“We practice our fourth-down plays a lot and we use that as one of our surprise plays,” he said. “It worked out good.”

The first half was a defensive struggle, with neither team able to muster much offense. Orono (2-0) led 3-0 at halftime, its field goal coming after a Cooper fumble.
The Hawks turned accident-prone in the second half, contributing to Orono extending its lead. A fumble at midfield on the opening possession of the third quarter led to Orono’s first touchdown, a 4-yard run by Aidan Mueller.

After Cooper (1-1) went three-and-out, the Hawks mishandled a snap on a punt, giving Orono the ball on its 4-yard line. Mueller scored on the next play and suddenly, the Spartans were up 15-0.

“Football is a game where the team that makes the least amount of mistakes is going to win and that’s what it was today,” Cooper coach Willie Howard said.

Orono, however, wasn’t immune to mistakes and one of its own helped Cooper get back in the game. After the Hawks had cut the lead to 15-6 on a 17-yard scramble by quarterback Joseph Russell, Cooper blocked a punt. A short time later it led to a 28-yard touchdown pass from Russell to Broderick Powell, cutting the deficit to 15-13.

Orono’s game-clincher happened six plays later.

“At the end, we still had a chance and lo and behold, we made a mistake — eyes in the backfield – and they score,” Howard said. “We left a little energy on the field, but we’re going to bounce back next week.”

McPherson praised his team for facing down late adversity.

“We’re a resilient bunch, a tough bunch,’’ he said. “This senior class has taken a lot of responsibility on their shoulders and their hard work is paying off.”