Although Auman Stadium had long been a popular Friday night destination for Football fans, the Panthers hadn't won a conference championship since 1984 and hadn't even had a winning season in 16 years.

But boy, has that changed. In Schock's first season, Orange eked its way into the state 2-A playoffs. This year, they won the championship of a strong Mid-State 2-A conference, and then beat Central Davidson 42-14 for the first home playoff win in school history.

For getting a struggling program headed in the right direction, Schock is the Herald-Sun All-Area Football coach of the year.

"Winning makes winners," said Schock, who was recognized as one of the Carolina Panthers' coaches of the week on Dec. 14 at Bank of America Stadium. "And that was the mentality and attitude we needed.

"I felt Orange was going to be a good opportunity. They had some good players and some good kids, and we were looking for a program with community support."

Schock, who played linebacker for Starmount High in Boonville before majoring in English at Appalachian State, had assistant coaching stints at Forbush, West Montgomery and Rocky Mount before going 1-9 in his only previous season as a head coach at Franklinton in 2004. He then spent two seasons as offensive coordinator and running backs coach at Wake Forest-Rolesville before accepting the Orange job on fairly short notice before the 2007 season.

The 2007 team competed hard but finished 4-7 in the regular season and had the unenviable assignment of visiting state power Reidsville in the first round of the playoffs.

This season, with the nucleus returning along with promotions from a junior varsity squad that had gone 8-2, the Panthers were ready to win. After a 3-3 start, Orange lost just once more before dropping a 27-20 heartbreaker to visiting South Brunswick in the second round of the playoffs. Highlights included wins over Burlington Cummings, Northwood and county rival Cedar Ridge.

"I was very lucky when I got here," Schock said. "We had kids that could play, and there was already a pretty good staff in place."

Schock's current staff is a mix of veteran and younger coaches. Defensive coordinator Phil Hines, offensive line coach Greg Brooks and running backs coach Steve Neighbors are long-time coaching veterans, with defensive backs coach Jamie Bailey, defensive line coach Eric Villines, quarterbacks/receivers coach Brian Swicegood and another offensive line coach Jason Day making up the more youthful talent.

"The staff did a great job keeping things together," Schock said. "We lost a couple of linemen to injuries early on and couldn't two-platoon any more. But we discussed personnel and got several players practicing and playing on both sides of the ball, and it turned out well for us."

The Panthers will graduate 18 seniors, but 14 starters return for next season when they move up to a new 3-A conference along with county rival Chapel Hill, Cardinal Gibbons, Webb, Northern Vance and Southern Vance.

Schock and his wife Susan, a history teacher at Raleigh's Wakefield High, live in Franklin County with their daughter Kenna, 9, and son Evan, 7.

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