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ORONO – The University of Maine football team unexpectedly found itself facing a four-point deficit in the third quarter of Saturday’s Atlantic 10 game against Rhode Island.
Realizing their team needed some inspiration, senior captains Stephen Cooper and Jake Eaton called upon their experience and talent while igniting a second-half surge that carried third-ranked UMaine to a 31-14 victory in front of 7,034 fans at wind-whipped Alfond Stadium.
The Bears improved to 5-0 overall, 3-0 in league play. It was their 10th straight win on Morse Field, its longest home streak in 87 years.
“[Rhode Island] probably put us in a little shock the way they moved the ball on our defense for a little bit of a spell there, but I was really proud, excited, pleased with how we played in the second half,” said UMaine coach Jack Cosgrove.
Cooper’s relentless stunting from his middle linebacker position threw a wrench into the 1-3 Rams’ option offense, which netted only 5 yards in the final 23 minutes of action.
Eaton and the UMaine offense acted with equal emotion, scoring 21 unanswered points during a 12-minute span of the second half with a balance of Marcus Williams’ power running and a diverse pass game.
“We’ve got a guy [Cooper] on defense with an ‘S’ on his chest and a guy on offense [Eaton] who’s just about the same,” Cosgrove said. “When times get tough, they have a magical way about them of leading their teammates and showing them the way.”
Cooper registered nine tackles, five of them for losses, and posted a career-best 31/2 quarterback sacks to spearhead the defense, which got to URI quarterback Jayson Davis seven times. Brandon McGowan made nine tackles and South Portland’s Rob Kierstead tallied eight while Marcus Walton had five tackles, four of them for losses, including 11/2 sacks.
Cooper was named the Atlantic 10’s Defensive Player of the Week Sunday.
The offense was equally impressive, despite the absence of wide receivers Stefan Gomes and Paris Minor, who were suspended from school last week for their roles in an alleged sexual assault on a woman last June in Old Town.
The formidable front five cleared a path for sophomore tailback Williams to run for a career-high 198 yards on 25 carries. The passing balance was provided by Eaton (16-for-24, 183 yards, 2 TDs) and wideouts Christian Pereira (6 catches, 61 yards) and Ryan Waller (4 receptions, 61 yards).
Receivers coach Mickey Fein provided the young receivers with some game-day motivation, showing them their own personal highlights.
“[He showed us that] without those two, how good that we could be and just [to] believe in ourselves,” Pereira said. “It was a real boost.”
The defense went nuts, but not until Davis’ 40-yard TD run gave the Rams a 14-10 lead 1:17 into the third quarter. Cooper and Co. were frequently in the URI backfield before the Rams could run their plays.
“Their [offensive line] splits were real big, so it was hard for them to block me,” Cooper explained. “I just pretty much timed the snap and just tried to make as many plays as I could.”
The turning point came midway through the third. Cooper made two sacks, Kierstead turned in a clutch third-down tackle, and McGowan sacked Davis to halt a URI drive to the UM-29.
“[Cooper] just did anticipate the count and did a super job of getting back there and disrupting things,” said URI coach Tim Stowers. “He is a great player and he makes things happen.”
Mixing the run and pass, the Bears countered by going 62 yards on seven plays. Danny Fusco snared a 26-yard pass from Eaton that set up a 10-yard toss from Eaton to Waller that put the hosts ahead 17-14 with 4:04 left in the third.
It was the 50th career TD pass for Eaton.
“The defense put us in some good positions and we took advantage of them,” Eaton said. “We actually finished in the second half and scored.”
The trend continued. Another defensive stop opened the door for a 59-yard TD drive capped by Eaton’s 4-yard scoring throw to wide-open tight end Dzigbodi Ababio.
URI then had back-to-back possessions after the Bears muffed a punt, but the Rams failed to convert.
UMaine cashed in again, this time using the ground game. John Gelsomino carried twice for 10 yards and Williams had a 14-yard run that set up his 38-yard scoring burst. Mike Mellow’s kick made it 31-14.
UMaine took a 7-0 lead at 4:53 of the second quarter when Gelsomino capped a 66-yard drive with a 1-yard TD dive. The Bears added a 37-yard Mellow field goal three minutes later.
However, URI scored on its last possession of the first half, then took the lead on the opening drive of the second half.
BLACK BEARS 31, RAMS 14
Rhode Island (1-3) 0 7 7 0 ? 14
Maine (5-0) 0 10 7 14 ? 31
M ? Gelsomino 1 run (Mellow kick)
M ? Mellow 37 field goal
RI ? Davis 1 run (Laisle kick)
RI ? Davis 40 run (Laisle kick)
M ? Ry. Waller 10 pass from Eaton (Mellow kick)
M ? Ababio 4 pass from Eaton (Mellow kick)
M ? Williams 39 run (Mellow kick)
URI Maine
First downs 18 28
Rushing att.-yards 46-208 53-294
Passing comp.-att. 4-14 16-24
Passing yards 51 183
Total yards 259 477
Punts-avg. 7-42.0 3-36.0
Fumbles-lost 3-1 2-1
Intercepted by 2 0
Penalties-yards 7-40 4-25
Rushing
URI: Davis 25-88, Ham 9-49, Poitier 4-43, Lobdell 1-24, Williams 2-11, Miller 1-9, Green 4-(-16); Maine: Williams 25-198, Eaton 14-52, Momah 7-31, Gelsomino 3-10, Zyskowski 2-5, Team 2-(-2)
Passing
URI: Davis 4-14-0-51; Maine: Eaton 16-24-2-183
Receiving
URI: Green 3-20, Miller 1-31; Maine: Pereira 6-61, Ry. Waller 4-61, Fusco 1-26, Bulwith 1-12, Zyskowski 1-8, McMahan 1-6, Nwosu 1-5, Ababio 1-4
A?7,034
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