ORONO – The main focus Saturday for the University of Maine football team was to make sure its seven seniors won their final home game.

Coach Jack Cosgrove’s Black Bears succeeded, overcoming cold, windy conditions to knock off 13th-ranked Villanova 14-10 in an Atlantic 10 game.

UMaine seniors Dennis Dottin-Carter, Matt Hammond, Fred Lazo, Brian Mann, Derek Martinez, Pete Richardson of Millinocket and Michael Zyskowski walked off Morse Field having won their 32nd game in four years, a program record for one class.

The win likely kept the Bears (7-4, 5-3 A-10) on the fringe of consideration for a Division I-AA playoff spot and clinched a third straight winning season.

“It’s a real feel-good kind of victory and I’m happy for our seniors,” Cosgrove said. Those guys are leaving Alfond Stadium the way they deserve to.”

There was nothing fancy about this win. The Bears shut down the Atlantic 10’s top offense (436 yards per game) by stuffing the run and containing the Wildcats’ vaunted passing attack.

Villanova (7-3, 5-3 A-10) couldn’t solve the league’s No. 1 defense (291 ypg).

“We knew that it was going to be a battle out there,” said UMaine defensive end Dottin-Carter (6 tackles, 1 sack). “For us to even have a glimpse or a shot at the playoffs, we had to win this one. It’s also my last home game, so I wanted to come out and have as good a game as possible.”

The Wildcats were impressive on defense, limiting UMaine to a season-low 185 yards and holding tailback Marcus Williams to 71 yards on 25 carries. However, ‘Nova had two costly turnovers.

On the second play of the third quarter, with ‘Nova leading 10-7, Terry Butler caught a short pass from Joe Casamento. He had the ball knocked out of his hands and it was recovered by Dottin-Carter.

UMaine scored on the next play when freshman quarterback Ron Whitcomb (13-for-24, 98 yards) hit Christian Pereira (5 catches, 55 yds.) on a 15-yard post pattern in the end zone.

“Our defense played tremendous and offensively the two turnovers were really the story of the game, one for a touchdown and one that set up another touchdown,” said Villanova coach Andy Talley.

UMaine had broken a scoreless tie at 8:15 of the second quarter when freshman cornerback Manauris Arias intercepted a Casamento pass and raced 48 yards down the sideline for a touchdown.

“I just had a feeling they were going to pick on me because I’m a true freshman and I’ve been picked on the entire year,” Arias said. “I just broke to his hip and got in front of him and picked it off.”

That was the next play after a UMaine holding penalty on a punt had given Villanova the ball back at its 44-yard line.

Villanova dominated the rest of the half, marching 54 yards on nine plays behind the running of Moe Gibson and Butler. Casamento’s 1-yard sneak and the PAT made it 7-7 with 3:33 left in the second quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff, the ball bounced off UMaine’s Matthew King and was recovered by Villanova. Later, a clutch sack by Clinton Brown on a 3rd-and-goal play from the UM 5 forced Villanova to settle for Adam James’ 29-yard field goal as time expired in the half.

The Wildcats only reached UMaine territory twice in the second half and never penetrated the UM 34-yard line.

“We executed in key parts of the game,” Cosgrove said. “Our defense was phenomenal and continues to play at an incredible level.”

Junior safety Brandon McGowan led UMaine with 12 tackles, while Brown made nine, forced a fumble and blocked a 42-yard, field-goal try in the first quarter.

Despite struggling most of the second half, the Bears’ offense held the ball for a key stretch of 4:37 late in the game.

“We just came together as an offensive line and decided that if we’re going to win this game, we have to eat up some clock and hopefully score a touchdown,” said senior tackle Pete Richardson of Millinocket.

Williams ran it seven times for 32 yards as the clock ticked down to 1:50.

Villanova got the ball back, but was stopped. Key plays included a sack by Mann, a third-down tackle by Arias, and QB pressure from Marcus Walton.

BLACK BEARS 14, WILDCATS 10

Villanova (7-3) 0 10 0 0 ? 10

Maine (7-4) 0 7 7 0 ? 14

M ? Arias 48 interception return (Mellow kick)

V ? Casamento 1 run (James kick)

V ? James 29 field goal

M ? Pereira 15 pass from Whitcomb (Mellow kick)

Villanova Maine

First downs 20 11

Rushing att.-yards 44-139 32-87

Passing comp.-att. 18-33 13-24

Passing yards 134 98

Total yards 273 185

Punts-avg. 6-38.2 8-38.0

Fumbles-lost 4-1 3-1

Intercepted by 0 1

Penalties-yards 3-35 8-82

Rushing

Villanova: Gibson 10-44, Butler 14-39, Outlaw 4-32, DiGiacomo 2-14, Casamento 14-10; Maine: Williams 25-71, Whitcomb 6-17, Team 1-(-1)

Passing

Villanova: Casamento 18-33-1-134; Maine: Whitcomb 13-24-0-98

Receiving

Villanova: DiGiacomo 6-46, Outlaw 3-33, Dieser 2-21, Wright 2-(-8), Waltman 1-16, Polite 1-9, Champen 1-7, Gibson 1-6, Butler 1-4; Maine: Pereira 5-55, Ry. Waller 5-33, McMahan 2-7, Fusco 1-3

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