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The University of Maine football team took care of business at Villanova University on Saturday, beating the Wildcats 41-25 in snowy Pennsylvania to improve to 7-1 on the year.
With Towson University losing to the University of Delaware 35-30, UMaine now possesses first place in the Colonial Athletic Association. With a big game coming against Towson next Saturday, this was an important win for UMaine, and they got the job done.
The defense started the Black Bears off on the right foot, with senior defensive back Trevor Coston intercepting a Chris Polony pass early in the first quarter. UMaine’s leading receiver junior Maurice McDonald scored on a 33-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Warren Smith with a little over 9 minutes left in the first quarter to go up 7-0.
McDonald went on to have another big day for the Black Bears, with eight receptions for 98 yards and a touchdown.
Villanova came back with a great return to their own 46-yard line, and continued the drive down to the UMaine 5-yard line, using a 42-yard pass from Polony to wide receiver Joe Price.
However, kicker Mark Hamilton would begin a miserable kicking day by missing a 22-yard field goal to keep the score at 7-0 in favor of UMaine.
After keeping UMaine out of scoring position, Villanova started at the UMaine 48-yard line and took to the running game to gain yards. Running back Laurence Doss picked up yards on this drive, as did Austin Medley. Medley would be the leading rusher in the game with 100 yards on 17 carries and a touchdown.
He would score a touchdown on this drive with a 5-yard rush with just over 4 minutes to play in the second quarter. However, Hamilton would have his extra point attempt blocked, leaving the score at 7-6.
On the Black Bears’ next drive, the Smith-to-McDonald tandem would lead to another touchdown, with McDonald catching four passes for 46 yards from Smith on this drive alone.
Senior running back Pushaun Brown would cap the 60-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown run. The Black Bears decided to go for two with senior quarterback Chris Treister, but his pass fell incomplete and the Black Bears went into the half with a 13-6 lead.
Villanova would get the ball first coming out of halftime, with Medley and Polony leading the way for the Wildcats. Starting at their own 29-yard line, the Wildcats marched all the way down to the UMaine 9-yard line and decided to kick a field goal to get to within four. Hamilton missed the 27-yard field goal, and UMaine kept their 7-point lead.
On the very first play after the missed field goal, Smith would hook up with wide receiver Arthur Williams for an 80-yard touchdown pass. Smith’s longest passing play of the season gave UMaine a 20-6 lead.
Smith ended the game with 251 yards passing, completing 17 throws on 22 attempts.
Villanova started the ensuing drive on their own 31-yard line, and the Doss-Medley-Polony trio would drive the Wildcats once again inside the UMaine red zone. Villanova decided to go for it on a fourth-and-goal at the Maine 7-yard line, but senior safety Jerron McMillian would come up with a sack, and the UMaine defense was able to stop the Villanova offense inside the 10-yard line for the third time in the game.
UMaine continued the second-half scoring attack following the turnover on downs. After a 4-yard pass to McDonald, Smith hit running back Derek Session for a 51-yard gain to the Villanova 29.
Session ended up with four catches for 66 yards on the day.
Smith would cap off the three-play, 84-yard drive by carrying it himself for the final 29 yards. Triester would return for another 2-point conversion attempt, and he would successfully run it in to give the Black Bears a 28-6 lead.
After getting the ball back, Polony was able to get to the end zone for the first time in the game, with a 60-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Dorian Wells. The Wildcats went for a 2-point conversion, but Polony’s pass fell incomplete, leaving the score at 28-12.
UMaine’s next drive would eat up a lot of clock. Starting with 3 minutes to go in the third, the Black Bears would use over 7 minutes on the drive, with Brown and Smith rushing the first 7 plays and 19 yards of the drive.
Brown would continue to chip away yardage little by little until Smith used passes to freshmen receiver Damarr Aultman and fullback Carlton Charles to get deep in Wildcats territory. Brown would finish off the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run, but with a missed extra point, the lead would go to 34-12.
After a Villanova three-and-out, UMaine would get the ball on their own 9-yard line. After a pass from Smith, Williams’ second catch of the day ended in a fumble, which gave Villanova the ball back inside the 10-yard line. Polony was able to complete a pass to receiver Mikey Reynolds to cut the UMaine lead to 34-18.
Brown and fellow running back David Hood would run the Black Bears to another score after getting a short field by recovering a Villanova on-side kick.
After starting on the Wildcats’ 35, Hood punched it in from 1 yard out to give UMaine their final points and a 41-18 lead.
On the final possession of the game, Villanova once again had great field position after a 48-yard kick return by Medley.
Polony was able to lead the Wildcats to a touchdown on a 25-yard touchdown pass to Reynolds with 13 seconds to play.
Polony finished the game with 198 yards passing, including 10 completions on 20 attempts. The Black Bears outgained the Wildcats by a slim 5-yard margin — 410 yards to 405 — but the defense of the Black Bears, especially with Villanova in scoring range, made the difference.
UMaine plays 6-2 Towson next in what should be an exciting battle for first place in the conference as the season draws closer to its final three weeks. The game will be at Alfond Stadium at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.
CORRECTION:The title of this article has been changed to reflect a correction. The University of Maine football team has a 6-game winning streak, not 7.
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