BANGOR, Maine — Rain wasn’t the only thing falling from the sky Saturday at the Winkin Complex.
So, too, were several Husson University football records being washed away as the Eagles soared to their sixth consecutive victory, a 42-0 Eastern Collegiate Football Conference whitewashing of winless Anna Maria.
The Husson offense amassed a school-best 708 total yards, with sophomore quarterback Cory Brandon tying the single-game mark of five touchdown passes — including a 93-yard connection with wideout Deon Wiggins that marked the longest scoring pass in the program’s history.
Brandon completed 14 of 20 passes for 305 yards in less than three quarters of play, becoming the first Husson quarterback to throw for more than 300 yards in a game since the late Lee St. Hilaire passed for 327 yards during Husson’s first-ever home game in 2003.
Wiggins paced the Eagles’ receivers with five catches for 140 yards and two scores while Kadeem Edge had four receptions with two touchdowns and Robenson Saintard added three catches for 92 yards with one score for Husson, which led 28-0 at intermission.
“We’ve got great receivers who are experienced and our offensive line played phenomenal today,” said Brandon. “I had so much time back there to go through my reads, let guys develop the plays and get down field.
“It made it a pretty easy day to find the open guys.”
Junior tailback John Smith helped set up the aerial display with 231 rushing yards and a touchdown on 24 carries as the Eagles totaled 403 yards on the ground.
“Our offense complements each other so well with the run,” said Wiggins. “If teams stack the box because we’ve got great running backs then we can just go with the pass.”
And it wasn’t all offense. Husson’s defense held Anna Maria to minus-12 rushing yards and just 37 yards of total offense, yet another single-game school record.
“We fear no one but we respect everybody,” said Husson senior linebacker Ellis Throckmorton, who had three sacks of Anna Maria quarterback Darius Jones-Clark among his team-high 10 tackles. “It was more about playing to our level, which is what we were able to go out and accomplish.”
The victory improves coach Gabby Price’s Husson club, ranked fifth in the latest New England Division III poll, to 6-1 overall and 4-0 in the ECFC with three regular-season games remaining. Anna Maria falls to 0-7 overall, 0-4 in conference play.
Wiggins fumbled away his first reception of the day, with Anna Maria taking possession at the Husson 47 less than two minutes into the game.
That may have been the high point of the day for the Amcats save for the punting of sophomore Francis Cole, who averaged 49.7 yards on 12 kicks — with six leaving Husson inside its 20-yard line.
While the Husson defense led by linebackers Throckmorton and Logan Steward shut down the Amcats’ rushing attack early in the game, Anna Maria simply didn’t have enough defenders to contain both Smith and Husson’s big-play passing attack. Brandon completed 10 of 14 passes for 262 yards in the first half alone.
The sophomore from Pembroke, Massachusetts, found Wiggins open down the left sideline with a 32-yard touchdown strike to give Husson a 7-0 lead with 8:42 left in the opening quarter, then really opened it up in the second period.
First came a similar sideline pass to Saintard, this time for a 53-yard touchdown after Smith picked up a blitzing Anna Maria linebacker.
“We like to run a lot of ‘go’ routes, we like to stretch the field vertically,” said Brandon, “especially with these guys and the talent and speed and size they have. Plus, they’re great route runners.”
Two possessions later, Brandon passed 15 yards over the middle to Edge to make it 21-0 with 7:51 left before halftime.
Brandon capped off his half with a short pass to Wiggins in the left flat from the Husson 7. Wiggins broke one tackle, used a block from Saintard to create open space and then raced down the sideline not only to extend the lead to 28-0 but surpass the school record for longest touchdown pass of 81 yards from James McCandless to Ben Grant against Utica in 2008.
“It was pretty tiring, you would think,” said Wiggins of his long catch and run. “But I think I got more tired celebrating with my teammates on the sidelines.”
Smith raced 61 yards to the end zone on Husson’s first offensive play of the second half, and Brandon passed 21 yards to Edge in the right corner of the end zone with 4:10 left in the third quarter to complete the scoring.
