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ORONO – The University of Maine defense toiled on Morse Field for nearly nine straight minutes during the first half of Saturday’s Atlantic 10 football game against James Madison.
The Black Bears afforded the Dukes only two field goals.
The UMaine offense responded to that effort, scoring 10 points during the last 2:39 of the second quarter to help the Bears grind out a 20-13 victory at chilly Alfond Stadium.
Coach Jack Cosgrove’s squad (5-3 overall, 4-2 A-10) minimized its mistakes (one turnover, one penalty) during a solid, two-way performance.
“It’s a great win, an exciting win,” Cosgrove said. “The guys should be very pleased. They played real hard, real tough, real determined. They played like winners.”
Spearheaded by the play of defensive linemen Pat Pa’u (8 tackles, 3 for losses) and Dan Joslyn (6 tackles, 4 for losses), the Bears limited James Madison (4-4, 3-3 A-10) to 174 total yards, 36 in the second half.
UMaine afforded the Dukes only 46 rushing yards and kept constant pressure on quarterback Matt LeZotte (10-for-23, 128 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT).
“We knew we had to come out and have a big day defensively, especially after last week [when] we gave up 300 yards total,” said defensive end Dennis Dottin-Carter.
“We knew we had to buckle down and play hard and play tough … and just not give up.”
The defense made a statement during a key stretch of the first half. After having first-and-goal from the UM 9, a sack by Brian Mann and Dottin-Carter knocked JMU back to the 21. David Rabil kicked a 38-yard field goal to give the Dukes a 10-7 lead with 8:45 left in the half.
Montell Owens muffed the ensuing kickoff and JMU recovered at the UM 25. The Dukes again had first-and-goal from the 9, only to drop a sure TD ball in the end zone. Rabil booted a 23-yard field goal that gave JMU a 13-7 lead.
“I think that might have been the turning point in the game where we held them to a field goal after they had just scored and we flubbed up the kickoff,” Cosgrove said.
Tailback Marcus Williams (31 carries, 117 yards) and the offense helped UMaine regain the momentum. Williams carried six times for 41 yards to set up Mike Mellow’s 22-yard field goal at the 2:39 mark, cutting the deficit to 13-10.
The defense responded with a three-and-out, giving UMaine the ball back at its own 39 with 1:34 left in the first half.
Freshman quarterback Ron Whitcomb (19-for-31, 189 yds., 2 TDs) and wide receiver Kevin McMahan got into a rhythm, hooking up four times for 36 yards to spark an eight-play, 61-yard drive.
A key play was a 15-yard pass to McMahan on the right side. He eluded a defender and cut back to the left, apparently on his way to the end zone. An official’s inadvertent whistle blew the play dead.
“We were confident that we were still going to get it in the [end] zone, so it wasn’t something we were going to lose our temper over,” said Whitcomb, who four plays later lofted a 14-yard pass to Christian Pereira (3 catches, 42 yds.) in the end zone. Mellow’s PAT gave the Bears a 17-13 edge with 36 seconds remaining in the half.
“It made a big difference in the tide of emotions going into halftime,” Whitcomb said.
UMaine drove 45 yards on its first series of the second half and Mellow drilled a 37-yard field goal. The defense made sure the seven-point lead held up, refusing to allow JMU to get past midfield in the second half.
“If anyone can protect, they can throw for a bunch of yards against them, but you can’t ever get to them [the cornerbacks] if you don’t have time to throw the ball because they’re so good up front defensively,” said JMU coach Mickey Matthews.
The Dukes played some stingy second-half defense of their own, clamping down on the run game and holding UMaine to 121 total yards. But the Bears maintained outstanding field position, hung onto the ball, and executed well on special teams.
“When you play a game as mistake-free as we did, it means you’re really into the football game,” Cosgrove said.
The Bears took a 7-0 lead when Dottin-Carter’s hit on LeZotte led to an interception by Jermaine Walker. UMaine scored nine plays later when Whitcomb hit Pereira on a 7-yard slant.
The Dukes equalized late in the first quarter after a 6-yard punt into the wind to the JMU 49. LeZotte found Alvin Banks on a screen pass that went for a 40-yard TD.
BLACK BEARS 20, DUKES 13
James Madison (4-4) 7 6 0 0 ? 13
Maine (5-3) 7 10 3 0 ? 20
UM ? Pereira 7 pass from Whitcomb (Mellow kick)
JMU ? Banks 40 pass from LeZotte (Rabil kick)
JMU ? Rabil 38 field goal
JMU ? Rabil 23 field goal
UM ? Mellow 22 field goal
UM ? Pereira 14 pass from Whitcomb (Mellow kick)
UM ? Mellow 37 field goal
JMU Maine
First downs 12 21
Rushing att.-yards 35-46 41-118
Passing comp.-att. 10-23 19-31
Passing yards 128 189
Total yards 174 307
Punts-avg. 7-43.7 7-32.6
Fumbles-lost 3-1 2-1
Intercepted by 0 1
Penalties-yards 4-25 1-10
Rushing
JMU: 20-47, Iorio 4-23, Fenner 3-12, Team 1-(minus 1), Cooke 2-(minus 8), LeZotte 5-(minus 27); Maine: Williams 31-117, Momah 2-14, Zyskowski 1-3, Ry. Waller 1-0, Team 3-(minus 2), Whitcomb 3-(minus 14)
Passing
JMU: LeZotte 10-23-1-128, Cooke 0-0-0-0; Maine: Whitcomb 19-31-0-189
Receiving
JMU: Hinds 4-37, Banks 2-58, Tolley 2-11, Harris 1-20, Bransford 1-2; Maine: Ry. Waller 9-78, McMahan 5-45, Pereira 3-42, Fusco 2-24
A?6,367
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