Sports

Black Bears finish perfect at home

UMaine handles Minutemen, 37-7; playoffs close

By Ryan Waning

Posted on Nov. 12, 2001, at 12:00 a.m.

Campus Photos Julie Altenhoff

University of Maine senior running back Royston English is forced down by a gaggle of UMass defenders. English gained 171 yards on 34 carries, moving him to fourth on UMaine's all-time rushing list.

Alex Sheive

UMaine sophomore receiver Stefan Gomes heads upfield, past a UMass defender, while sophomore offensive lineman Matt Hammond looks on. Gomes caught his eighth touchdown pass of the season Saturday afternoon, tying him with three other Black Bears for the s

The University of Maine Black Bear football team inched closer to a Division I-AA playoff berth with a 37-7 victory over the University of Massachusetts Minutemen on Senior Saturday at Morse Field.

“There is a good chance that I’ll never play a down of football on that field again,” said Old Town native and senior captain tight end Chad Hayes. “It makes me very emotional.”

The victory moves UMaine’s record to 7-2 (6-2 in Atlantic-10 Conference play) .

With the loss, UMass drops to 2-7 (2-5 in A-10 play).

But most importantly, UMaine’s postseason hopes are still alive. The team’s win, along with Villanova’s 54-34 defeat of Hofstra, means that UMaine is currently tied for second place in the A-10 with Hofstra because both have two conference losses. Villanova currently holds the top spot with a 6-1 conference record.

But coach Jack Cosgrove only wants to focus on the next game.

“I don’t want to go further than next week,” Cosgrove said. “What happens after that will only be good if we win [against New Hampshire].”

The Black Bears began the scoring early against the Minutemen with a 12-play, 66-yard drive that was capped by the first of freshman place-kicker Chris DeVinney’s three field goals.

UMaine standout linebacker Stephen Cooper picked off a pass from UMass quarterback Matt Guice at the UMass 30-yard line and returned it to the UMass three. After a Royston English attempt, Eaton crossed the goal-line to give the Black Bears a 10-0 lead with nearly three minutes remaining in the first quarter.

All the Minutemen could muster was a first quarter touchdown run by tailback Kevin Quinlan.

Senior cornerback Lennard Byrd raced through a host of would-be tacklers to return the ensuing kickoff 75 yards to the UMass 13-yard line. Byrd finished his final home game with four returns for 134 yards.

Senior Royston English carried the ball twice before finding his way into the end zone on a 2-yard scamper. Royston finished with 34 carries for 171 yards. English who has 999 rushing yards so far this year, and was able to move into fourth place on UMaine’s all-time rushing list with 2,684 career yards.

“We knew that they were a big pressure team,” Eaton said after the game. “We didn’t do anything tricky. We got Royston going early and they pulled back.”

Eaton finished the day with 10 completions in 22 attempts for 165 yards and two touchdowns.

Senior Day was also important to some younger players. Freshman standout linebacker Lofa Tatupu led UMaine with nine tackles, seven unassisted, and two interceptions.

“We were all excited for the game.” Tatupu said. “We wanted to send the seniors off with a win.”

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