Maine quarterback Dan Collins hands off to running back Darian Davis-Ray during the third quarter of their CAA game against JMU on Saturday September 24, 2016. Photo by Chris Lessner.
ORONO, Maine- Khalid Abdullah and Cardon Johnson combined to rush for 282 yards and three touchdowns Saturday afternoon to lead the #11 James Madison Dukes over the Maine Black Bears 31-20 before a crowd of 8,786 fans at Morse Field at Alfond Stadium.
The game was the home opener for Maine and the conference opener for both teams.
JMU (3-1, 1-0) struck three and a half minutes into the game as Abdullah found the endzone for a three yard touchdown run to make it 7-0.
Maine struck back very early in the second quarter when true freshman receiver Earnest Edwards scored on a 23 yard end around. Maine would attempt a two point conversion but Kayshawn Wilson failed to take the ball across the goal line off the Collins pass and the Bears still trailed 7-6. Maine coach Joe Harasymiak said after the game on the decision to go for the conversion, “It is just something we want to do. We have been working on it since spring ball. It’s a formational thing. It’s a numbers game, we just count them up and if it isn’t there we bring them back in for the PAT. Kayshawn just has to do a better job to get in there”.
Tyler Gray added a 31 yard field goal four and a half minutes later to increase the Dukes lead to 10-6.
Maine took their first lead of the game late in the quarter on a five play, 75 yard drive. The key plays included a 40 yard pass to Micah Wright, and an 18 yard screenplay to Nigel Beckford. The Bears were also helped on a pass interference call on a third and 9 in the redzone. Beckford finished off the drive with a two yard touchdown run to give Maine a 13-10 lead which they took into halftime.
Maine looked to add to the lead early in the third quarter driving into JMU territory. But an interception by Collins, the first turnover of the season for the Bears, proved costly. Starting the drive from their own 8 yard line, and on the third play of the same drive, Abdullah raced 85 yards for a touchdown untouched to give the lead back to the Dukes at 17-13.
Maine proved to be resilient though as running back Darian Davis-Ray capped off an eight play, 75 yard drive just 3:10 later with a three yard touchdown run to make it 20-17 Maine.
In the fourth quarter Maine was unable to execute. JMU took back the lead when quarterback Bryan Schor found receiver John Miller on a 19 yard slant pattern and touchdown on a third and 11 play to make it 24-20 Dukes with 13:14 left to play.
After a three and out for both teams, the Bears had the ball back again with ten minutes left. But Collins would throw his third interception of the game, and just seven seconds later Cardon Johnson raced 52 yards to the endzone to end the scoring on the day and drop the Black Bears to an 0-3 overall record to start the season.
Collins finished 13-22 passing, 238 yards, no touchdowns, and three interceptions. Wright led the receiving core with three catches for 84 yards, while Marquise Adams and Jared Osumah both had three receptions as well for 44 and 43 yards, respectively. Davis-Ray had 10 carries for 47 yards and a touchdown while Zaire Williams had 11 carries for 35 yards. Christophe Mulumba Tshimanga led the defense with 14 total tackles and two sacks while Sterling Sheffield had 9 tackles and a sack. Darius Hart added an interception for the secondary.
Overall Abdullah had 22 carries for 172 yards and two touchdowns while Johnson added 110 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown for JMU. Schor was 12-22 passing, 137 yards, no touchdowns, and one interception. Miller led the receivers with five receptions for 55 yards and a score. The defense was led by Brandon Hereford who had nine tackles and a sack.
JMU coach Mike Houston said after the game, “Well first off in this conference there are no easy wins especially on the road. So to come here and win is a significant achievement for our group. I thought the game was about how we thought it would go, we talked about it all week. Maine is a very hard nosed team, they play hard and they are very disciplined”.
Harasymiak added, “First and foremost, I want to thank our fans. I thought the atmosphere around here was tremendous. I haven’t seen a game around here like that in a while. Right now we are just a team that is struggling to make plays in the second half, it is what it is. We need to continue to put ourselves there. I don’t know if there is any formula for that. We just need to keep grinding away and I know the guys will do that. We just need to continue to try to execute in critical situations. If you look at the UConn game and then this game late, we just aren’t ourselves”.
Maine (0-3, 0-1) returns to non-conference action next Saturday when it welcomes Bryant into Alfond Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
JMU 7 3 7 14- 31
UME 0 13 7 0- 20
Total Yards- JMU 430 Maine 341
Turnovers- JMU 1 Maine 3
Time of Possession- JMU 31:25 Maine 28:35
