Offensive Black Bears impress Cosgrove in loss

ORONO – Jack Cosgrove is the first to admit there is no such thing as a good loss. Even so, there were some encouraging developments during Saturday night’s 51-44 Atlantic 10 football loss at Hofstra.

The most marked improvement in the two weeks since the Black Bears’ season-opening win over Colgate came on offense. UMaine actually outgained the high-powered Pride, piling up 203 rushing yards and 324 more through the air.

“We had a nice mix of run and pass,” Cosgrove said. “I thought the coaching staff did a great job of looking at Hofstra and attacking their defense’s weaknesses, keeping them off-balance.”

Senior tailback Royston English led the ground attack with 112 yards on 17 carries, while junior quarterback Jake Eaton rushed 10 times for 58 yards.

“I think we had them on their heels whether we were going to run the ball or pass the ball,” said Cosgrove, who was particularly impressed with the improvement shown with the passing game.

There already have been high expectations for Eaton, who efficiently completed 24 of 33 passes, including four for touchdowns. What was most pleasing to Cosgrove was the performances of the receiving corps.

Sophomore Stefan Gomes and junior Paris Minor both had career efforts. Gomes made nine receptions for 110 yards and three scores, while Minor made eight catches for 128 yards. Going into the game, each player had only four career receptions.

“For our receivers, this was maybe their coming-out party,” Cosgrove said. “They did a nice job making plays during the course of what was a very tight football game. They showed their teammates, the coaching staff, anybody who follows Maine football, that they can play at this level and make the kinds of plays in pressure situations that you have to make.”

Redshirt freshman Ivi Nwosu contributed three catches for 53 yards and senior tight end Chad Hayes of Old Town made three catches good for 29 yards as the Bears demonstrated the ability to spread the ball around.

“That’s a heck of a ballgame for our wide receiver corps,” Cosgrove said. “It was very pleasing to us as a staff and it has got to bring confidence not only to them but to our offense and our entire football team.”

However, Cosgrove stressed the importance of Eaton’s leadership and experience as helping pull the offense together.

“He’s the guy that we build things around,” Cosgrove said. “His abilities allow us to do the things that we do.”

The UMaine defense didn’t fare quite as well against the Pride and elusive quarterback Rocky Butler, who accounted for 337 all-purpose yards. The Bears actually were successful defending the run, but Butler was frequently able to escape the rush in passing situations and pick up substantial yardage.

“He’s a talent. I don’t think we’ll see one better during the course of the year,” Cosgrove said.

“We played well at times on defense,” he added. “We gave up a lot of what we call ‘free yards,’ yards that come after we’ve missed a tackle.”

The Bears surrendered 170 “free yards,” but Cosgrove is confident the defense – led by junior linebacker Stephen Cooper and cornerback Jarrod Gomes – will bounce back and play better in Saturday’s game against James Madison.

UMaine also was plagued by penalties – 12 of them for 114 yards. And many of those came at the line of scrimmage.

“We were aggressive, we were playing hard, but we were knuckleheads, too,” Cosgrove said of the Bears’ four personal foul penalties. “Those are things we can correct. Those are things that we have to be more disciplined about.”

St. Joseph’s to dedicate field

For years baseball fans have headed to Mahaney Diamond in Orono to watch the University of Maine Black Bears play.

On Saturday, St. Joseph’s College in Standish will dedicate its field and name it after the same man: Bangor businessman Larry Mahaney.

The Monks will play their home games on Larry Mahaney Diamond beginning next spring.

Mahaney made a substantial donation to St. Joseph’s College in November of 2000.

Mahaney was an outstanding athlete at Fort Fairfield High School and the University of Maine before becoming a successful football and basketball coach at Brewer High.

He is currently the president of Webber Energy Fuels.

The dedication ceremony will begin at 11:30 a.m., with an alumni game to follow.