Orange Football

He won a state championship in the last match that Bobby Shriner ever coached for Orange wrestling.

He was a midfielder for Orange men’s lacrosse, mainly focusing on face-offs.

Most of all, Payton Wilson did a little bit of everything for Orange High’s football team from the moment he made his debut in the 2014 3A State Playoffs against Corinth-Holders in Wendell. Wilson spent that year on the junior varsity. He got the call up to the varsity for the state playoffs, where he would play alongside his brother, Bryse, on defense.

He instantly made an impact.

Now, Wilson has become the most decorated college football player to ever come out of Hillsborough.

After a season where he led the Atlantic Coast Conference in tackles and tackles for loss with the N.C. State Wolfpack, Wilson has become just the fourth unanimous first-team All-American in Wolfpack history. Last week, Wilson was named a first-team All-American by the Associated Press, the only ACC player honored.

Two weeks ago at halftime of the N.C. State men’s basketball team’s win over Maryland-Eastern Shore at Reynolds Coliseum, Wilson was surprised by head coach Dave Doeren as the winner of the Dick Butkus Award for the nation’s top linebacker. Wilson was honored at halftime of the game for being nominated for the Butkus Award, unaware that he had actually already earned the honor until Doeren show up with the trophy moments later.

On December 8, Wilson won the Chuck Bednarik Award during ESPN’s College Football Awards Show at the Maxwell Football Club. The Bednarik Award is awarded annually to the nation’s best top defensive player.

He is the first player in N.C. State history to earn the Butkus Award and the Bednarik Award.

The ACC Defensive Player of the Year, Wilson led the ACC with 138 tackles in 2023, fifth in the Football Bowl Subdivision. He averaged 11.5 tackles per game for a Wolfpack team that finished 9-3, winning its final five games including victories over Clemson, Miami and North Carolina.

Wilson led the ACC with 17.5 tackles for loss. He also had six sacks, broke up ten passes, and pulled down three interceptions, returning one for a touchdown.

Wilson has likely played his final game for the Wolfpack. N.C. State, ranked #19 by the Associated Press, is slated to face Kansas State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl in Miami on December 28. However, Wilson is expected to opt out to focus on staying healthy for the NFL Draft in April.

Wilson won three straight conference championships during his stint at Orange in 2015, 2016 and 2017. As a junior in 2016, he got to focus primarily on defense under head coach Pat Moser and defensive coordinator Van Smith. It was arguably the greatest Orange football team in school history with the Wilsons sharing time at linebacker, along with defensive end Stone Edwards, who would go on to play at Vanderbilt before an ankle injury cut his career in Nashville short.

The Panthers became the first team since 1978 to finish undefeated in the regular season, roaring through its six Big 8 Conference games allowing just 13 points and one touchdown. Orange thumped Southern Durham 49-7 inside Spartans Stadium on September 23, 2017, a game where Wilson returned a punt for a touchdown. It ended a run of five straight wins by the Spartans over the Panthers, including two tight games in the state playoffs in a rivalry that defined that generation locally on the gridiron.

Southern Durham’s Kendall Hinton, who would go on to play at Wake Forest and with the Denver Broncos, was the Spartans’ starting quarterback.

In his senior year, Wilson was the starting linebacker, returned punts, was the placekicker, punter and eventually became the starting quarterback at midseason. He led Orange to its third straight Big 8 Conference title. Among the highlights of that year was the Panthers beating Hillside at Russell Blunt Stadium in Durham, which ended the Hornets 48-game conference winning streak. Wilson rushed for two touchdowns in the Panthers 31-20 victory.

