Orono seniors Hank Seward and David McCuskey have stuck to their roles on offense since playing together as fourth-graders. This offseason, McCuskey took his shot at quarterback and quickly ended any questions of a position battle at the helm of the Spartans' offense.
“In our 7-on-7 [practices] this summer, we were winning -- all he [McCuskey] wants to do is throw the ball -- so we let him,” Seward said. “First ball he throws is a pick -- he hasn’t thrown it since.”
McCuskey committed a more costly turnover Friday night at Chaska, fumbling a kickoff return in the third quarter that the Hawks recovered and turned into points to pull within a touchdown.
But McCuskey ultimately gave his offense more incentive to score in the final quarter, where he found the end zone for a fourth time to seal a 27-13 victory that secured the inaugural Suburban White subdistrict title for Orono.
“This [performance] is up there for me because it was a holistic team experience,” McCuskey said the victory. “They all came together and being a part of that was awesome.”
Last week McCuskey solidified himself as Orono’s all-time rushing yards leader, an honor he puts on the back burner when it comes to his team winning its first regular-season league title since 2008.
“We’ve sat in the locker room talking how we want to be the '08 team, be better than the '08 team. This seems to be our year,” he said.
A decisive fourth-quarter drive was the difference maker for Orono, which will look to close the regular season with an 8-0 record and make a bid for home-field advantage for section playoffs. The Spartans have allowed just a single touchdown in the fourth quarter this season, late-game success that Orono coach Jeff Weiland credits to his team’s size.
“What we sell our kids on is we play no huddle everyday in practice,” he said. “We get more reps than anybody else does -- and our defense is our scout team -- we don’t have enough guys. I think they have a lot of faith and are in better shape than most teams.”
McCuskey epitomized the Spartans’ endurance on Orono’s final drive, breaking off on a second effort that forced Chaska to use its final timeout and wrapped up the subdistrict championship.
“He’s our guy, there’s no doubt about that,” Weiland said. “The combination of speed, heart, moves, desire, grit. He’s the total package.”
Chaska quarterback Alex Strazzanti (7) running the read-option against the Orono Spartan defense. Photo by Korey McDermott
First Report
Senior running back David McCuskey scored all four Orono touchdowns as the Spartans eased past the Hawks 27-13 on Friday night at Chaska High School.
Orono (7-0), ranked No. 3 in Class 4A in the Associated Press state high school football poll, clinched a share of the Suburban White subdistrict title, its first league since 2008, and dealt Chaska (5-2) its first subdistrict loss.
The Spartans led 13-3 at the half and looked to have the win locked up with five minutes remaining in the third quarter after McCuskey’s third touchdown.
But the Hawks quickly answered on their next possession. A short pass from junior quarterback Alex Strazzanti found senior Alex Machukans, who dodged his way 43 yards to Spartans’ 2-yard line. Strazzanti’s TD keeper cut Orono's lead to 20-10 just 28 seconds after the Spartans' touchdown.
On the ensuing kickoff, Chaska’s Matthew Ostby delivered a crushing hit to McCuskey as he tried to recover a muffed catch. Brandon Slama recovered the ball for the Hawks, putting Chaska in scoring territory. The Hawks couldn’t capitalize and settled for a field goal to make the score 20-13 heading into the fourth quarter.
Chaska seemed to have trapped the Spartans on their own 10-yard line with 10 minutes remaining in the game. But Orono marched 90 yards, piecing together a six-minute drive that was capped by McCuskey’s final touchdown of the night.
Orono has allowed only one fourth-quarter TD this season, which happened in Week 1 against Benilde-St. Margaret’s.
