ORONO- The University of Maine football team got another big day out of the backfield from Rashawn Marshall and two touchdown passes from Carter Peevy on Saturday afternoon, in pulling away for a 35-14 Coastal Athletic Association win over Elon on homecoming at Alfond Stadium. It is the fourth win in a row for the Black Bears, and their third conference win in four tries. The four game win streak is the longest since the 2019 season.
After a good opening drive by Elon that ended with an interception by Devin Vaught in the endzone, the Phoenix jumped ahead for the only time on the afternoon on their second drive with a 17-yard touchdown run by Jimmyll Williams with 4:17 left in the first quarter. Maine tied it in the second, converting on a pair of key third downs that led to a first career TD catch by Jake Kucera of 14-yards from Carter Peevy. The Black Bears took the lead for good just before halftime, and it was another first career touchdown as Gianni Rossitto caught a 24-yarder from Peevy in the back of the endzone. It was some great work by the senior Rossitto to get his foot inbounds.
Peevy had the only score in the third quarter, as he made it 21-7 with a short QB sneak. Maine provided two explosive plays to finish their scoring in the fourth on an 85-yard punt return for a touchdown by Robert Woods, and a 61-yard TD scamper by Marshall. Landen Clark had a 15-yard TD pass for Elon to Isaiah Fuhrmann in between the two scores by the Black Bears. The punt return score for Woods was the first as a team since 2017.
Clark went 16-23 passing with one touchdown and one interception in the loss for Elon. He also added 42 yards rushing, as the Phoenix drop to 4-5 and 2-3 in the Coastal Athletic Association. Peevy finished 24-34 for 260 yards and two touchdowns in the Maine win. Marshall rushed 15 times for 141 yards and a TD, after logging 146 yards in a win at Merrimack before the bye week. Woods had his special teams score with the punt return and also had six catches for 69 yards. Rossitto (39 yards) and Kucera (20 yards) each caught two passes with each of them scoring first career touchdowns. 10 different players had at least one reception. Christian Thomas led the defense with nine total tackles (four solo, one for a loss). Vaught also had a huge day with eight total tackles (seven solo) and an interception, while the team had a season-high five sacks. It was the ninth straight homecoming win for the Black Bears. Maine is now 4-4 and 3-1 in conference play and will host Stony Brook next Saturday at 1 p.m.
Featured photo is courtesy of UMaine Athletics
