Maine falls just short against FBS Florida International in football season opener

Published by %s
September 2, 2023

Kris Mitchell caught two touchdown passes from quarterback Keyone Jones, including a 63 yarder late in the second quarter on Saturday night that ended up being the game winner as Florida International University held on to defeat the Maine Black Bears 14-12 in a non-conference football game played at FIU Stadium in Miami, Florida. It was the season opener for Maine.

Maine had a good drive going the first time they had the ball, driving all the way to the Florida International 24 yard line. On a second down play though, freshman running back Tristen Kenan fumbled and the Panthers recovered at their own 25. FIU (1-1), out of the FBS and Conference-USA, turned that into a 75 yard drive taking the lead on the first connection of the night between Mitchell and Jones as Mitchell caught a 19 yard touchdown pass for a 7-0 lead. The Black Bears got a defensive stop later in the first quarter at their own 34 yard line, as John Costanza sacked Jones on fourth down for a nine yard loss. That culminated in a 48 yard field goal by Cody Williams. Williams missed a kick of 42 yards for Maine in the second that would of sliced the deficit to just one point, but the guests later would catch a break by recoving a fumble on a punt getting the ball in FIU territory at the 37-yard line. They drove to the Panthers 10 yard line where the drive would stall, but Williams connected on a 28 yard field goal to make it 7-6. One of the biggest plays of the game occurred with just 1:47 left in the half, as Mitchell got behind the Black Bears defense and Jones led him down the sideline for a 63 yard touchdown to push the lead to 14-6 at the break.

A great drive by Maine as they received the second half kickoff. Quarterback Derek Robertson completed passes of 14 yards to Jamie Lamson, and 11 yards to Cooper Heisey on a key third down conversion. Robertson also hooked up with Montigo Moss for passing plays of 13 and 12 yards, setting up the Black Bears for a score. Kenan ran five yards into the endzone to cap the drive, but a Robertson two-point conversion pass to try to tie it was ruled out of bounds. After shutting down FIU three and out, the visitors had a golden opportunity to take their first lead. Maine had a first down at the Panthers 13-yard line, but would end failing to convert on a fourth down run by Kenan at the 6-yard line in a big decision at that point of the game with still alot of football left to be played with 4:41 left in the period. In their last chance of the contest in the fourth quarter, the Black Bears made a huge stop on fourth down to get the ball back at their own 11. They drove to the Florida International 34-yard line where they faced a 3rd and 7 with 2:07 left to play. FIU came up with the biggest play of the night when Jordan Guerad sacked Robertson for an eight yard loss. The final opportunity was a desperation pass by Robertson trying to find Lamson down the right sideline, but the pass fell incomplete as the Panthers were then able to run out the clock and escape with the two point victory.

Robertson finished 21-43 passing for 213 yards, and was sacked three times in the loss. The true freshman Kenan ended up with 108 yards rushing on 24 carries with the lone Maine touchdown. John Gay also added 81 yards on 11 attempts. Lamson had the most receptions with six of them for 48 yards, while Moss had the most yards with 50 on three catches. Darius McKenzie had six total tackles to lead the defense, while Izaiah Henderson, Vince Thomas, and Costanza had one sack each. The freshman Jenkins went 15-30 through the air in the win for FIU for 292 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. The Panthers were held to a net total 13 yards rushing on the night. Mitchell was huge with nine receptions for 201 yards and two touchdowns. It doesn’t get much easier for the Black Bears, as they stay on the road to face FCS powerhouse North Dakota State next Saturday in the Fargo Dome at 3:30 p.m.

Recap by Chris Lessner/Video highlights courtesy of Maine Football on Twitter 

 

 

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