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On the night where seven Orange seniors were honored in pregame ceremonies, the Panthers played its most complete game of the season in a 7-0 win over Walkertown. Will Walker went 3-for-3 with a ground rule double that bounced over the left field wall in the sixth inning. Walker also had 3 RBIs. Jordan Underwood earned his first win of the season. He threw two scoreless innings, ending with a strikeout. Pierson Kenney relieved Underwood and added three scoreless innings. Kenney conceded only one hit and one walk. Tyler Lloyd started in left field and had a single in the fifth inning. Centerfield Jaren Sikes hit a leadoff single in the fourth inning and scored off a two-run double by catcher Davis Horton. Jacob Jones served as the courtesy runner for Horton and scored two runs, in the first and sixth innings. And Will Crabtree came off the bench to pinch-hit in the fourth inning. Crabtree is preparing for an even bigger role in life, to serve as a fireman, which he’s actually done while attending Orange. Crabtree will attend Appalachian State in the fall, along with Sikes. Orange is 7-3 and will face Cedar Ridge on Friday.

An offensive barrage carried the Orange baseball team to a 19-9 win in six innings over crosstown rival Cedar Ridge on Wednesday night at Panther Field. Sophomore David Waitt lit the spark with a 3-run homer in the first inning, the first home run of his varsity career. Waitt went 4-for-5, including another RBI single in the second. Shortstop Jackson Berini went 3-for-6 with an RBI with three runs scored. All nine Panthers who started registered base hits and Orange finished with 19 hits against the Red Wolves. Waitt and Berini have been teammates for years on summer travel teams, as well as at Stanford Middle School, where they captured the 2019 Orange-Person Athletic Conference Northern Division Championship. Orange is 3-0 and will look to remain undefeated when they host Northwood on Friday night in Hillsborough. You can hear that game on Hillsboroughsports.com starting at 5:55.

The Orange softball team became the first squad in school history to go through the regular season undefeated on Thursday night. The Lady Panthers defeated Northern Durham 12-0 to finish the regular season at 12-0. It was Orange’s sixth shutout of the year. Junior second baseman Mary Moss Wirt helped preserve the whitewashing with an unassisted double play in the 7th inning after Northern placed its first two batters aboard with no one out. Catcher Lauren Jackson hit two home runs. She led off the second inning with a line drive laser that barely cleared the fence in centerfield. Orange scored six runs in the third inning, getting all of its baserunners after two outs were recorded. Jackson hit a two-run homer to left field. She later added a double off the centerfield fence as the Lady Panthers piled up 17 hits. After an undefeated regular season and claiming the Big 8 Conference Championship, the Lady Panthers now await the announcement of the 3A State Championship bracket. Orange will be the #1 seed from the Big 8 Conference and will host a playoff game next week in Hillsborough.

Orange seniors Daniel Champion and Will Crabtree both went extra lengths to win on their senior night over Cedar Ridge on Thursday night. Champion, a cornerback, made two interceptions, both in the third quarter. Champion had not played since the season opener against Southern Durham on March 5. Instead of sitting out the final two games, Champion practiced with some pain in his shoulder this week, and returned for what turned out to be a special night. Crabtree made the first touchdown catch of his career off a pass from backup quarterback Wynston Brown. Instead of waiting for graduation, Crabtree has already started his professional career. He currently serves with the Cedar Grove Fire Department. After attending Appalachian State, Crabtree plans to work in Durham as a fireman. Champion and Crabtree will look to clinch Orange’s first winning season since 2017 next week when they travel to Chapel Hill.

DURHAM–One good throwback deserves another.

Last year, Northern coach John Hammett, after losing starting quarterback Kyle Barnhill against Southern Durham, installed a wishbone offense in time for its game against Orange. With converted wide receiver Caleb Steele at quarterback, Northern piled up a season-high 285 rushing yards on an unsuspecting Panther defense in a 31-14 victory in Hillsborough.

Fast forward 18 months. Coming off a 20-0 loss to Southern Durham last week in its season-opener, Orange learned Monday that starting quarterback Nigel Slanker would miss the Northern game with a back injury.

Orange coach Van Smith and his assistant decided it was time for a crash course in the wishbone. Senior Jayce Hodges, who ran the offense as quarterback at Stanford Middle School, would be the conductor.

Part of the reason for the change was to simplify things. The previous week against Southern Durham, the Panthers lost 36 yards in botched shotgun snaps that went over Slanker’s head. Orange finished with a paltry 65 yards total offense.

On Friday night, Orange’s step back to basics led to the end of its two-game losing streak against Northern Durham.

Elliott Woods scored the Panthers’ only touchdown as Orange (1-1) defeated Northern Durham 7-6 at Durham County Memorial Stadium. Darius Satterfield’s extra point was the margin of victory.

