In his collegiate debut on Thursday night, redshirt sophomore quarterback Eddie Buehler tossed a pair of first half touchdowns as Maine built a 21-0 lead, and then held on to defeat Towson 21-18 in the season opener that was also the Coastal Athletic Association opener for both squads at Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, Maryland.
Buehler was on fire in the first half, connecting on 14 of 19 passes before the break for 184 yards and the two scores. He was helped greatly by his defense as well, as the Black Hole only allowed 125 total net yards in the opening 30 minutes. Maine broke the deadlock almost halfway through the second quarter. The Black Bears converted a key 4th down and short, and would cap the 52 yard drive when Buehler hit receiver Malik McNeely for a 16-yard touchdown on a 3rd and 11 to make it 7-0. They extended the lead about two minutes later on a 90 yard march, with a pass completion from Buehler to Evan Wallace of 31 yards to the Towson 34 helping to set it up. Running back Rashawn Marshall took care of the rest, as he took a handoff two plays later and raced 32 yards to find paydirt. A 28-yard punt from their own 7 by the Tigers put the visitors right back into scoring territory, and Buehler would find Nick Laughlin (Cape Elizabeth) over the middle of the field for a 30-yard TD to put them in command at 21-0. Towson got some momentum though before the break, as QB Andrew Indorf connected on a 56-yard pass to Cleveland Charlton. That set up a 4-yard passing TD from Indorf to Aaron Enterline. After an illegal substitution foul on Maine on the extra point, the hosts went for the two point conversion and it was good to make it 21-8 at the halftime intermission.
They got some more offensive momentum in the third quarter, as Indorf completed his second and third passes of the night of 50+ yards. A 59-yarder to Charlton went for six and with the extra point it was all of sudden 21-15. Towson dominated the period in total yardage 159-55. Early in the fourth with 13:20 remaining, a weather/lightning delay would stop the action for approximately one hour. Once play resumed with the Tigers deep in Maine territory threatening to take their first lead, the Black Bears defense would stiffen forcing a 39-yard field goal that was good by Zaydaan Faridi to slice the deficit to three. The guests could not get alot of traction offensively in the second half, only picking up four first downs and 45 total net yards. Towson tried to take advantage of that and had two more chances in the final period with the ball to try to pull ahead or tie it. Brayden Isaiah, who also had an interception in the third quarter, came up with another big play for the Black Hole defense on a 3rd down and 3 for the Tigers at the Maine 5 yard line. A sack for a loss of 14 yards forced another field goal attempt by Faridi this time of 37 yards, and the kicked sailed wide left with 3:53 to go. After the Black Bears could not pick up another first down to kill the clock, Towson got it from their own 9 for one last opportunity with no timeouts left and just 1:50 to play. A completion to Charlton from Indorf of 18 yards looked like it may have the Tigers in good shape at their own 44, but junior linebacker Sam Oppenheimer came in from behind and punched the ball out of Charltons hands and defensive back Jake Kucera recovered the fumble to ice the Maine road victory.
The sophomore Indorf finished a solid night for Towson going 15-21 passing for 267 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception. But he was also sacked six times in the loss. Kemarrion Battles carried 18 times for 89 yards, while Charlton had a big night for their receiving core with four receptions for 136 yards and a touchdown but also with the one costly lost fumble. Buehler finished up his debut completing 17-27 for 199 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He only passed for 15 yards in the second half as the offense was slowed, but the defense did just enough to help notch the Maine victory. Marshall rushed for 81 yards on 13 attempts with a TD. Laughlin added 29 yards on the ground, and also caught three passes for 39 yards and had a receiving score. Eight different receivers caught a pass from Buehler. Wallace (43 yards), Laughlin (39), Keyon Concepcion (37), and Elijah Smalls (33) each had three catches. Oppenheimer and Jeremiah McGill each had 10 total tackles to help anchor the defense. Chris Bacon had two sacks, while Derek Berlitz and Bryce Purnell registered 1.5 each. Noah Carpenter (Leavitt) had one tackle for a loss. Isaiah was a key player all night as he also contributed one key sack and the third quarter interception. The Black Bears stay out on the road next Saturday, September 5th when they face their first FBS test of the season with a trip to Boone, North Carolina to take on Appalachian State with kickoff slated for 3:30 p.m.
Photo from UMaine Athletics- Wide receiver Malik McNeely (#4) celebrates a Maine touchdown pass from Eddie Buehler during the Black Bears 21-18 season opening win over Towson on August 27th.
