Portland-area fans will get their first intown look at University of Maine football team since 2005 when the 13th annual Jeff Cole Memorial Football Scrimmage is held at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland on Saturday.
The event begins at 4 p.m.
The Cole Scrimmage, named after the late UMaine assistant coach who lost his battle with cancer in 2004, will cap the spring season and will feature the Black Bear offense taking on the defense.
The Black Bears also will play a Colonial Athletic Association regular-season game against Delaware on Nov. 4, also at Fitzpatrick Stadium.
The offense will receive six points for a touchdown, three for a run of more than 15 yards and three for a pass over 25 yards. They will also receive a point for a first down.
The defense will earn six points for a turnover, three for a negative-yardage play and one for every series that results in a punt or a field-goal attempt.
Joe Harasymiak, who guided the Black Bears to a 6-5 record (5-3 CAA) in his first season as the head coach last fall, said he and his staff will be looking for precise execution.
“The hardest part when you go against each other is you wind up speaking out of both sides of your mouth,” said Harasymiak. “You want the offense to be clean and crisp in its execution but you also want the defense to make plays.
“You’d like to see an even score because that tells me both played well,” said Harasymiak.
There will be some absentees as a result of injury, particularly among the wide receivers.
Micah Wright, a two-time All-Colonial Athletic Association selection who was a first-teamer last fall, is sidelined with an ankle injury while Earnest Edwards and Jaleel Reed won’t play after undergoing thumb surgery, according to Harasymiak.
Wright caught 44 passes for 688 yards and seven touchdowns, all team highs, while Edwards (20) and Reed (19) were third and fourth in receptions, respectively.
Second-leading receiver Jared Osumah (22-308, 2 TDs) and Marquise Adams (11-for-136) will be available.
Senior Dan Burrows, who has the inside track to start at center, is out with an ankle injury, so sophomore Quadrick Barnes and redshirt freshman Chris Mulvey will handle the snaps. Defensive lineman Charles Mitchell (hamstring) also won’t play.
The battle for the quarterback job to replace All-CAA third-teamer Dan Collins continues between redshirt junior Drew Belcher, redshirt freshman Chris Ferguson and senior transfer Max Staver, who previously attended the University of Florida and Houston Baptist.
Belcher saw significant playing time in 2015 and 2014. He passed for 728 yards and four touchdowns with two interceptions in 2015 and, in 2014, he threw for 740 yards and three TDs with three interceptions.
Both seasons, he was the team’s second-leading rusher, gaining 351 yards in 2015 and 312 yards in 2014.
Harasymiak said he was pleased to be playing in Portland, both on Saturday and in November.
“It’s exciting. It has worked well for other sports. Portland is a very passionate sports city,” said Harasymiak.