The Panthers, who compiled 25 rushing yards and four first downs against Southern, had 112 rushing yards and ten first downs against the Knights. In the final Big 8 conference game between the two teams, it was Orange’s third win at Durham County Stadium over Northern (1-2) in its last four visits.

“We just wanted to get the quarterback under center,” Orange Coach Van Smith said. “We had so many snap issues last week. It was a good idea by (offensive coordinator) Marty Scotten and the assistants because we didn’t have a single fumble on a quarterback-center exchange tonight. Jace knew the plays we were running. It was just a minor adjustment to run the same plays under center instead of from shotgun.”

Northern’s only touchdown came on its opening drive. After Orange attempted an onside kick that was recovered by the Knights’ Joshua Rogers, Northern drove 52 yards on eight plays. Barnhill hit Caleb Steele for a 12-yard touchdown pass, but Orange’s Trey Grizzle blocked the extra point wide left.

For the remainder of the game, Orange’s defense held Northern to 100 yards and five first downs. Perhaps better put, it was a combination of Orange’s defense and the wishbone keeping Northern off the field.

The Panthers chewed up plenty of clock and scored its only touchdown midway through the second quarter. Hodges, who attempted three passes all night, found Woods on a 4th-and-10 for a 12-yard gain to push the ball into the red zone. After fullback Jackson Wood rumbled up the middle for 15 yards, Woods scored off a fullback dive. Satterfield’s extra point was the final one of the game.

Northern’s first two drives in the second half ended without first downs. After Orange failed to convert a 4th-and-3 at midfield, it appeared that Orange cornerback J.J. Torres stripped the ball from Northern running back Jaylon Chestnut, and linebacker Connor Ray recovered. But the officials ruled Chestnut down. Orange ended the drive anyway when Hodges tackled Northern’s Bryant Jones on a 3rd-and-8 for a one-yard gain, followed by a Barnhill incompletion after being pressured by Will Torian.

During a punt before its final drive, Northern committed a costly personal foul penalty that put the ball back at its own 26-yard line, its worst starting field position of the game. Grizzle sacked Barnhill, who shook it off and found Chestnut two plays later for a first down.

Steele, who didn’t touch the ball for the meat of the game after his touchdown, finally made a grab to cross the 50-yard line. On 2nd-and-15, Wood pressured Barnhill into a hasty throw that was nearly picked off by Woods. Orange thought they had won the game with 26 seconds remaining when Ray knocked down a pass intended for Steele, but was whistled for pass interference.

On first-and-10 at the Orange 22-yard line, Wood batted the ball down in front of Barnhill. On second down, Woods knocked Barnhill down from behind for another incompletion. With 4.2 seconds remaining, Barnhill’s desperation heave was knocked down by Hodges and Torres in the end zone, leading to an well-earned Orange celebration.

“Our players felt confident because they kept thinking the only thing stopping us was ourselves,” Smith said. “It’s good when these players have that confidence in themselves and each other.”

ORANGE 7, NORTHERN 6

N–6 0 0 0-6

O-0 7 0 0-7

NORTHERN–Caleb Steele 12 pass from Kyle Barnhill (kick failed)

ORANGE-Elliott Woods 3 run (Darius Satterfield kick)

RUSHING-ORANGE 43-112 (Woods 16-35 TD, Jackson Wood 5-34, J.J. Torres 9-30, Nate Hecht 5-18, Eric Brooks 1-5, Jayce Hodges 2-(-15)

NORTHERN DURHAM 18-46 (Jaylon Chestnut 6-28, Bryant Jones 7-25, Jancarlos Alberto 2-9, Barnhill 3-(-16)

PASSING: ORANGE (Hodges 3-3 35 yards) NORTHERN DURHAM (Barnhill 16-29 106 yards TD)

RECEIVING: ORANGE (Trey Grizzle 1-15, Woods 1-12, Wood 1-8)

NORTHERN DURHAM (JONES 6-24, Chestnut 5-23, Steele 3-39 TD, Chris Kujawa 2-20)

If there’s such a thing as going into the state playoffs with momentum after a loss, the Orange lacrosse team has it. Chapel Hill appeared to be cruising to a comfortable victory over the Panthers, leading 9-4 with 8:54 remaining. But the Panthers scored four goals in a span of seven minutes and 25 seconds to narrow its deficit to 9-8. Orange had a man-advantage opportunity with 2:39 remaining after a Tigers’ player was called for using an illegal stick, but the Panthers’ came up short in a wild final seconds to tie the game. In his final regular season game at Auman Stadium, long stick midfielder Duncan Grant notched a hat trick Grant scored off an assist from Cy Horner with 3:32 remaining. Grant also scored Orange’s final goal of the first half off an assist from Caleb Davis. The Panthers, champions of Conference 9, will now wait to see who they will host in the opening round of the 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs. The game is scheduled for Monday.