Photo Credit: Jared Riley[/caption]Friday, September 26, the Orange High Panther football team faced their toughest challenge of the season in the 4-0 Northwood Chargers. It took all the effort the Panthers could muster to fend off the Chargers, but Orange was able to prevail with their fifth consecutive win by a score of 14 to 7. The packed house at Aumond Stadium saw the Panthers move to 5-0 overall and earn their first Big Eight conference win of the year, while Northwood dropped to 4-1 and 0-1 respectively.
The Panthers offense opened the game on fire, scoring 14 points in the first seven minutes with Eryk Brandon Dean taking it in from 10 yard out, and a Garrett Cloer one yard plunge into the endzone. The game appeared to be on the same track as Orange’s previous 54 to 14 thrashing of Graham, however Northwood ensured that would not be the case. The Chargers defense was able to keep the Panthers out of the endzone for the rest of the contest and forced the Panthers to become one dimensional as the passing game was ineffective for most of the night. Cloer finished the night with only 5 completions on 10 attempts and 91 yards. The senior quarterback was on the move for most of the night, as Northwood’s impressive front seven kept the pressure on.
Orange was not the only team having trouble on offense, as Northwood was unable to move the ball for most of the game except for a 39 yard touchdown pass from Ti Pinnix to Jared Worley on a blown assignment by the Orange secondary. Worley, a senior captain for the Chargers, was all over the field, racking in 4 catches for 91 yards on offense, while making several tackles from the linebacker position. Worley and the Charger defense gave a valiant effort in trying to stop the Panthers' two headed monster at the running back position in Brandon-Dean and senior Tay Jones. The two combined for a nice 127 yards on 23 carries, but were unable to break free for the long runs the Panther faithful have become accustomed to seeing. Brandon-Dean was also the Panthers’ leading pass catcher, hauling in three catches for 70 yards.
Northwood struggled extremely in the running game as the Panthers’ front seven were in the back field the entire game, causing many long third downs for the Chargers and Pinnix. The senior signal caller was able to complete 14 of 29 passes for 194 while also rushing 15 times for 33 yards, most of which were scampers out of a collapsing pocket.
The Panthers defense, known as the ‘Orange Crush,’ stood strong on two different goal line stands, as they stopped the Chargers at the 2 yard line shortly before halftime after a false start negated a Northwood touchdown. Northwood was also looking for a tying score as the fourth quarter winded down, as the Chargers were able to get as close as the 8 yard line, before a Pinnix pass on fourth down was batted down by senior defensive lineman Byron Stephenson.
The Panthers travel to Henderson this Friday to take on the 1-4 Vikings of Northern Vance.
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