Maine second half rally falls short in conference football loss at Campbell University

Published by %s
October 21, 2023

Derek Robertson had a career day passing with 503 yards and four touchdowns, but it wasn’t enough for the Maine Black Bears to pull off a second half comeback in falling to Campbell University 34-28 at Barker-Lane Stadium in Buies Creek, North Carolina on Saturday in Coastal Athletic Association football action.

In the first matchup between the two schools, Maine took their only lead of the day early on the first year member of the CAA. Robertson capped off an 80-yard drive with an 11-yard touchdown to Jamie Lamson, as the Black Bears scored the first time they had the ball for a 7-0 lead. The Camels took over the rest of the first half, tying it later in the first quarter on a 1-yard run by Lamagea McDowell. In the second, the hosts took a lead they wouldn’t relinquish on a 5-yard TD pass from Hajj-Malik Williams to Jasiah Provillon. A few minutes later, McDowell scored for the second time in the opening 30 minutes on a 7-yard run. Robertson drove Maine to the Campbell 48-yard line trying to gain some momentum down two scores, but was intercepted by Tyquez Royal at the Camels 26. A big 39-yard pass from Williams to VJ Wilkins, and also a pass interference call on the Black Bears set up the next score. Chris McKay, Jr. would find the endzone on a 5-yard run to extend the lead to 28-7, which is where it stood at halftime.

With 8:43 left in the third quarter, Maine got a turnover to help get on the scoreboard for a second time. Alhaji Kamara would strip Chaney Fitzgerald, and would recover the fumble at the Campbell 35-yard line. Robertson on the third play after the fumble recovery would hit Lamson for a 26-yard touchdown pass. The Camels responded going 72 yards in just 4:35, with Williams finding a wide open Jalen Kelsey behind the Black Bears defense for a 33-yard TD but the extra point was blocked by Kahzir “Buggs” Brown. The guests continued their next drive into the fourth, with Robertson continuing his big day with a 33-yard scoring pass to Rohan Jones on the first play of the final period to cut it to 13. They would make it really interesting the next time they had the ball, starting from their own 35-yard line with 9:51 left to play. Robertson completed passes of 18 yards to Lamson and 15 yards to Tavion Banks, culminating in a 18-yard TD pass to Jones with 6:12 remaining. Maine needed a defensive stop, and they got just that forcing a punt and getting the ball back with 2:51 to go from their own 14. After picking up one first down, Robertson would be intercepted on a second down play by Trevon Booker on a pass intended for Montigo Moss. Campbell was able to run the clock out and kneel down in victory formation by picking up two first downs, the second of which was a third and short picked up by McDowell to end the game.

The final line on Robertson in the loss was 36-52 passing for 503 with four touchdowns and two interceptions. The 503 yards is a new program record in a regulation game. The completions and yards were also both career-highs for Robertson. Maine is now 2-6, 1-4 in the CAA. The run game was non-existent with a big first half deficit, rushing for just six yards on 12 attempts. Joe Gillette was huge again to lead the receiving core with six catches for 135 yards. Moss also had six receptions (53 yards), while Lamson and Banks had five each (71 & 56 yards). Lamson and Jones (3 rec, 58 yards) provided the scoring with two touchdowns a piece. Brown had 10 total tackles, one for a loss and one sack to lead the defense. Williams went 26-33 for 242 yards and two touchdowns in the win for Campbell University (4-3, 3-2 in conference play). McDowell ran 26 times for 114 yards and two touchdowns, including some big ones late to melt away the clock. Wilkins had eight catches for 79 yards, and Fitzgerald added five receptions. Maine returns home to Orono to play host to the University of Albany in a CAA matchup next Saturday at 1 p.m.

Recap and photo by Chris Lessner/Videos courtesy of Maine Black Bears Football on Twitter

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