The Maine football team earned a hard fought 20-13 non-conference win on Saturday afternoon over Merrimack College at Duane Stadium in North Andover, Massachusetts. After an 0-4 start, the Black Bears have now won three straight games for the first time under head coach Jordan Stevens.
It was a tight fought battle throughout. Maine got on the board first and made it 7-0 on a 1-yard touchdown run by Nick Laughlin (Cape Elizabeth) in the first quarter. Laughlin though, who now has scored a four total TDs in his last three games, left the contest after the score due to an apparent knee injury and didn’t return. Running back Sincere Baines was also hurt in the first half and never returned to the game. Merrimack (3-4) tied it late in the first on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Ayden Pereira to Seth Sweitzer. The teams then exchanged a pair of field goals, before a career-best kick by Samuel Tremblay in the final 35 seconds of the second quarter of 45-yards gave the Black Bears the 13-10 advantage at the break.
Merrimack tied it back up on a 34-yard field goal by Carlton Thai in the third quarter. Maine had a great chance at taking back the lead in the period when they had 1st and goal at the Warriors 2-yard line, but four straight stops gave the ball back to the hosts on downs. The turning point of the contest came in the fourth. MC was backed up at their own 24 on a 4th and 14, but back in punt formation Mike Ryan ran a fake and rushed 21 yards for a first down. On the next play however, Aveon Smith after a 17-yard gain was stripped of the ball by Black Bears linebacker Christian Thomas and Vincent Nwachi recovered for Maine at their own 38. That led to the game winning drive. Rashawn Marshall, who stepped into the RB1 position after the injuries to Baines and Loughlin, had a career day out of the backfield. The sophomore out of New Jersey put up 35 yards on four carries on the go-ahead drive that was capped off by a 1-yard quarterback sneak for six by Carter Peevy with 6:41 remaining. They had the ball back late to try to kill the clock, but were forced to punt it back to Merrimack with 1:46 left. The kick by Anthony Peccorella pinned the Warriors back at their own 2-yard line, and on the second play after the change of possession Devin Vaught intercepted Smith to seal the victory for the guests.
Marshall was the big offensive spark especially in the second half in the Maine win, finishing with 146 yards rushing on 19 carries. The Black Bears rushed for a total of 241 yards, as the passing game struggled all afternoon. Peevy went 12-25 for 159 yards with one interception, while also adding six rush attempts for 23 yards and a touchdown. Scott Woods had four receptions for 75 yards to lead the receiving core. Thomas, who is 13th in the country in all FCS in total tackles had seven of them in the victory (four solo), while also adding the huge forced fumble. The freshman Tremblay is perfect on field goal attempts (7-7) and PATs (17-17) for the season. Pereira was the big offensive producer in the loss for Merrimack, passing for 129 yards for a touchdown and also rushing for 131 yards as the Warriors drop their first home game on the year (3-1). Smith, who comes in at times as the QB, and also as a running back, threw two interceptions on 1-6 passing and also fumbled after a good run in a key spot in the fourth quarter. The Black Bears improve to 3-4 and will have a bye week before taking their 2-1 CAA record into a league home game in Orono during homecoming weekend against Elon on Saturday, October 25th at 1 p.m.
Photo at the top of Rashawn Marshall getting a handoff from Carter Peevy courtesy of Anthony DelMonaco/Photo on the bottom of Samuel Tremblay courtesy of UMaine Athletics
