ORONO, Maine — A night to forget for the University of Maine football team was one to remember for the Merrimack College Warriors.
The Warriors used touchdown returns off a blocked punt and an interception and a crucial third-quarter TD drive to deal the Black Bears a fifth home-opening setback in six seasons, 23-14, at Morse Field in Alfond Stadium on Saturday night.
It was Merrimack’s first-ever win over UMaine in four meetings. Both teams are now 1-2.
The Warriors thoroughly deserved the win, outgaining UMaine in total yards 290-199 and having a 23-14 edge in first downs. They had a 7:20 edge in time of possession and limited UMaine to a paltry 53 rushing yards in 31 attempts while running for 211 yards themselves on 42 carries.
The Warriors picked off two Eddie Buehler passes and forced two fumbles, recovering one of them.
They held UMaine to a 1-for-12 showing on third down while converting on 4 of 11 themselves.
The defense kept UMaine in the game and the Black Bears actually had a chance to tie or go ahead when they got the ball at their own five-yard line following a Mike Ryan punt with 2:09 remaining.
UMaine trailed 21-14.
But on the first play from scrimmage, Merrimack defensive end Dwayne Green Jr. tackled redshirt junior running back Nick Laughlin in the end zone for a game-clinching two-point safety.
“We were trying to run the ball to get (a drive) started and get out of that area. We took a devastating TFL (tackle-for-loss) for a safety. Incredible,” said UMaine head coach Jordan Stevens.
That was one of many frustrating plays for the Black Bears.
“It wasn’t a good night at all for our team,” said Stevens. “Merrimack came in here and played their butts off. They really took it to us. Defensively, they were lights out. We weren’t able to move the ball with any efficiency until the second half.
“It doesn’t matter who we play, we have to play to a higher standard in all three phases (offense, defense, special teams). There’s a lot (of blame) to go around,” he added.
DeAndre Ricks’ 32-yard interception return with 7:05 left in the third quarter gave Merrimack a 14-3 lead. It was the second interception thrown by redshirt sophomore Buehler, who finished with 12 completions in 25 attempts for 130 yards. He was the team’s leading rusher with 24 yards on 10 carries.
He also fumbled twice at the Merrimack one-yard line early in the first quarter and the second one was recovered by nose tackle Bryce Ricks to thwart UMaine’s chance to score the game’s first points.
“Sloppy play. You can’t be on the one-yard line and fumble the snap and we did it twice,” said Stevens. “That’s unacceptable.”
Even though Buehler certainly had an underwhelming performance, Stevens didn’t put the blame for the loss on him.
“His participation in the game wasn’t the leading factor (for the loss). There were balls he threw that could have been caught. When we needed yards, Eddie put his shoulder down and got yards,” said Stevens. “We got a punt blocked for a touchdown. We went 1-of-12 on third down. We gave up an untimely score in the third quarter.”
Following a dreadful 42 minutes of football, UMaine finally gave its 5,065 fans something to cheer about with 3:50 left in the third period when a 7-yard touchdown run by redshirt sophomore running back Rashawn Marshall and a trick play featuring a reverse and a pass from wide receiver Corey Rideout to tight end Eli Mahan for a two-point conversion pulled UMaine within 14-11.
But it took the Warriors just six plays to restore a double-digit lead as DeMarcus McElroy finished off an impressive 59-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown run with 45 seconds left in the third quarter, making it 21-11.
“Our defense had played really well up until that drive. I’ll have to take a look to see what happened on that,” said Stevens.
Following the McElroy TD, UMaine kicker Sam Tremblay answered in the fourth quarter with a 45-yard field goal, making it 21-14 with 6:22 remaining.
But the Warriors responded with a six-play, 26-yard drive that ran four minutes off the clock and enabled punter Ryan to pin the Black Bears deep in their own territory down at the five-yard line.
And the safety iced the win.
UMaine’s offense was nothing short of pathetic in the first half. The lowlight was UMaine squandering a first-and-goal series inside the 1-yard line after a Chris Bacon interception and 22-yard return.
Marshall got stuffed at the line of scrimmage on the first play, Buehler fumbled and fell on it for no gain on the second one and quarterback Michael McMaugh came in and failed to reach the end zone on third down before Buehler fumbled again on fourth down with Ricks recovering it.
UMaine didn’t pick up a single first down in six of its eight first-half possessions.
Merrimack took a deserved 7-3 lead into the intermission.
UMaine had taken a 3-0 lead on a 41-yard field goal by Tremblay before Merrimack answered: Jeremiah Anemelechi-Ford blocked a punt by Anthony Pecorella, and safety Danny Simms returned it 12 yards for a touchdown with 10:02 left in the half.
UMaine finished the first half with just 34 total yards on 29 plays. Eighteen rushes produced a dismal 23 yards, and Buehler completed only two of 11 passes for 11 yards with an interception by Danny Simms on a poorly-thrown floater that was virtually a jump ball.
Late in the half, UMaine drove to the Merrimack 12-yard line, but the offensive line couldn’t generate push or create room for Marshall and Laughlin to convert on third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 plays, respectively, so UMaine turned the ball over on downs.
UMaine’s defense kept the Black Bears in the game all night. UMaine’s defense intercepted two passes, forced three fumbles and recovered one. It was Merrimack’s defense, though, that scored the game’s last points, on Green’s safety.
Matthias Latham was the game’s top rusher with 72 yards on 16 carries and quarterback A.J. Hairston had 10 for 65 more for the visitors. Hairston completed 9 of 16 passes for 73 yards and Stephon Patrick had three catches for 14 yards. Safety Simms’ eight tackles led the defense with linebackers Rajahn Cooper and Will Claude each involved in six tackles.
Laughlin, Evan Wallace and Malik McNeely each had three catches for UMaine for 52, 31 and 20 yards, respectively. Linebackers Noah Carpenter and Sam Oppenheimer had 10 and 8 tackles, respectively.
UMaine will travel to Football Bowl Subdivision Boston College for its last non-conference game on Saturday at 2. Merrimack will trek to Texas for a 6 p.m. contest against Tarleton State.