The No. 8 Maine football team scored 23 fourth quarter points, including the last 16 points of the game, to stun then-No. 18 Richmond on Saturday, 23-22.
With the victory, Maine improved its record to 6-1 and 4-0 in the Colonial Athletic Association and increased its win streak to five games. The Black Bears remain atop the Colonial Athletic Association standings.
The Black Bears started off slow and found themselves in a 16-0 hole at halftime thanks to two six-yard touchdown passes by Spiders quarterback Aaron Corp and a Wil Kamin field goal.
Maine was held scoreless through three quarters but the fourth quarter proved to be a different story.
The Black Bears finally got themselves on the board as Justin Perillo hauled in a 16-yard pass from quarterback Warren Smith to cut the lead to 16-7. Richmond (3-4, 0-4 CAA) answered right back less than two minutes later when running back Garrett Turner scored from two yards out and pushed the lead to 22-7.
Refusing to lay down, the Black Bears blocked the ensuing extra point and returned it for two points, cutting their deficit to 13 points.
From that point on, the Black Bears buckled down on defense and roared back on offense. David Hood scored on a five-yard rush and Smith ran another ball in from one-yard out to make the final score, 23-22.
Towson keeps pace
The Tigers kept pace with Maine in the conference championship race on Saturday as they upended CAA foe William & Mary, 38-27, to improve their record to 6-1 (4-0 CAA).
William & Mary (4-4, 2-3 CAA) got the high-scoring affair started in the first quarter when placekicker Drake Kuhn booted a 21 yard field goal through the uprights. But the lead was short-lived as Towson got into the end zone less than four minutes later on a Terrance West touchdown run. West scored two more times for the Tigers as they held a 28-17 advantage at halftime.
The Tribe made things interesting in the fourth quarter as D.J. Mangas scored on a 13-yard pass from Michael Graham and Drake Kuhn kicked his second field goal of the day.
Following the touchdown William and Mary were within eight but a D.J. Soven 19-yard field goal with just over two minutes to play sealed the victory for Towson.
The Tribe will rest up during their bye week before taking on Rhode Island (2-5, 1-3 CAA) while Towson will face Delaware (4-4, 2-3 CAA) next weekend before traveling to Orono for a pivotal matchup against co-conference leader Maine.
UNH, Towson honored by CAA
The CAA announced the recipients of its Player of the Week honors on Monday and of the four award winners, only two schools were represented.
New Hampshire had the first two award winners as linebacker Matt Evans earned Defensive Player of the Week honors while running back Dontra Peters picked up the Special Teams Player of the Week award.
Evans racked up 13 tackles (7 solo, 6 assisted) and forced two fumbles as the Wildcats edged Massachusetts, 27-21, in the Colonial Clash on Saturday at Gillette Stadium.
Peters logged over 200 all-purpose yards for UNH on his way to game MVP honors. The junior returned three kickoffs for 98 yards, rushed for 92 yards on 13 carries, and caught three balls for 18 yards.
The Towson Tigers had two award winners as well with quarterback Grant Enders named Offensive Player of the Week and running back Terrance West named Rookie of the Week.
Enders helped lead Towson to a 38-27 victory over William & Mary by completing 15-of-21 passes for over 200 yards while also tossing two scores.
West provided plenty of support for Enders rumbling for 141 yards and three scores. West has now won the award four times this season and leads the CAA with 14 touchdowns.
Gregory Romagna can be reached at [email protected], or followed on Twitter @MDC_Romagna.
