Orono quarterback Griffin Mauer faced a tough situation, no matter what the Spartans decided to do — kick an extra point, go for two, their pick — when trailing by one in overtime of their Class 4A state semifinal Thursday against undefeated Marshall at U.S. Bank Stadium.

The Tigers had scored to open overtime, then forced Mauer to scramble right and dance away from a lunging Marshall defender before he launched a pass to tight end Simon Vinton in the back of the end zone for a touchdown.

“I’m always trying to make a play, give it to my guys in space,“ Mauer said. ”The play was supposed to go to Bennett [Halverson] right away in the flat. They took it away. [I was] just trying to make something happen."

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An unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty called for a spiked-ball celebration moved Orono back to the Marshall 18-yard line for the point-after try. Mauer, a senior, had been both kicking Orono’s extra points and weathering the storm of four sacks by Marshall’s formidable pass rush.

Orono coach Joe McPherson said the Spartans had been planning to go for two to win it, no matter the penalty and resulting ball position. And win it they did, 15-14, as Mauer lofted a pass over the shoulder of sophomore Lincoln Stinar, who caught it diving into the corner of the end zone.

“Got the penalty, makes it a little bit harder decision, but we knew we had a play that we could throw it up to Lincoln, and Lincoln knows how to make plays,” McPherson said. “He’s done it a lot this year for us.”

Orono (9-3), which booked its program’s first trip to the Prep Bowl in its fourth trip to state since 2021, won a defense-dominant game that was, undeniably, a game of margins, Marshall coach Terry Bahlmann said.

Those narrow margins weren’t unexpected in the slightest. Marshall (11-1), also seeking a first state championship appearance, beat Orono 13-12 in October. The Tigers defense didn’t give up more than 14 points — until Thursday’s semifinal.

“One play goes different in the first game, [Orono] would probably been the higher seed,” Bahlmann said. “… One play goes one way or the other [today], we get out of here with the win.”

The Orono offense — led by Mauer’s 140 yards through the air and two touchdowns — faced its narrowest of margins when, with the score tied 7-7, Marshall punter Milo Swenson pinned the Spartans to the 1-yard line with 57 seconds remaining.

Mauer found Halverson, a junior wide receiver, for a 13-yard gain, wriggling Orono out of giving up what could have been, essentially, a walk-off safety by Marshall.

Orono had opened the scoring in the second quarter thanks to Mauer’s 31-yard touchdown pass to Halverson — a tipped ball that Halverson had to snag out of the air while falling after he was tripped up by the Marshall secondary.

“It felt like the ball was in the air so long,” said Halverson, who finished with 73 receiving yards on six targets.

Marshall’s usually reliable run game picked up in the third quarter, with senior Andrew Stelter scoring from 4 yards. Stelter finished with 100 of the Tigers’ 166 rushing yards.

But largely, Orono’s defense was able to keep Marshall from making explosive offensive plays, stepping up when the Tigers started a drive on the Spartans 26-yard line after a short fourth-quarter punt. Junior linebacker Lucas LaBelle’s 17 total tackles led Orono, followed by 11 for sophomore linebacker Grant Eslinger.

“Both [teams] fly around, do a really good job shutting the run down,” McPherson said. “We knew it was going to be a tight game. We knew our defense was going to have to hold us in the game.”