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Durham, N.H. – On any other day, against any other team, it would have been enough. 47 points, a record-breaking four touchdowns by Kevin McMahan, and 555 yards of offense. But on this day, top-ranked University of New Hampshire did them one better, handing the University of Maine football team a 59-47 defeat to end the Black Bears’ season and claim the Brice-Cowell Musket for the third straight year at Cowell Stadium on Saturday.
“That’s the best team I’ve seen. The best team won the game today,” said UMaine head coach Jack Cosgrove.
Sophomore quarterback and heralded Walter Payton front-runner Ricky Santos threw for 354 yards and four touchdowns, but it was his legs that broke the Black Hole defense, as he rushed for 138 yards and three more scores, both career highs.
“They were playing a lot of man coverage, and with guys running down the field there’s no one to cover the quarterback, so it was 1, 2, 3 and if no one’s open take off,” said Santos. “I was just trying to do my part.”
The teams combined for 1,100 yards of offense and over 100 points in an exciting affair that set series records in those departments.
“It was exactly what I expected,” said UNH head coach Sean McDonnell. “I told them last night that what Maine had done on offense these last weeks made them a better football team and a challenge for us.”
“We missed some tackles,” Cosgrove admitted. “But their multiplicity on offense put us in spots with missed assignments. You add missed tackles to that and they have a lot of points.”
The Black Bears and Wildcats traded scores throughout the first half, with 42 points scored in the second quarter alone. UNH jumped out to a 10-0 lead that UMaine answered with a Montell Owens touchdown. All three of Santos’ rushing scores came in the second, but the Black Bears got one from Owens and two of McMahans four touchdown catches to keep pace.
Heading into the locker room trailing 31-28, the Black Bears felt good about their chances of upsetting the Wildcats and bringing the musket home.
“Every year it turns into a shootout with this team,” McMahan said. “We didn’t change much at halftime; we thought we would keep moving the ball against them.”
But Santos, his favorite target David Ball, and UNH’s defense had other plans. Playing for the Atlantic-10 championship and home field advantage in the I-AA playoffs, the Wildcats would rise to the occasion in the third quarter.
Santos hooked up with Ball three times in the quarter, breaking their own UNH records for touchdowns in a season and giving the Wildcats a commanding 52-28 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
“We thought if we came back out and hit them in the mouth, they might not respond, and we did just that,” said Ball.
“They responded like the No. 1 team in the country should,” Cosgrove said. “They took charge of the game in the third quarter.”
UNH’s third quarter scoring matched their second quarter output, but unlike earlier in the game UMaine’s offense couldn’t keep pace or give its defense a rest, gaining just one first down in the quarter, exactly what the Wildcats defense wanted.
“We met as a defense before the second half and said, ‘we have the best offense in the country, so let’s get them the ball and let them score,’” said Wildcats linebacker E.J. DeWitt.
Santos threw a 48-yard touchdown pass to give UNH a demoralizing 59-28 advantage, but the Black Bears figured the last quarter of the season was no time to quit.
Whitcomb found McMahan for his third touchdown of the day with 5:44 to play and the Black Hole forced a three-and-out on the next possession. The Black Bears marched 93 yards in just under two minutes, capped by an 8-yard Whitcomb touchdown caught by senior Ryan Waller. UMaine’s two-point conversion failed and they trailed 59-41.
“There’s a lot of fight in that locker room,” Cosgrove said.
Indeed there was, as UMaine recovered an onsides kick to get the ball back and Whitcomb led another scoring drive, this time finding McMahan for his school record fourth touchdown catch of the game. The score came with just seven seconds left in the game and accounted for the 59-47 final score.
“Heck this game could’ve gone until midnight,” Cosgrove mused. “How many teams go two for three on onsides kicks? And we almost had the third one.”
UMaine’s hard fought comeback was representative of their season, as they bounced back from a 2-5 start to win three straight and even things at 5-5 before Saturday’s loss gave them their second straight 5-6 season record.
“The one thing we always said was never quit,” said McMahan. “Hopefully, we showed the younger guys what can happen when you don’t give up and they can keep it going next year.”
“It sums up our season,” added Whitcomb, who finished the day with 363 yards and five touchdowns on 36-60 passing. “We fought to the end.”
Junior receiver Arel Gordon, who led the team with 94 rushing yards and 14 catches for 85 yards, agreed that this year’s senior class set an example that could lead to big things in UMaine’s future.
“It sends us into our off season program in a good way,” Gordon said. “Coach said it reminds him of a 5-6 finish several years ago that led to A-10 championships in 2000 and 2001.”
Owens also shined in his final game as a Black Bear, notching 85 yards and two touchdowns rushing and 89 yards receiving on seven catches.
“I’ve been blessed to be around a group that brought focus and intensity back to our program,” said Cosgrove. “They’ve been a pleasure to be around. I like the young men we have coming back and hopefully we can keep it going into spring ball and next season.”
Bangor Daily News