Orange hammers William Monroe

Orange County High School exploded in the second quarter Friday night to pull away and beat visiting William Monroe 44-3 in a Jefferson District showdown.

The Greene Dragons got off to a good start, forcing two Orange County turnovers in the first half, but William Monroe (0-7, 0-4 Jefferson District) was only able to turn the Hornets’ mistakes into three points, taking a 3-0 lead after an interception by Markees Towles set up a field goal.

Towles was one of the few bright spots for the Dragons. In addition to his interception, he also had another pass deflection and returned a kickoff 47 yards.

Though Towles was able to help Monroe build an early lead, it was all Orange the rest of the way. The Hornets (3-3, 2-2) answered with a field goal of its own later in the first quarter to tie the game before the taking over in the second period.

OCHS quarterback Cameron Hughes rebounded from the early pick to throw two touchdown passes in the second period.

Hughes, who completed 13-of-23 passes and finished with 238 yards through the air, connected on a 74-yard catch-and-run to star wide receiver Amir Waller with 5:42 left in the second quarter.

The junior quarterback then threw another TD, this time a four-yard pass to a wide-open Jamal Hunter with just eight seconds remaining in the first half.

The Hornets also got a pair of one-yard touchdown runs from Dominique Walker in the second to make it a 30-3 lead at halftime.

The Hornets used more big plays in the second half to keep pouring it on against the struggling Dragons. Waller raced for his second long touchdown of the night in the third quarter when the wide receiver lined up at quarterback and took a direct snap 55 yards for the score with 2:36 left in the third quarter.

Waller made three catches for 97 yards and finished with 150 yards of total offense.

Orange put the closing notes on the victory late in the fourth when junior linebacker Brandon Vann picked off a pass and ran it back 58 yards for another score.

Orange County 44,            William Monroe 3
WMHS 3 0 0 0 —  3
OCHS 3 27 7 7 — 32
First quarter
WM — Beeler 35 field goal, 7:58
OC — Ferguson 32 field goal, 4:17
Second quarter
OC — Walker 1 run (Ferguson kick), 10:18
OC — Waller 74 pass from Hughes (kick failed), 5:54
OC — Walker 1 run (Waller run), 2:51
OC — Hunter 3 pass from Hughes (kick failed), 0:08
Third quarter
OC — Waller 55 run (Ferguson kick), 2:35
Fourth quarter
OC — Vann 55 interception return (Ferguson kick), 1:25
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — WM: Sizemore 5-12, Towles 4-21, Gentry 1-1, Morris 8-(-17), Forloines 11-46; OC: Do. Walker 15-71, Waller 2-53, Da. Walker 7-49, Seal 4-5, Hughes 7-(-7)
PASSING — WM: Morris 3-13-4-1; OC: Hughes 13-23-238-1, Seal 0-1-0-0
RECEIVING — WM: Towles 1-6, Duprey 2-(-2); OC: Hunter 4-47, Seal 3-40, Waller 3-97, Walters 3-54.