Orono surges past Holy Angels 35-10

It's not that things weren't going well for Orono on Friday. The Spartans were moving the ball crisply in the first half, but they weren't able to cap their drives with points.

That changed after halftime as Orono scored 28 unanswered points, turning a three-point deficit into a 35-10 rout of host Holy Angels. David McCuskey scored three touchdowns for Orono and Blake Leischow added two as the Spartans rolled up 301 yards of offense in the second half, all on the ground.

"It was a matter of us getting back to what we do best and finishing our drives," said McCuskey, who rushed for 213 yards. "We definitely simplified things and went to what we repped over and over again in practice."

For a little more than one half of play, Holy Angels more than made up for the deficit in speed and talent with grit and a bend-but-don't-break defense. The Stars (3-1) trailed 7-3 at halftime and took a 10-7 lead on an 11-yard touchdown run by Jack Anderson early in the third quarter.

That was Holy Angels' last highlight.

Orono (4-0) scored quickly on the ensuing drive, going 85 yards in five plays. The Spartans did even better the next time they had the ball, traveling 95 yards in nine plays to bump their lead to 21-10. The touchdown was scored by Leischow, whose electric feet were on display all game. He veered right, cut once and sliced through a defense that thought it had him corraled.

Leischow added another touchdown in the fourth quarter, a 14-yard run that wowed even the Orono coaches in the press box.

Expectations have been high for the Spartans from the beginning of the season, largely because of the considerable skills of McCuskey, Leischow and Seward. So far, they've lived up to them.

"We saw this coming a few years ago," Orono coach Jeff Weiland said. "We put them in a game as freshmen and they all scored touchdowns. That kind of talent makes a coach look pretty good."