Orono football traveled to Providence Academy Friday night, taking on the 4-1 Lions. With a 5 game winning streak, the #3 Class 4a ranked Spartans had to defeat #4 Providence Academy to keep their winning streak alive.

Providence began the game with the ball but quickly got turned around with a huge pick by cornerback Alex Loveless. The Spartans then drove down the field, culminating in running back Rory Kvern running the football into the endzone with a 1-yard rushing touchdown with 1:10 remaining in the first quarter.

Providence was penalized due to encroachment (when a defensive player is positioned in the neutral zone), reducing the distance to the end zone for the point-after-touchdown. This caused Orono to go for the 2-point conversion, which they failed.

Providence later scored in the second quarter; Orono was unable to respond, leaving the score at 7-6 at the half. This was the first time the Spartan team had been behind at the half all year.

The momentum turned for the Spartans in the second half. Orono Running back Frankie Stevenson scored a touchdown with a 3-yard run with 7:41 remaining in the third quarter. A successful two-point conversion made the score 14-7. Wide receiver Parker Burckhardt then scored an 8-yard touchdown to make the score 21-7 with 3:03 left in the third quarter.

Burkhardt later had an interception, leading to an Orono field goal making it 24-7. In the last few seconds of the game, Providence scored a touchdown, but failed the point-after-touchdown, making the final score of the game 24-13.

Next week, Orono goes on the road to #2 Totino-Grace at an early 5 p.m. start time on Friday, October 11th.

“Totino-Grace has some good corners,” Burkhardt said, explaining how Totino-Grace will be the toughest team Orono has faced thus far, as they have an undefeated 6-0 season, routinely trouncing their opponents.

Will Orono beat Totino-Grace? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.