ORONO- It took almost the entire 60 minutes of regulation to decide a winner on Friday night in a season opening football matchup between Maine and Colgate, but a late interception by defensive back Alhaji Kamara in the closing moments would seal a narrow 17-14 Black Bears victory before a crowd 5,775 fans at Alfond Stadium. It is the first season opening home win for Maine since 2019, which is the last time they have started a year at 1-0.
Colgate would score first early in the second quarter to take their only lead of the contest. Quarterback Michael Brescia set it up with a 45 yard strike to wideout Winston Moore to the Maine 3-yard line. Running back Brandon Cassamajor took the direct snap on the next play into the endzone to make it 7-0 Raiders. The Black Bears responded with an 11 play, 75 yard drive engineered by Mercer transfer quarterback Carter Peevy. Peevy took it himself on a eight-yard TD run to even the score on a march that took 7:01 off the clock. After the Raiders went three and out, the hosts took the lead for good as they drove to the Colgate 17-yard line and settled for a 34-yard Joey Bryson field goal with 15 seconds left making it 10-7 at the break.
Colgate nearly took the lead back early in the fourth quarter, as a flea flicker from their own 8-yard line had Brady Hutchinson wide open behind the Maine defense and if completed would of been a 92-yard touchdown. But the pass by Brescia was overthrown. The Black Bears then took their next possession and extended their lead to 10, capped off with a seven-yard touchdown run by Jaharie Martin to make it 17-7 with 10:31 left to play. The Raiders bounced right back though, going 67 yards on 12 plays in 5:58 as Brescia found paydirt on a 10-yard run to slice it back to a three point deficit with 4:27 remaining. Maine then drove to the Colgate 23 trying to run the clock out that included a spectacular 33-yard catch by Montigo Moss, as the Raiders were forced to use their last two timeouts. On a 3rd down and 3, the snap would go over the head of Peevy in the shotgun who couldn’t get back to the ball and the guests recovered and had another chance with 57 seconds to go. Brescia helped to get his team into Black Bears territory at the 38. But on a first down on an outroute passing play at the 35, Kamara intercepted him with just seven seconds left to ice the win.
Peevy in his debut went 16-21 passing for 186 yards, and also added 13 rushes for 61 yards and a touchdown. Martin had 15 carries for 66 yards and the game winning score, while Brian Santana-Fis contributed out of the backfield with 40 yards on nine attempts. Four receivers had at least two catches each, led by Moss (five receptions, 84 yards) and Nick Laughlin (3-38). Christian Thomas had eight total tackles to lead the defense, Xavier Holmes had seven with a half sack, and Jabari Odoemenem had six stops. Brescia was 17-27 passing in the Colgate loss for 174 yards and one interception. He also ran the ball 13 times for 61 yards and a touchdown. Hutchinson had five receptions for 72 yards, while Cole Kozlowski had 10 tackles to lead the defensive corps of the Raiders who are out of the Patriot League. Maine is on the road next Saturday, traveling to Bozeman, Montana to battle FCS powerhouse Montana State. Kickoff is slated for 8 p.m. Eastern Time.
Photos by Anthony DelMonaco/Videos by Gabe Nason and Chris Lessner
