ATLANTA — It’s been 57 years since Doyle Orange blazed a then historical path across South Georgia football stadiums.
That path led him, first, to being selected as the fourth Parade All-American selection from Georgia in 1969 making history as the state’s first black selection right as the Georgia High School Association integrated.
Saturday night, October 24, Orange was honored, along with 32 other GHSA legends, at the fifth annual Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony for that remarkable season.
Orange, who played his first three years at Center High School, caught the eye of college football coaches during his 1969 senior year at Waycross High after integration.
Playing for Paul Leroy, Orange ended the season with 2,289 yards and 25 touchdowns.
And, he did it over 10 games only because the Bulldogs (8-2) finished second to Thomasville in the Region 1-AA standings. Orange was the second player in GHSA history to surpass the 2,000-yard barrier joining Waynesboro’s Jimmy Barfield, who accomplished the feat in 1955 over 11 games posting 2,334 yards.
In the spring of 1970, Orange led WHS to the Class 2A track and field championship by winning the 100- and 220yard dashes (10.0 seconds in the 100 and 22.5 seconds in the 220) and anchoring the winning 440-yard relay team.
Orange signed a scholarship with Southern Miss issippi where he lettered for three years when freshmen were ineligible for varsity. He was sixth round of the iNFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons, but spent his professional career playing in the Canadian Football League with Hamilton and Toronto.
The member of the Waycross-Ware County Sports Hall of Fame, still lives in Toronto.
“When I got the call (Chase Rosenberg from the Hall of Fame),” said Orange, “I was told I’d been chosen for the Hall of Fame, and I said, ‘Is this for real?’ He congratulated me. I told my family about it. It was well received in a great way.
“I’m just grateful to be remembered. To have the year I had, it was really special. It’s always stayed with me. I’m very honored.”
Orange’s game totals, as reported in the Waycross Journal-Herald, drew statewide and national attention to the fullback running from the triple option were 113 on 16 carries vs. Bradwell Institute, 291 on 22 totes vs. Wayne County, 278 on 10 tries vs. Ware County, 134 on 28 carries vs. Thomasville, 209 on 25 attempts vs. Crisp County, 196 on 19 totes vs. Bainbridge, 362 on 13 tries vs. Berrien, 325 on 21 rushes vs. Dodge County, 146 on 30 attempts vs. Dublin, and 235 on 22 totes vs. Appling County.
“When I was at Center, I was just the blocking guy,” said Orange. “At Waycross, Coach Leroy ran the wishbone. I must’ve showed I could do it. When the season started, I was the fullback. We ran a lot of counter traps off that and when they handed off to me, whew ... it was very successful.
“I still think if we’d been together for a couple of years (integrated sooner), no telling what we would’ve done. The competition was so stiff, everybody worked hard, and at the end of the season, we were so close. “
At Southern Miss, Orange was a classmate and friend of future Pro Football Hall of Fame punter Ray Guy, whom Leroy had coached at Thomson, winning a state title together in 1967. Guy was the quarterback and kicker for Coach Leroy.
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