The Orange Middle School Chargers claimed the Orange Person Athletic Conference championship last week. The Chargers defeated Culbreth 24-6 at Auman Stadium in Hillsborough. 8th grader Owen Phillipps had a huge all-around night for OMS. Playing four different positions, Phillipps finished with 61 yards rushing and 52 yards receiving. Phillipps caught a 52-yard touchdown pass to open the game after Amir Johnson recovered a Culbreth fumble on the opening play from scrimmage. Later Phillippps would play quarterback out of a wildcat formation and helped the Chargers run out the clock. Starting quarterback Mason Stubbs, an 8th-grader, threw a 13-yard touchdown assist to Markus Thomas. Stubbs scored the final touchdown off a 1-yard run on a quarterback sneak. Thomas ran in a 2-point conversion on the point-after to give the Chargers a three-score lead. 7th grader Amir Johnson had a strong all-around game. He recovered a fumble, made two sacks and ran in another 2-point conversion. Orange Middle claimed its first OPAC football championship since 2015 under first-year head coach Jamie Bailey. The Chargers lost only one game all season and defeated Culbreth twice.  In October, Orange Middle came back from a 12-0 halftime deficit to defeat the Cougars 18-12.

Orange Middle’s Amir Johnson, Mason Stubbs, Markus Thomas & Owen Phillipps talk winning OPAC title

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For the first time in years, it felt like a big football game at Auman Stadium.

On Thursday night, the Orange Middle School Chargers returned to glory after eight years without an Orange Person Athletic Conference championship.

Owen Phillipps caught a touchdown pass and finished with 113 yards from scrimmage, while 7th grader Amir Johnson rushed for a touchdown and recovered a fumble as Orange Middle pulled away from Culbreth 24-6 to win the OPAC Championship.

Quarterback Mason Stubbs created two touchdowns, one rushing and one passing, as the Chargers celebrated its first OPAC title since 2015.

It was a gratifying win for Orange head coach Jamie Bailey, who served as an assistant coach at Orange High for 17 years under head coaches Pat Moser and Van Smith, including a stint as defensive coordinator. Bailey completed his first year as Orange Middle’s head coach with a long-awaited championship.

“It’s a beautiful thing to bring this championship back to Orange County,” Bailey said. “Orange County football needed this.”

Playing 8-minute quarters, Orange Middle used a ground control offense to limit the Cougars to only five plays from scrimmage in the entire second half.

Leading 16-6 at halftime, the Chargers controlled the ball the entire third quarter, converting three 3rd downs and a fourth down. Stubbs threw to Wyatt Moore for a 12-yard gain on a 3rd-and-nine to advance the ball into Culbreth territory. After Jakai Torian gained six yards on a 3rd-and-8, Phillipps took the ball out of a wildcat formation, which Bailey installed last week, and ran around right end for 13 yards on 4th-and-2.

Going into the fourth quarter, on a 3rd-and-12, Phillips gained nine yards. Culbreth jumped offside on 4th-and-3 to move the chains again. Stubbs grinder ahead on a quarterback sneak and just inched over the goal line for a touchdown to conclude a 13-play, 60-yard drive that took 9:46 off the clock. Markus Thomas scored the two-point conversion on a jet sweep.

Johnson recovered two fumbles, including one on the opening play from scrimmage at the Cougars 48-yard line. On 4th-and-14, Brandon Robbins took the ball on a halfback option and chucked it ahead to Phillipps, who dashed into the heart of the end zone. Markus Thomas scored the 2-point conversion to put the Chargers ahead.

After Culbreth scored a touchdown following a Charger fumble, Orange scored a touchdown with 15 seconds remaining in the first half. Stubbs threw to Thomas on a 13-yard pass. Johnson added the 2-point conversion, then ended the half by sacking Culbreth’s quarterback.

The championship wasn’t merely a squad beating other teams from Roxboro, Chapel Hill and Carrboro for a trophy. It marks the climb out of a dark hole for football within northern Orange County that started during the pandemic and, in some respects, continues.

For the first time possibly ever, there was no junior varsity football team at Orange High School this year. Not long ago, Thursday night lights shined brightest at Orange. The junior varsity teams in the mid-2010s went years without losing a game.

In August 2021, after the entire middle school athletic calendar for the 2020-2021 academic year was canceled due to the pandemic, Bailey was riding to an Orange practice one day when he saw roughly 20 players at an Orange Middle workout.

He felt a chill go across his heart.

“It used to be there would be around 100 players at a Stanford practice,” Bailey said.

That’s what led him to start coaching at the middle school level.

“I wanted to get back to that because that’s what going to feed into high school football in Hillsborough,” Bailey said. That’s what we need back in this county.”

This year, the Orange Chargers suited up 45 players for a championship team.

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.