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PORTLAND – Coming off an open date, the University of Maine football team had a full 14 days to come up with a response to its Sept. 17 loss to Richmond.
The Black Bears took their frustrations out on the University at Albany (N.Y.) on Saturday night, dominating the Great Danes in a 31-7 victory in front of 5,734 fans at Fitzpatrick Stadium.
Coach Jack Cosgrove’s Bears evened their record at 2-2 and established some momentum heading into Saturday’s Atlantic 10 game against defending national champion James Madison in Harrisonburg, Va.
“We were together. We were focused and really, that first half, that’s as good a half as we could play,” Cosgrove said.
While Albany (0-4) is a nonscholarship Division I-AA program, UMaine exhibited no complacency.
The Bears’ defense was outstanding, as usual, albeit against a dismal Albany offense. Meanwhile, the offense was firing on all cylinders and the special teams were sharp.
“Maine football’s only going to be successful if the offense, defense, and special teams are all feeding off each other and working together. I felt that tonight,” Cosgrove said.
The Danes offense mustered only 158 total yards, most of which came against the Bears’ backups in the fourth quarter. Joan Quezada and Jermaine Walker made five tackles each as UMaine afforded Albany no first downs and 27 yards in the first 30 minutes.
The UMaine offense was sharp from the outset, getting its ground game going early. Senior tailback Montell Owens rushed for a career-best 128 yards on 22 carries, with freshman fullback Wellington Talkpa helping the line punch out some holes.
“As an offense, we were real pleased to find that consistency in the running game with Montell and the O-line,” said junior quarterback Ron Whitcomb, who completed 17 of 25 passes for 191 yards and two scores and was intercepted once.
Senior wide receiver Kevin McMahan had another efficient outing, making eight catches for 86 yards and a touchdown.
The special teams did their part. Anthony Hicks and Alex Goyins each blocked a punt to set up scores, while speedster Arel Gordon set a UMaine record with his third career punt return for a touchdown.
Sophomore place-kicker Bobby Donnelly of Westbrook booted his first career field goal, a 35-yarder in the second quarter.
The Bears broke a scoreless tie late in the first quarter after Hicks swatted down a Marc Pollozzi punt and Goyins recovered at the Albany 20-yard line. Three plays later, McMahan caught a Whitcomb pass over the middle that was tipped by a defender for an 11-yard TD.
UMaine needed four plays to score again. Whitcomb’s 20-yard pass to Ryan Waller set up a 22-yard touchdown throw to Gordon in the end zone. Donnelly’s PAT made it 14-0 with 36.3 seconds to play in the quarter.
The Bears followed with a 16-play, 62-yard march that consumed eight minutes, 20 seconds. Donnelly capped it with a line-drive 35-yard field goal.
Moments later, after Albany’s fifth consecutive three-and-out possession, Goyins burst through and blocked a punt, giving UMaine the ball at the A-30.
Whitcomb and McMahan hooked up three times for 21 yards to set up Talkpa’s first collegiate TD, a 1-yard dive with 18.7 seconds left in the half.
The Bears forged a 23:17 to 6:43 time of possession advantage in the first half alone.
“I think it was more of an attitude and kind of a gut check or a look in the mirror,” Whitcomb said of the offensive mindset. “We’ve got to execute; we’ve got to do things right; we’ve got to come out and establish what we’re going to do in this game and that’s what we did early.”
Gordon assured the momentum would stay with UMaine early in the third quarter. He snared a Pollozzi punt at his own 44, shot into a lane along the right side and raced untouched 57 yards for a score.
“It was just a low one and I came up and ran under it,” Gordon said. “I knew that if everybody stayed on their block for just that quick count that I could make something happen.”
The Bears threatened one more time, driving 76 yards on 14 plays while chewing up six minutes. However, Donnelly missed a 31-yard field-goal try.
Albany scored against UMaine’s reserves with 7:48 left when Marcus Allen ran it in from 3 yards out.
BLACK BEARS 31, GREAT DANES 7
Albany 0-4 0 0 0 0 – 7
Maine 2-2 14 10 7 0 – 31
M – McMahan 11 pass from Whitcomb (Donnelly kick)
M – Gordon 22 pass from Whitcomb (Donnelly kick)
M – Donnelly 35 field goal
M – Talkpa 1 run (Donnelly kick)
M – Gordon 57 punt return (Donnelly kick)
A – Allen 3 run (Wood kick)
Albany Maine
First downs 10 25
Rushing att.-yards 27- 83 45-210
Passing comp.-att. 12-26 20-31
Passing yards 75 214
Total yards 158 424
Punts-avg. 10-16.9 3-34.7
Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0
Intercepted by 1 0
Penalties-yards 3-25 10-95
Rushing
Albany: Allen 9-36, Williams 8-24, Bocanegra 4-10, Beigel 3-9, Hall 2-4, Marzano 1-0; Maine: Owens 22-128, Pearson 8-25, Whitcomb 4-20, Allen 3-17, Legree 4-12, Talkpa 4-8
PassingAlbany: Hall 10-21-0-57, Bocanegra 2-5-0-8; Maine: Whitcomb 17-25-1-191, Legree 3-6-0-23
Receiving
Albany: DeAraujo 5-35, Story 2-16, Wililams 2-11, Allen 2-0, Wall 1-13; Maine: McMahan 8-86, Waller 3-35, Gordon 2-37, Salomon 1-19, Catrone 1-10, Radulski 1-8, Whitcomb 1-8, Fersner 1-6, Pearson 1-3, Allen 1-2
A- 5,734
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