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The University of Maine football team opened up its season at Boston College on Saturday. BC’s high powered offense and UMaine’s offensive struggles lead to the Black Bears falling to the Eagles by a score of 34-3.
After a slow start by both teams, the Eagles made it into scoring range first, with a 21-yard pass from junior quarterback Chase Rettig to junior wide receiver Johnathan Coleman. However, sophomore running back Tahj Kimble fumbled the ball out of the end-zone on a 13 yard carry to give UMaine the ball on their own 20
Maine was unable to get the ball into field-goal range, but a 60 yard punt by sophomore punter Jeffery Ondish put the ball on the BC 1. After a Maine pass interference penalty gave BC a first down, UMaine senior defensive back Darlos James recovered a fumble, giving the Black Bears the ball on the BC 10. However, UMaine was only able to advance the ball to the two-yard line, and senior kicker Brian Harvey put one through the uprights from 19 yards out to give UMaine a 3-0 lead with 4:13 to play in the first quarter.
Three possessions later, a short UMaine punt gave BC excellent field position. Junior running back Rolandan Finch picked up 16 yards on the ground, as UMaine defenders had a hard time wrapping him up. On third and goal from the UMaine three-yard line, Rettig tossed a touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Spiffy Evans to give BC a 7-3 lead with 7:09 to play in the second quarter.
On UMaine’s ensuing possession, Ondish fumbled the snap during a punting play, and recovered the ball on the Black Bear 15-yard line. This gave BC pristine field position. It only took two plays for the Eagles to reach the end-zone, with Rettig hooking up with Coleman on a nine yard touchdown pass. This gave BC a 14-3 lead with 5:26 to play in the second quarter.
BC’s 2-minute offense went into full swing at the end of the first half. With a third and 10 on the Black Bear 22, the Maine defense stood strong, forcing the Eagle to attempt a 39-yard field goal. With a strong wind at his back junior kicker Nate Freese had no problem putting the ball through the uprights. BC would take its 17-3 lead into the half.
In the third quarter UMaine senior Maurice McDonald had a pass ripped out of his hands by BC senior defensive back Jim Noel. The Eagles took control on the UMaine 18. Six plays later, BC kicked a 20-yard field goal to extend the lead to 20-3 with 3:35 to play in the third quarter.
After the seventh Black Bear punt of the day later in the third quarter, Evans was back for BC to return, and proceeded to find the end zone on a 82 yard return. This put the Eagles up 27-3 with 2:28 to play in the third quarter.
The woes continued for the Black Bears as the afternoon dragged on. Wasilewski threw his second interception of the day, being picked off this time by BC sophomore defensive back Manuel Asprilla. On the very next play, Rettig found a wide-open Amidon in the end zone. This 33-yard touchdown pass extended the lead to 34-3 with 1:18 to go in the third quarter.
Neither team came close to scoring again, and BC was able to run out the clock. Wasilewski went 20-42 with two interceptions and 134 yards while his counterpart Rettig completed 16 of 32 with no interceptions and 219 yards. Hood was the leading rusher for UMaine with 64 yards while Finch lead BC with 91 yards. UMaine heads to Bryant University next week while BC heads to Northwestern University.
