Freddie Brock scored two touchdowns and Derek Robertson also threw for a pair Saturday afternoon, leading the Maine Black Bears to a 27-16 CAA football win over William & Mary in front of a homecoming crowd of 6,356 at Harold Alfond Sports Stadium on Morse Field in Orono.
After Maine didn’t do anything with their first possession, William & Mary drove to the Black Bears 40 their first time with the ball before Lucas Martin fumbled at the 37 and Fofie Bazzie recovered. That would lead to a seven yard TD from Robertson to Brock on a 3rd and goal and a 7-0 lead. That lead was extended to 10-0 early in the second on a Jonny Messina 21 yard field goal. A big point in the game came late in the first half with 3:17 to go. That is when the Tribe offense was stopped on a 4th and 2 at the Black Bears 14 yard line, and Maine went 86 yards on 16 plays capping it off with a Brock 22 yard TD run with 40 seconds left to make it 17-0 at the break.
Devin Young caught the second scoring pass 35 yards from Robertson in the third quarter with 6:13 remaining, and Maine was rolling 24-0. William & Mary (4-2, 2-1 Colonial Athletic Association) got on the board for the first time 3:21 later on a one yard run by quarterback Darius Wilson. Donavyn Lester added a two-point conversion run. Messina made it 27-8 with his second field goal of the day from 42 yards with 11:50 left to play. The Tribe bounced back quick with just 1:08 taken off the clock when Wilson caught a break when a ball went off a defensive backs fingertips, and deflected right into the hands of his receiver Zach Burdick who took it 76 yards into the endzone. Wilson would add another two-point conversion. It looked as if William & Mary was gonna get even closer late in the game when Burdick rushed around left end for a four yard TD run, but a holding call nullified the score. Black Bears defensive back Shakur Smalls was then called for a pass interference on the next play to give the Tribe a 1st and goal at the two, but Wilson the redshirt freshman made a freshman mistake when he was intercepted in the endzone by Adrian Otero with 2:30 to go to wrap up the first conference win of the season for Maine.
Robertson finished 20-40 passing for 223 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He also added three runs for 25 yards. Brock led the ground game with 86 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown, and also added four catches for 26 yards and a score. Zavier Scott had 10 run attempts for 51 yards, and Tavion Banks had eight for 33 as the Black Bears rushed for 194 yards on the day. Young led the receiving core with six catches for 81 yards and a touchdown, while Andre Miller and Shawn Bowman both caught three for 40 and 36 yards respectively. Xavier Nurse had eight total tackles for the defense, while Otero had seven and the interception that sealed the victory. Wilson was 8-16 passing for 133 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions in the loss. He had six run attempts for 33 yards and a touchdown as well. Lester rushed 13 times for 112 yards, and Burdick caught two passes for 82 yards including the 76 yard TD reception that he got a good break on. Maine improves to 2-4 overall, 1-3 in the CAA and will travel to Albany for a 1 p.m. kickoff with the Great Danes next Saturday.
Images of William & Mary at Maine in a Colonial Athletic Association football game in Orono on Saturday, October 16, 2021. Photos courtesy of Anthony DelMonaco.
