The University of Rhode Island’s defense registered six sacks and running back Malik Grant’s one-yard touchdown run with 12:25 left in the game broke a 14-14 tie, leading the Rams to a 24-14 Coastal Athletic Association win over the University of Maine at Meade Stadium on Homecoming Day in Kingston, R.I. on Saturday afternoon.
The Rams, ranked 15th in the latest Football Championship Subdivision poll, improved to 7-1 overall and 4-0 in the conference while UMaine fell to 4-4 and 2-3 and had its FCS playoff aspirations severely damaged.
It was URI’s third straight win over UMaine after the Black Bears had won the previous 14.
UMaine outgained URI 336-321 and had a decided edge in time of possession (34:33-25:03) but the Rams were able to come up with clutch plays on the offensive side of the ball and game-changing stops on defense.
“We weren’t able to make plays when we needed to and that cost us,” said UMaine head coach Jordan Stevens. “I felt like we never had momentum in the game. We weren’t able to [produce] those momentum plays that can spark your team.
“It was a bizarre game in that sense. There weren’t a lot of explosive plays for either team,” he added. “Our defense played well.”
UMaine running back Brian Santana-Fis’ four-yard touchdown run and Joey Bryson’s extra point kick four seconds into the fourth quarter tied it 14-14.
But it took the Rams just 2:31 to regain the lead.
URI picked up a vital third down on third-and-five at its own 44-yard line when quarterback Devin Farrell found wide receiver Greg Gaines III for a seven-yard completion.
Farrell then hooked up on a 46-yard pass to Tommy Smith at the UMaine 3-yard line.
Two plays later, Grant busted into the end zone from the one.
On UMaine’s next possession, Carson Primrose sacked UMaine quarterback Carter Peevy for a seven-yard loss, and Peevy’s 16-yard pass to Santana-Fis on third down came up one yard short of a first down at UMaine’s 34-yard line.
The decision was made to punt the ball away, and the Rams strung together an eight-play, 39-yard drive that was capped by Ty Groff’s 35-yard field goal with 6:04 remaining.
An 18-yard pass from Farrell to Omari Walker on a third-and-14 situation extended the drive, and Smith’s nine-yard catch on a deflected ball on a third-and-15 gave Groff some valuable yards to shorten his field goal attempt.
UMaine moved the ball to the URI-43 on its next drive as it tried to climb back into the game, but sacks by Braden Price and Devin Hightower caused the Black Bears to turn the ball over on downs with 2:54 remaining and sewed up the win.
“When we needed to put [a drive] together, we weren’t able to,” Stevens said.
UMaine opened the scoring when Peevy tossed a seven-yard touchdown pass to Cooper Heisey with 53 seconds remaining in the first period. That finished off a 12-play, 90-yard drive.
The Black Bears were in good position to extend the lead in the second period when they marched to the URI-29 yard-line.
The Black Bears were facing a third-and-one but Cole Brockwell stopped Santana-Fis short of the first down marker and, on fourth-and-one, Emmanuel Gomes and Gabe Solomons prevented Jaharie Martin from picking up the first down.
“That was tough,” said Stevens, who noted that his team lost the field position battle in the first half as the Black Bears’ average starting spot for their five drives was their own 14-yard line.
An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on UMaine guard Nicolas Cruji after the play moved the ball out to URI’s 44-yard line and the Rams marched 56 yards on five plays with Farrell scoring from the one yard line to tie it up.
On the ensuing kickoff, Trevin Ewing was only able to return it to the UM-12 yard line and the Black Bears failed to gain a yard on three plays.
Samuel Tremblay’s short 29-yard punt gave URI excellent field position at the UM-41 and the Rams took nine plays to score with Farrell dashing into the end zone from the six.
Farrell completed 13 of 24 passes on the day for 202 yards. Gaines had four catches for 31 yards, Smith had three for 59 and Marquis Buchanan snared three for 56.
Farrell was never sacked.
Grant carried the ball 22 times for 87 yards.
Gomes had a game-high 10 tackles for the Rams, Price and Brockwell had seven apiece and Primrose had two sacks among his four tackles.
Peevy completed 29 of 39 passes for 279 yards and the touchdown pass to Heisey. The 29 completions and 39 passes were career-highs for the graduate student and Mercer University transfer. Senior Montigo Moss had a career-high nine receptions for 80 yards.
Junior Santana-Fis posted career-highs in carries (15), rushing yards (89), receptions (5) and receiving yards (51).
Christian Thomas had six tackles to lead the UMaine defense with Jamaree Gibson, Kesean Dyson and Shymell Davis having five apiece.
UMaine will travel to take on Football Bowl Subdivision team Oklahoma on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. while URI will entertain Monmouth at 1 p.m.