The University of Maine’s football team has had its ups and downs this season, with more ups of late during its current four-game winning streak.
But there has been one player who has been the model of consistency: placekicker Sam Tremblay.
The redshirt freshman from Quebec City has made all nine of his field goal attempts and all 22 of his extra-point kicks.
He is the only kicker in the Coastal Athletic Association who has tried at least five field goals and hasn’t missed any. He is the conference’s ninth-leading scorer with 49 points.
His longest two field goals were his last two in a 20-13 victory at Merrimack College on Oct. 11. He nailed a 39-yarder and a 45-yarder.
It was the third team he has kicked two field goals in a game as he had 29 and 33-yarders in a 34-14 win over Bryant and 27 and 22-yarders in a 28-27 loss at William and Mary.
He kicked a 33-yarder in a 45-17 loss to Georgia Southern, a 22-yarder in a 13-10 loss to Stonehill (Mass.) and a 35-yarder in a 37-30 win over North Carolina & T.
Tremblay was the back-up to Joey Bryson a year ago and didn’t try any field goals. He was 2-for-2 in extra points. He was also the back-up punter to Aidan Cadogan and had 10 punts for an average of 37.5 yards per punt.
Anthony Pecorella is the punter this season.
“Sam has done an outstanding job,” UMaine head coach Jordan Stevens said about Tremblay. “He has been tremendous in terms of his approach.
“His work ethic has been great. I’m really proud of him. I love the way he goes about his business,” Stevens added.
In 2019, Tremblay was rated the top kicking prospect in Canada. He went 27 of 36 in field goals and converted all 67 extra points. He was 19-for-20 on field goals inside the 35-yard line. As a punter, he landed 54 punts inside the 35-yard line.
Tremblay could play a pivotal role down the stretch for the Black Bears, who are 4-4 overall and 3-1 in the CAA.
UMaine is heading into Saturday’s 1 p.m. Coastal Athletic Association game against visiting Stony Brook. Stony Brook is 4-4 and 2-2, respectively.
The teams have split their last 10 meetings with five of the games being decided by six points or less.
The game will feature three of the top seven rushers in the CAA in Stony Brook’s Roland Dempster, whose 111.3 rushing yards per game is second best, and UMaine’s Sincere Baines (63.9 yards per game) and Rashawn Marshall (63.8).
Baines has been slowed by an ankle injury lately, which has limited hime to four carries in the Black Bears’ last two games. Marshall has picked up the slack with 34 carries for 289 yards in the two games.
UMaine has the league’s top defense when it comes to fewest yards allowed per game (314.6) while Stony Brook has the CAA’s third-best offense, averaging 384.9 yards per contest.
Following a poor start, UMaine quarterback Carter Peevy has come alive during the four-game winning streak, completing 70.5 percent of his passes for 1,059 yards and seven touchdowns.
Redshirt freshman Quinn Boyd got his first start last Saturday in a 27-19 win over Towson and he completed 17 of 29 passes for 176 yards and a touchdown. Dempster carried the ball 40 times for 181 yards and two TDs.
MarQeese Dietz (41 catches, 365 yards) and Jayce Freeman (25-for-411) are the Seawolves’ top receivers while Scott Woods (40-for-461) and Mo Irefin (25-for-290) are UMaine’s leading pass-catchers.
UMaine linebacker Christian Thomas is fifth in the CAA in tackles per game with 9.4 and Stony Brook linebacker Anthony Ferrelli is sixth with 8.9 per game.