ORONO- A blown coverage on a 4th down and 21 late in the fourth quarter on Saturday night, led to a game winning touchdown as the Stonehill College Skyhawks shocked Maine 13-10 in a non-conference football matchup in the Black Bears home opener at Alfond Stadium.
Stonehill (1-2), who joined Division I FCS and the Northeast Conference in 2022 from Division II, made life tough all night especially in the passing game offensively for Maine. The Black Bears went three and out with their first possession, and then Mo Irefin after a catch from quarterback Carter Peevy on the second possession would fumble in his own territory and the Skyhawks recovered on the plus side of the field at the 45-yard line. That led to the first points of the contest when Domenic Scalese connected on a 34-yard field goal, after he got a second chance when Maine ran into the kicker on the previous attempt that was a 39-yarder that went wide right. The hosts finally got a big play with 5:51 left in the first half and took the lead, as Sincere Baines ripped off a 54-yard run setting up a 1st and goal to go. Irefin capped off the drive with a 1-yard counter run into the endzone to make it 7-3 Black Bears. The Skyhawks responded helped by a pass interference penalty as Scalese hit another field goal this time of 25-yards on the final play of the second quarter to make it 7-6 at the break.
Maine would extend their advantage back to four points with the lone scoring in the third quarter, after a Stonehill fumble by Joshua Roberson that was forced by Shane Keyes-Wilson and recovered by Chris Bacon. Runs of 20 and 15 yards respectively by Nick Loughlin (Cape Elizabeth High) and Baines got the Black Bears into scoring position, eventually with a 1st and goal at the 8-yard line. The drive stalled however, and much like in last weeks 28-27 Coastal Athletic Association loss at William & Mary, they had to settle for a field goal of 22-yards by Samuel Tremblay as it was 10-6 heading into the fourth. Both teams had a pair of empty possessions to start off the final period, before the Skyhawks got it back once again with 4:20 left to play. A roughing the passer penalty on 3rd and 6 by Maine would help to extend the drive, but Stonehill returned the favor with a holding call on 3rd and 11 to back them up to a 3rd and 21 at the Black Bears 34-yard line. An incomplete pass on third and long by Jack O’Connell would move it to 4th and 21. O’Connell needing to move his team to the 13-yard line for a first down, would roll out of the pocket from left to right and would find Brigham Dunphy who had snuck behind the defense in the back of the endzone for what turned out to be a shocking game winning 34-yard touchdown. Maine had one more opportunity with 1:40 to go at their own 27. They would pick up a pair of first downs, the second of which was a pass from Peevy to Irefin for 14 yards to the Skyhawks 47. A short completion of 5-yards on 2nd down to Scott Woods was followed up by incompletions by Peevy on 3rd and 4th down, as Stonehill took over on downs and lined up in victory formation to run out the clock.
Peevy finished the night 15-26 passing for 95 yards in the loss for Maine. Baines had another big game rushing for 106 yards on 12 carries. Baines, the junior transfer from Division II UNC-Pembroke, has now run 40 times for 311 yards (7.8 yard average per rush) in his first three DI games. Laughlin would chip in six attempts for 42 yards as the Black Bears had a total of 192 yards on the ground. Woods had six receptions for 27 yards, and Irefin hauled in three for 39. Irefin also added the short touchdown run in the second quarter. Bacon had seven total tackles (six solo), and recovered a fumble to lead the defense. Nicholas Kalume had two sacks. Stonehill ran for a total of 106 yards between four different players, with Dunphy reeling in the play of the night with the 34-yard game winning TD catch on 4th and 21. O’Connell passed for 132 yards (14-26), while also adding in 29 yards rushing. Richard Mosley III was a menace on defense with eight total tackles (seven solo) and a sack. The victory for Stonehill over Maine is the first time ever in their history they’ve defeated a team from the CAA. They came into Alfond Stadium as 22.5 point underdogs. The Skyhawks also for the first time have a full Division I status this season, and are eligible to win their conference and compete in the FCS playoffs. The Black Bears (0-3) will face another FBS team on the road next Saturday night when they travel to Georgia Southern (1-2) out of the Sun Belt Conference for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
