ORONO- In one of the more dominant games in recent memory by the University of Maine football team, the Black Bears roared out to a 21-0 first quarter lead on Saturday afternoon and rolled past #5 Villanova 35-7 in Coastal Athletic Association action at Alfond Stadium in the homecoming contest played before a crowd of 6,860 fans. It is the highest ranked victory since a win in 2018 over #3 Weber State in the FCS playoffs.
It was pretty evident early on who the better team may be on this day. After Villanova won the coin toss and elected to receive, Maine forced a three and out on defense. It took the Black Bears just four plays covering 76 yards to find the endzone for the first time, culminating with a 55-yard scoring pass from Carter Peevy to Joe Gillette over the middle just over three minutes in. They also converted a two-point rush by Mason Gilbert. Devin Smith lost a fumble on the ensuing kickoff for the Wildcats at their own 24-yard line. Two plays later, Peevy found Molayo Irefin wide open down the right sideline for an 18-yard touchdown to make it 15-0. After the guests went three and out again, Maine had another good drive going and had a 39-yard run by Trevin Ewing deep into Villanova territory. But at the end of the play, Ewing was stripped by Isas Waxter and Jordan Nelson recovered the fumble for the guests at the 25. The Wildcats used that to finally drive into Black Bears territory, before the defense stiffened and forced a 49-yard field goal attempt. The snap and the hold were not good, and John Costanza bursted through to block the attempt. The deflection took a perfect Maine bounce and Devin Vaught scooped it up and ran 70 yards the other way for a score to extend the lead to 21-0. After Villanova turned it over with a second fumble this time by the quarterback Connor Watkins late in the first quarter on sack by Xavier Holmes at the Wildcats 9-yard line, Brian Santana-Fis capped off the goal to go opportunity with a 1-yard touchdown run 47 seconds into the second period and the score would stay 28-0 Maine at the halftime break.
The Black Bears took almost eight minutes off the clock after receiving the second half kickoff, going 81 yards and would end when Montigo Moss won a jumpball in the endzone ripping it away from the defender for a 5-yard TD off a pass from Peevy. The Black Hole defense really played well all afternoon, finishing with seven sacks. Villanova finally got on the board for the only time late with backup QB Tanner Maddocks scoring on a 7-yard run with less than two minutes remaining. It is the eighth win in a row for Maine on homecoming.
Peevy had his most efficient game as a Black Bear finishing 16-18 passing for 173 yards and three touchdowns. As a team they would rush for 155 yards on 35 carries, led by Santana-Fis who had 11 attempts for 56 yards and a touchdown. Gillette had four receptions for 81 yards and a score. The defense was superb, led by Izaiah Henderson who had seven total tackles and two sacks. Holmes had six tackles and 1.5 sacks, while Vaught and Shakur Smalls each had an interception. Vaught also had the blocked field goal return for a touchdown. Villanova had 235 total yards of offense, but many of that came late with the game already out of reach. Watkins passed for 117 yards (14-31) and was intercepted twice. The Wildcats fall to 5-2, 2-1 in the Coastal Athletic Association. Maine is now 4-3, 2-2 in conference play and will play yet another nationally ranked opponent when they travel to take on Rhode Island next Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.
Maine quarterback Carter Peevy during a 35-7 Black Bears homecoming win over #5 Villanova at Alfond Stadium in Orono on Saturday, October 19. Below- Wide receiver Joe Gillette (#18) and running back Brian Santana-Fis (#21). Photos courtesy of Anthony DelMonaco
