ORONO, Maine — The University of Maine football team needed a big play after surging William & Mary had pulled within seven points on a Kris Hooper 25-yard field goal in the third quarter Saturday afternoon.
Facing a third-and-10, redshirt freshman quarterback Chris Ferguson completed a 45-yard pass across the middle to sophomore speedster Earnest Edwards and the drive eventually produced a two-yard touchdown run by Josh Mack that all but sewed up UMaine’s 23-6 Colonial Athletic Association win over the offensively-anemic Tribe at Alfond Stadium in Orono.
Mack scored with 13:43 left in the game and fifth-year senior Brandon Briggs of Saco kicked his third field goal of the contest 5:30 later.
“It was something I’ve missed [with my throws] in past games, so we’ve been working on it,” Ferguson said. “It was definitely something we wanted to hit. [Earnest] ran his route, I threw it to a spot, he got it and he just ran the rest. He made a good play getting down the field and getting us a lot of yards there.”
“It’s called a Delta. I saw the middle of the field wide open so I just curved it and he threw a great ball,” Edwards said.
“We were back in that third-and-long situation. We knew we had to make a play. We got good pass protection, I let it go and [Edwards] did the rest,” Ferguson added.
It was the third straight win for the Black Bears (4-3 overall, 3-3 CAA).
Ferguson completed 13 of 22 passes for 192 yards and a TD and sophomore running back Mack ran for 99 yards on 24 carries despite suffering a bruised hip.
North Yarmouth junior and former Cheverus High School of Portland star Joe Fitzpatrick did an impressive job spelling Mack, running for 60 yards on 12 carries.
Swift-footed junior Tommy McKee (7 carries, 47 yards), who replaced ineffective true freshman quarterback Shon Mitchell at the outset of the second half, gave the Tribe offense some life in the third quarter but they couldn’t dent the end zone.
McKee completed five of 10 passes for 43 yards after Mitchell was a dismal 1-for-12 for 14 yards in the first half for W&M (2-6, 0-5 CAA).
UMaine held the CAA’s worse offense (280.1 yards per game) to 199 yards and 13 first downs, four of which came via penalty.
“We came mentally prepared and ready,” said UMaine junior linebacker Sterling Sheffield, who made seven tackles, including a sack. “The whole defense told each other we need to come out and dominate. Holding them to six points is really dominating a game.”
He added that they did a good job disguising their defenses which “flustered” their quarterbacks.
“We knew they were going to come out running the ball. Their pass game wasn’t strong at all,” said redshirt freshman linebacker Jaron Grayer, who had a team-high 12 tackles. “The switch-up in the second half with the quarterback put us on our heels a little bit because he was more of a scrambler. So we had to adjust. But once we figured it out, we were good.”
“We got outplayed,” William & Mary coach Jimmye Laycock said. “We couldn’t get anything going offensively, running or throwing. Our defense didn’t play as well as it has.”
The penalty-filled first half was a field goal battle until Ferguson threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to Drew Belcher with 26 seconds left in the half to cap a seven-play, 69-yard drive and make it 13-3 at the intermission.
Hooper’s 41-yard field goal gave William & Mary a 3-0 lead with 9:36 left in the first quarter but Briggs tied it with a 19-yarder 4:23 later and then nailed a 43-yarder with 8:47 left in the second period to give UMaine a lead it would never relinquish.
UMaine took over at its 31-yard line with 1:26 left in the half.
Ferguson floated a 34-yard pass to Jared Osumah down the left sideline to jump-start the drive and, three plays later on third-and-nine, Ferguson threaded the needle to Edwards for 20 yards.
Ferguson found Belcher for five yards and then tossed the nine-yard TD strike to Belcher, who fully extended himself to haul it in near the pylon.
The game got off to an inauspicious start for the Black Bears when Graydon Campbell recovered a Ferguson fumble after a Bill Murray sack at Maine’s 18.
Darrius Hart’s interception foiled William & Mary’s scoring bid but a 23-yard punt by Derek Deoul gave the Tribe great field position at Maine’s 29 and Hooper kicked his 41 yard field goal to open the scoring.
UMaine answered on its next drive as Briggs’ 19-yard field goal capped an 11-play, 89-yard march.
UMaine took the lead in the second quarter as a 33-yard pass from Ferguson to Jaquan Blair highlighted a five-play, 30-yard drive that was finished off by Briggs’ 43-yard field goal.
Strong safety Corey Parker had 12 tackles for the Tribe and tackle Murray had two sacks among his seven tackles.
Follow BDN Maine Sports on Facebook for the latest in Maine high school and college sports.