Justin Covington ran for four touchdowns on Saturday afternoon, as the #16 Villanova Wildcats cruised to to 44-17 win over the Maine Black Bears in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) spring football action at Alfond Stadium in Orono.
Maine (2-2) couldn’t get alot going in the first half offensively, getting in a 10-0 hole in the first quarter. Villanova (2-1) added two more touchdowns in the second quarter to head into the locker room at halftime with a comfortable 24-3 lead. Covington had touchdown runs of 44 and 1 yard in the first half, while quarterback Daniel Smith connected on a 13 yard scoring play to Rayjoun Pringle.
Covington had his third score, another 1 yarder, almost five minutes into the third quarter to extend the lead to 31-3. Maine quarterback Joe Fagnano then threw an interception shortly after, that was returned 48 yards to the Black Bears 1 yard line. Covington punched it in for a 35 point advantage. The hosts got their second half offense on a 4 yard scoring run from Curtis Murray and a 19 yard rushing score from Freddie Brock.
Fagnano was 21-35 passing in the loss for 235 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. Brock had 14 carries for 88 yards and one touchdown to lead the Maine ground game. Murray (4 att, 31 yds, 1 TD), and Tavion Banks (8 att, 29 yds) also chipped in. Redshirt junior Zavier Scott led the receiving core with six receptions for 102 yards. Andre Miller after some big games so far this season was held to two catches for 39 yards. Khairi Manns had eight total tackles, and DeShawn Stevens had seven to lead the defense. Smith was 16-28 for 176 yards passing with a touchdown and no interceptions in the Villanova win. Covington had nine carries for 82 yards and the four scores on the day to lead their rushing attack, while Jalen Jackson also added 10 rushes for 76 yards and a touchdown. Pringle had five receptions for 47 yards and the first half touchdown. Forrest Rhyne had eight total tackles, and Ethan Potter had seven to anchor the Wildcats defense.
Maine will travel to Kingston, Rhode Island to battle the Rhode Island Rams next Saturday afternoon at 12 p.m.
