HILLSBOROUGH — For the third straight year, underdog Hillsborough Orange has upset Chapel Hill in the regular season finale.

The Panthers defense put a stranglehold on the Tigers for a 15-6 win to keep them in the running for second-place in the Carolinas 6 3A Conference, depending on the outcome of the Southern Vance vs. Northern Vance contest.

Last season, the Panthers defeated the Tigers 42-23 to take second place.

“Our team played hard tonight,” Orange coach Pat Moser said. “We just put the ball in Sean’s [Motley[ hand, and he did a good job.

But it was the defense that kept CHHS at bay. Tigers QB T.J. Johnson was sacked four times and intercepted three.

Orange got on the scoreboard after intercepting Johnson for the second time with a three-minute span. Panthers safety J.D. Brooks intercepted Johnson and returned the ball to the Tigers 41 but fumbled the ball, which CHHS recovered.

Four plays later, Johnson was intercepted again, this time by John Evans who returned the ball 79 yards for a touchdown with 43 seconds left in the first quarter. A two-point conversion made it 8-0 at the half.

The Panthers went up 15-0 on their first drive of the third period when Motley hit Jalen Pittman for 27 yards.

CHHS finally got on the scoreboard with 8:33 left in the fourth on a 2-yard run by Darius Allen, but a two-point attempt failed.

The Tigers were driving again late in the game before Johnson’s third interception by Evans again in the end zone that thwarted CHHS’s final rally.

“I can’t say enough about our defense,” Moser said. “We had four guys out from last week’s game, and our team just played excellent.”