ORONO – Orono’s high-powered “T” offense has captured plenty of headlines during the Red Riots’ recent football successes.

With some key offensive players either sidelined or significantly slowed by injuries, Coach Bob Lucy’s team let its defense take care of business Friday night.

Orono afforded Foxcroft Academy only 80 net yards and made two critical fourth-down stands to earn a 14-2 LTC victory at the Orono High School field.

Coach Paul Withee’s Ponies, now 2-3, made a valiant upset bid. In spite of a steady defensive effort, Foxcroft was not able to put any points on the scoreboard.

Ralph Polk staked the 4-1 Red Riots to an 8-0 lead late in the first quarter with an 88-yard touchdown run. Orono made it stand up.

Polk made three tackles, all of them sacks, as the Riots sacked Foxcroft’s Brock Hartford six times for minus-74 yards.

Trailing 8-0, the Ponies threatened on their first possession of the second half. A roughing-the-kicker penalty and Steve Smith’s 44-yard jaunt on a trap play took Foxcroft to the Orono 28-yard line.

A timeout pep talk by Lucy got the Riots jacked up. On first down, JohnPaul Soucy sacked Hartford. Then, on fourth-and-1, Jason Myers crashed through and dropped Smith for a one-yard loss.

“It says a lot about our character, how we stepped it up in those situations,” Polk said.

The stand proved big. On Orono’s ensuing possession, Jason Myers took a safety after chasing down a high punt snap with 4:54 left in the third quarter.

Foxcroft took over on its own 36 after Ben Preston was ruled to have put his knee down when fielding the kick, a call that enraged Withee. The Ponies got to the O-36 thanks to a 25-yard run by Smith, but on fourth-and-one, Kyle Bishop dropped Smith for a one-yard loss.

“It was a struggle out there for a while,” said Myers, who made a team-leading 10 tackles. “Our defense really stepped it up in the second half, especially on some fourth-and-ones.”

Orono, which was without the services of starting quarterback Robey Rhoads (ankle injury) and didn’t get much mileage out of ailing halfback Sal Casanas (ankle), popped a couple of long touchdown plays to help compensate for a less-than-spectacular effort.

“We knew we were gonna have to come up big on defense,” Lucy said. “Our starting quarterback was out and Salvador’s (Casanas) was bothering him. We’ve got to get people healthy and get our backfield back intact.”

The Riots scored at 3:33 of the first quarter on the first play of their second possession. Barry Terrill and David Spellman ripped a huge hole in the right side of the Foxcroft defense and Polk bolted through, cut to the outside, and chugged 88 yards down the left sideline for a score.

“The linemen just made a big hole,” Polk said. “It’s a fake dive to the halfback, then the fullback cuts across.”

Orono finally gave itself some breathing room with 3:28 left. This time, Bishop burst through a hole at left tackle, and sped 73 yards.

“It was a great game and our kids played their hearts out,” Withee said.

Polk gained 118 yards on eight carries and Bishop netted 113 yards on nine tries. Erik Poulsen, an all-state end last year, filled in admirably for Rhoads, who was hurt last week at Belfast. The speedy senior carried 14 times for 61 yards.

Smith, who missed the last two games with an injury, was the workhorse for the Ponies. He picked up 124 yards on 15 carries.

Bishop and Michael Pare made six hits each for Orono. Smith and Nate Latia had eight tackles each for Foxcroft.

Red Riots 14, Ponies 2

Foxcroft Acad. 0 0 2 0 – 2

Orono 8 0 0 6 – 14

O – Polk 88 run (Ky. Bishop rush)

FA – Safety, J. Myers ran out of end zone with punt snap

O – Ky. Bishop 73 run (rush failed)

Foxcroft Orono

First downs 5 10 Rushing att. – yds 34-57 36-309 Passing att. – cmp. 9-3 5-1 Yards passing 23 6 Total yards 80 315 Intercepted by 0 1 Punts – avg. 6-40.2 5-25.0 Fumbles – lost 1-1 3-2 Penalties – yds 4-20 7-62

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – Foxcroft: Smith 15-124, Preston 10-20, Slater 1-(-5), Hartford 8-(-82); Orono: Polk 8-118, Ky. Bishop 9-113, Poulsen 14-61, Casanas 4-18, Furbish 1-(-1)

PASSING – Foxcroft: Hartford 3-9-1-23; Orono: Poulsen 1-5-0-6

RECEIVING – Foxcroft: Smith 2-20, Slater 1-3; Orono: Mi. Pare 1-6