Cole Johnson passed for 384 yards and four touchdowns on Saturday afternoon, as the #3 James Madison Dukes blew out the Maine Black Bears 55-7 in a Colonial Athletic Association football contest played at Bridgeforth Stadium in Harrisburg, Virginia. JMU has now won 19 straight games at home.
James Madison (2-0, 1-0 CAA) dominated from the start and Johnson connected with wide receiver Antwane Wells, Jr. for touchdowns of 73 and 51 yards in the first half as it was 24-0 at the break. The Dukes outgained Maine 345-77 in total yardage over the first 30 minutes of action. Black Bears quarterback Joe Fagnano was injured in the second quarter and didn’t return. Redshirt freshman QB Derek Robertson came in to replace Fagnano. The hosts piled on in the third adding 17 points on a Ethan Ratke field goal, a blocked punt and TD return of six yards by Demond Green, and a Johnson to Scott Bracey 25 yard TD. Robertson put the guests on the board in the quarter by connecting with Andre Miller for a 22 yard score, the first collegiate TD pass for Robertson. Lorenzo Bryant Jr. had a six yard TD run in the fourth, and Francis Meehan returned a deflected Robertson pass 31 yards to the house for a pick six that finished the scoring on the day.
Fagnano went 4-6 passing for 31 yards prior to his injury, while Robertson was 8-22 for 88 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Elijah Barnwell rushed 16 times for 57 yards to lead the backfield. Devin Young had the most receptions with four for 13 yards, while Miller had the most yardage with two catches for 41 and the lone score. Fofie Bazzie had 10 total tackles for the defense, as the Black Bears fall to 0-2 and 0-2 in the conference. Johnson was 25-30 in the passing game for James Madison. Kaelon Black ran nine times for 55 yards, and Wells Jr. had a huge day with a career high eight receptions for 179 yards and the two first half touchdowns. Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey and Greg Ross each had seven tackles to lead the Dukes defense, with Tucker-Dorsey adding a quarterback sack. The total yardage in the game ended up being 517-194 in favor of JMU. Maine returns home to host Merrimack in a non-conference matchup next Saturday afternoon.
