ORONO – The game of tug-of-war may be considered child’s play, however, the teamwork needed to succeed in this playground favorite is what prompted the Orono Red Riots motto for the 2005 football season.

“Pull Together.”

“We feel pretty good as long as our kids are playing good football, the community is behind us, the parents are behind us, and we’re all pulling in one direction,” second-year head coach Bob Sinclair said, explaining the analogy.

The Riots know from experience that teamwork wins games, and they hope their season goals will be a product of that concept.

“Our team goals are simple,” said senior captain Nyasha Millard. “We want to win the sportsmanship award like we did last year and we made the playoffs last year, but we want to be a little more successful than that.”

Last season, the Riots finished 7-2, losing to Foxcroft Academy in the LTC semifinals.

Before last November, Orono hadn’t reached the postseason since 1996.

“Our kids had a great season [last year] and they were very pleased with their success,” Sinclair said. “I think we’ll build on that.”

Although the team graduated players in key positions, a group of 16 seniors will help anchor the 47-man roster.

“Everybody loses players,” Sinclair said. “We had a great group of seniors last year and we have an awesome group of seniors this year.”

Six of the 16 seniors who serve as captains for Sinclair’s squad were all “starters or very significant players last year.”

Mardy Simon and Millard will share the groundwork for Orono, as the team will run the majority of its offense out of the Oklahoma split-T formation.

The offense isn’t fancy and it’s a bit of a throwback, but Sinclair likes to keep it that way.

The offense was developed in Oklahoma in the 1940’s and became very popular with serviceman after World War II, Sinclair explained. Football was popular among the men and they needed an offense that would be commonly known if they were transferred from one base to another.

Engineering the offense will be junior Jarod Buzzell, who spent a lot of time at the cornerback position last season.

“[Buzzell] has done a nice job throwing the ball,” Sinclair said. “We’ll be pretty balanced.”

The Riots’ also return senior tackles Rob Chauvette and Colby Carusso.

“We’re very blessed to have two outstanding tackles,” Sinclair said.

Defensively, Sinclair said the squad is a 50-based team, working out of a 5-3 alignment.

“Their attitude has been super and they worked hard in the offseason,” Sinclair said. “They are really excited about their chances this season.”

ORONO RED RIOTS

2004 results: 7-2, lost in Class C semifinals.

Head coach: Bob Sinclair, 2nd year.

Key players: Nyasha Millard, FB-LB, Sr; Mardy Simon, HB, Sr; Travis Dunton, TE/DE, Sr; Rob Chauvette, T, Sr; Colby Caruso, T, Sr; Travis Bryant, TE, Sr; Seth Dwyer, QB, So; Jarod Buzzell, QB, Jr; Brad Russell, C, Sr; Mike Scott, LB, Sr. Outlook: The Riots return six of 11 starters on offense who will look to establish a ground game. Sinclair hopes to make it further into the playoffs than last season.