The University of Maine football team fell behind by 14 and twice by 11 points on Saturday afternoon, rallying within three points late but a missed 47 yard field goal in the final 30 seconds gave the Colgate Raiders a 21-18 non-conference victory in the Black Bears home opener at a hot and humid Alfond Stadium.
Colgate (1-1) got all their offense from sophomore quarterback Michael Brescia. After a scoreless first quarter, the Raiders hit the scoreboard after Maine was stopped on a fourth down and one at their opponents 41 yard line. The reigning Patriot League Rookie of the Year Brescia would score the only points of the first half with a short one yard touchdown run on a third and goal with 8:26 left before the intermission. Penalties hurt the Bears as they had six of them in the opening 30 minutes.
The guests extended the lead in the third quarter that was set up by a pass from running back Garrett Oakey to wide receiver Brady Hutchinson for a 34 yard connection. Brescia added a 15 yard run, and capped off the drive with a two yard scoring run and a 14-0 advantage. Maine (0-2) finally got on the board for the first time in 2022 when Cole Baker hit a 33 yard field goal on the ensuing possession. The Black Bears went 101 minutes, 42 seconds before scoring a point.
The hosts inched closer and started a drive late in the quarter that lasted into the fourth, and would cut into the deficit. Joe Fagnano hit tight end Sean Bowman for passes of 11 and 28 yards, and Fagnano finished it off with a run of his own into the endzone from six yards out to make it 14-10 with 13:41 left to play. Brescia was at it again though with just over seven minutes left to go. On the second play of the Colgate possession, the quarterback took off and found his way through the Maine defense for a 68 yard TD run to push the lead back to 21-10. The Black Bears weren’t done yet however, and fired right back on a 75 yard drive with the key play coming on a 29 yard pass from Fagnano to Tavion Banks on a third and 10 at the Raiders 49 yard line. Fagnano finished the drive with a seven yard TD pass to Montigo Moss, and Fagnano would also hit Xavier Scott with a two-point conversion to slice it to three points with 4:02 remaining. After Colgate went three and out, Maine had one more opportunity. They got down the field on passes from Fagnano to Scott of 14 yards, Elijah Barnwell for 10, and Michael Monios for 18 yards down to the Raiders 31. After a short run by Barnwell and two incompletions by Fagnano, Baker came out to try to tie it with the 47 yard attempt but the kick would fall just short and the guests ran out the remaining 25 seconds on the clock to escape with the three point win.
Fagnano finished 25-39 passing for 246 yards with one touchdown in the loss, also adding the one rushing touchdown. Barnwell led the ground game with 66 yards on 17 carries, and also had five catches for 31 yards. Bowman had five catches and 73 yards, while Moss also had four receptions for 36 yards and a TD. Adrian Otero had seven total tackles to lead the defense, while Robby Riobe, Xavier Mitchell, and Kahzir Brown each had six. Mitchell also had a half sack. Brescia only attempted 11 passes in the game (no attempts in the first quarter), completing four of them for 28 yards. He gained 87 yards on 15 rushing attempts with all three of the Colgate touchdowns. Tyler Flick had 15 total tackles for the Raiders. Maine is on the road to face another FBS opponent next Saturday, as they battle Boston College out of the ACC at 7:30 p.m.
