By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
At Elon, Josh Long returned two interceptions for touchdowns as part of a strong effort from host Western Alamance’s defense in the Central 3-A Conference opener as Western defeated Orange 27-9.
Western (4-1) has won four games in a row. Orange (2-3), which has lost conference openers in five consecutive seasons, was limited to 106 yards of total offense.
The Warriors opened the scoring by reaching the end zone on their second possession of the game. That came on Cam Cotton’s 3-yard run to complete a six-play, 51-yard drive that included two key passes from Evan Kuehnel to James Newton.
The Panthers made it 6-3 on a 34-yard field goal by Tyler Narold after taking possession of the ball at the Western 15-yard line.
Long ran back an interception 36 yards for a touchdown in the final minute of the first quarter.
Western’s defense did more solid work in the second quarter. The Warriors forced a fumble that Orange recovered in its own end zone, resulting in a safety for Western.
On the ensuing possession, it took the Warriors only four plays to score again on Marquele Harvey’s 16-yard touchdown run.
Long’s next interception return covered 45 yards for a third-quarter touchdown.
Orange scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter on Deandre Brown’s 4-yard run.
Kuehnel finished 9-for-25 for 141 passing yards.
Southeast Alamance 33, North Moore 0: At Haw River, Southeast Alamance took down the reigning Mid-Carolina Conference champion with a convincing home victory.
The Stallions (2-3, 2-1) scored 20 second-quarter points to take control. It marked the first shutout for the first-year program.
North Moore (2-3, 1-1) had won nine straight conference games dating to 2021.
Cummings 44, Seaforth 0: At Burlington, the Cavaliers played in their first home game of the season and they put on a show in the Mid-Carolina Conference game.
Cummings (4-1, 3-0), which led 21-0 at halftime, posted its second shutout of the year.
Seaforth fell to 1-3, 1-1.
Durham Riverside 56, Graham 6: At Graham, the visiting Pirates (2-3) cruised in the non-conference game. The Red Devils (0-3) scored their first touchdown of the season.
Eastern Alamance was off this week.
See separate story on Southern Alamance’s game at Williams: https://alamancenews.com/logan-fousts-five-touchdowns-carries-southern-past-williams/
