Football Preview: Orono Spartans vs. Totino-Grace Eagles
The Orono Spartans will head out to square off against the Totino-Grace Eagles at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are still undefeated (Orono has seven wins dating back to last season, while Totino-Grace has six).
Last Friday, Orono beat Providence Academy/Heritage Christian Academy/Maranatha Christian Academy/West Lutheran 24-13.
Meanwhile, Totino-Grace made easy work of North Community on Friday and carried off a 34-14 victory. Given the Eagles' advantage in MaxPreps' Minnesota football rankings (they are ranked 30th, while the Polars are ranked 89th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Marquel Keten was his usual excellent self, rushing for 221 yards and a touchdown on only 11 carries. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Totino-Grace was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 332 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 163 rushing yards in ten consecutive matches dating back to last season.
Totino-Grace didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Emmanuel Benson and Tyler Hand. Benson also set a new season high mark in total tackles with seven.
Orono pushed their record up to 6-0 with the win, which was their third straight on the road. As for Totino-Grace, their record is now an identical 6-0.
Everything went Orono's way against Totino-Grace when the teams last played back in October of 2023, as Orono made off with a 31-7 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Orono since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
