ORONO- Bryant University built a 14-3 halftime lead, and then would hold on to snap a five game losing streak against Maine with a 17-14 Coastal Athletic Association football win on Saturday afternoon at Alfond Stadium. It is also the first ever road victory for the Bulldogs over the Black Bears.
The Black Bears, now mired in a six game losing streak, only had one lead on the day thanks to a 40-yard field goal from Samuel Tremblay on their first possession of the game. It took the Bulldogs just two minutes to take the advantage for good. Jose Leon would make a great leaping catch at the goal line for a 30-yard touchdown connection from quarterback Brennan Myer to cap a six play, 75 yard drive. Nick Laughlin (Cape Elizabeth) fumbled twice in the second quarter, with Bryant recovering both. The first of which led to the 3-yard scoring run by OJ Ross to increase the advantage to 11 at halftime.
Maine, coming off the bye week, showed some fight after the intermission. They took the kickoff and marched 75 yards on seven plays, culminating with an 11-yard touchdown pass on a screen from Caden Drezek to running back Rashawn Marshall. Marshall reached the endzone with a dive from the 3 yard line reaching the front corner pylon for six. On the point try, the Black Bears set up with an unbalanced formation and linebacker Noah Carpenter (Leavitt) took the direct snap and got in on the tush push for a two-point conversion to slice their deficit to three at 14-11. Drezek got hit and would fumble later in the third quarter, as Bryant recovered to set up a 1st down and goal at the 9. The Black Hole defense did stand tall, but the turnover would lead to the eventual difference on the scoreboard as Nicholas Stoyanovich booted through a 26-yard field goal. Maine had a chance early in the fourth quarter to take the lead, but on a 3rd down and 4 at Bryant 7, Marshall was hammered in the backfield for an eight yard loss by Toby Brown Jr. Tremblay hit his second field goal of the contest, this time of 32 yards, to once again cut it to three. The Black Bears defense made a play to get one more opportunity with the ball, as Carpenter and Brayden Isaiah combined to make a tackle on Myer after a five yard run on 4th and 6, leaving the Bulldogs short and forcing a turnover on downs with 3:23 left to play. From their own 25, and on 1st down, Drezek completed a 33 yard pass to tight end Major Leak to the Bryant 42. But after a five yard false start penalty, and a run for no gain by Drezek, incomplete passes on 3rd and 4th down turned it back over on downs with 1:48 to go. The guests then would pick up one 1st down on 3rd and short and ran out the clock for their first victory over Maine since 2014 and just their second all-time (now 2-7 in the series).
Myer was 12-21 passing for 157 yards and one touchdown in the Bryant win. Ross rushed for 61 yards on 11 carries and a score, while Shamar Fowles led his team in receptions with five for 43 yards. Leon (2 catches, 63 yards, 1 TD) left the game with a first half injury and didn’t return. The Bulldogs improve to 5-2 and 3-0 in the Coastal Athletic Association. Drezek went 18-34 for 234 yards and one touchdown in the Maine loss. He also rushed nine times for 35 yards. Laughlin had 101 all-purpose yards, with seven receptions for 86 yards and five run attempts for 15 yards. Marshall accounted for 73 yards (62 rushing, and 11 receiving with one TD). Sam Oppenheimer and Carpenter were big on the defense side. Oppenheimer had 15 total tackles (6 solo) with a half sack. Carpenter had 11 tackles (4 solo), while also converting a two-point conversion on offense. The Black Bears are now 1-6 (1-3 in the conference), and will host Campbell University on homecoming next Saturday at 1 p.m. The six game losing streak for Maine is the longest since they lost nine straight by dropping the final five games of 2022, and the first four games of 2023.
Photo courtesy of Anthony DelMonaco (UMaine Athletics)- Maine linebacker Noah Carpenter (Leavitt) gets tush pushed into the endzone for a successful two-point conversion during a CAA game vs Bryant in Orono on 10/17/26.
