 in the preseason FCS poll.

Bryse Wilson: It was another strong performance for Wilson for the AAA International League’s Gwinnett Stripers on Tuesday night. Wilson earned his sixth straight win as the Stripers defeated the Norfolk Tides 8-2 at Coolray Field in Gwinnett County, GA. Wilson tossed seven innings, striking out nine. He surrendered nine hits and two runs in his sixth consecutive quality start. Wilson is now 10-7 with a 3.42 ERA. He hasn’t lost since July 21. With the win, along with the Durham Bulls’ victory over the Charlotte Kngihts, Gwinnett clinched a berth in the Governor’s Cup Playoffs. Major League Baseball rosters expand on Sunday. If Wilson is recalled by Atlanta, it will be his fifth stint with the Braves this season.

Kayla Hodges: For the second straight game, Wilson started as a midfielder for the Elon women’s soccer team against High Point at Rudd Field in Elon on Sunday. The Phoenix claimed its second straight win to open the season, 1-0 over the Panthers. Wilson fired one shot. Charlotte-native Carson Jones scored the game’s only goal. Elon will return to action with a road trip to Radford on Thursday. If Elon wins this weekend, they will have already matched its win total from all of 2018.

Chandler Compton: As mentioned last week, Compton plays as a wingback for the Wofford men’s soccer team. The Terriers starts its 2019 season at Houston Baptist on Friday night.