Dukes stun Bears in 4th Maine defense struggles late

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ORONO – Marcus Williams and the University of Maine ran the football right at James Madison, with considerable success, Saturday afternoon.

With the outcome hanging in the balance, the Dukes were finally able to stop Williams and the Black Bears.

James Madison made a clutch defensive stand and L.C. Baker’s 35-yard punt return set up a 23-yard touchdown pass from Justin Rascati to D.D. Boxley with 47 seconds left as the 17th-ranked Dukes rallied for a 24-20 victory over No. 12 UMaine at Alfond Stadium.

James Madison (5-1 overall, 4-0 A-10) scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to overcome a 10-point deficit.

“We just found a way to win at the end,” said JMU coach Mickey Matthews. “I’ll tell you what we did. We made big plays.”

UMaine slipped to 3-3 overall, 1-2 in league play. Coach Jack Cosgrove’s Bears failed to execute in the late going.

“It’s one of those games where we knew we should have won,” said Williams, who posted season highs with 29 carries and 166 yards. “It’s gonna hurt a lot, but championship teams, they put this stuff behind them. They find a way to improve and get better. That’s what we have to do.”

The Bears appeared to have the game in hand with the clock ticking down in the fourth quarter. Pat Pa’u made the third of three UMaine sacks in one series, giving the Bears the ball at the JMU 44-yard line with 2:21 remaining.

But UMaine, relying on run plays to chew up the clock, couldn’t earn the first down that would have put the game away.

“They kind of knew we were going to run the ball and they did some things to really make it tough for us to get a first down in those situations,” Williams said.

On fourth-and-5 with 1:24 left, UMaine punted. Baker fielded the ball at his 10 and scooted 35 yards to give the Dukes a huge lift. They scored three plays later on a perfectly executed fade pass into the end zone.

“I thought we had a chance to finish them off at the end and then they made two huge plays – the punt return and then the throw and catch on the touchdown,” Cosgrove said.

Trailing 10-6, the Bears marched 54 yards on 11 plays on their first possession of the third quarter. Williams’ 2-yard run put the hosts on top.

The defense joined the fun on the ensuing series when Mike DeVito stripped JMU’s Raymond Hines and Agean Robinson recovered at the UM 32.

Arel Gordon’s 44-yard scamper on a reverse helped set up a 3-yard TD pass from Ron Whitcomb to Christian Pereira that made it 20-10 with 4:28 left in the third.

UMaine got the ball back less than two minutes later when Joan Quezada forced a fumble and Patrick McCrossan recovered at the JMU 41. Five plays later, Whitcomb (16-for-27, 141 yards, 2 TDs) threw directly to JMU’s Akeem Jordan, who ran it back 44 yards to the UM 24.

“The interception by Akeem Jordan was a huge play in the ballgame because we were reeling a little bit at that point,” Matthews admitted.

JMU seized the chance, scoring four plays later on Rascati’s 7-yard scamper up the middle to cut the deficit to 20-17.

“I thought that interception in the third quarter, when we had a chance to go down and get a third straight score with the wind, was big,” Cosgrove said. “They get a short-field score after that and that gets them right back in the football game.”

Williams and the offensive line went back to work on UMaine’s next possession. He carried seven times for 50 yards as the Bears drove 65 yards to the JMU 15-yard line.

Facing fourth-and-4, Mike Mellow’s 32-yard field-goal try from the right hashmark missed just outside the right upright. UMaine wouldn’t threaten again.

Brandon McGowan paced the Bears’ defense with 13 tackles, including a sack. Daren Stone made 10 tackles, and Jermaine Walker added eight.

JMU took a 3-0 lead on David Rabil’s 22-yard field goal with 5:05 left in the first quarter. The Bears responded with a 14-play, 81-yard drive.

Whitcomb split the defense with a 20-yard scoring pass to Kevin McMahan 55 seconds into the second quarter. Mellow hooked his PAT kick to the left, leaving UMaine ahead 6-3.

The Dukes regained the lead after Tony LeZotte made a diving interception of Whitcomb. Rascati threw a 5-yard TD pass to Chris Iorio to make it 10-6 with 1:36 to play in the half.

DUKES 24, BLACK BEARS 20

JMU (5-1) 3 7 0 14 – 24

Maine (3-3) 0 6 14 0 – 20

J – Rabil 22 field goal

M – McMahan 19 pass from Whitcomb (kick failed)

J – Iorio 5 pass from Rascati (Rabil kick)

M – M. Williams 2 run (Mellow kick)

M – Pereira 3 pass from Whitcomb (Mellow kick)

J – Rascati 7 run (Rabil kick)

J – Boxley 23 pass from Rascati (Rabil kick)

JMU Maine

First downs 22 18

Rushing att.-yards 45-170 42-225

Passing comp.-att. 19-28 16-28

Passing yards 197 141

Total yards 367 366

Punts-avg. 4-45.3 6-44.3

Fumbles-lost 4-3 0-0

Intercepted by 2 0

Penalties-yards 1-13 6-43

Rushing

James Madison: Fenner 15-64, Rascati 13-60, Hines 12-41, Baker 1-5, Iorio 1-2, team 3-(minus 2); Maine: M. Williams 29-166, Gordon 1-44, Owens 4-19, K. Williams 2-8, Whitcomb 6-(minus 12)

Passing

James Madison: Rascati 19-28-0-197; Maine: Whitcomb 16-27-2-141, team 0-1-0-0

Receiving

James Madison: Boxley 11-108, Tolley 3-35, Bransford 2-32, Ridley 1-20, Iorio 1-5, Sharpe 1-(minus 3); Maine: Pereira 4-45, M. Williams 4-37, McMahan 2-29, Henry 2-14, Nwosu 2-9, Radulski 1-4, Gordon 1-3

A-7,084