All six of Maine’s NCAA Division III football teams wound up on the wrong side of the scoreline on Saturday.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s Engineers stopped Husson University drives inside their five-yard line on two occasions in the fourth quarter to preserve a 13-7 win over the Eagles in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Vermont State University at Castleton dealt Maine Maritime Academy its 34th consecutive loss, 40-0; Hampden-Sydney outlasted the University of New England, 43-41; Trinity topped Colby 34-14; Amherst beat Bates College 24-14; and Williams College upended Bowdoin 17-7.
In Worcester, Michael Hughes sacked Husson quarterback Brody Gibson for an 11-yard loss on a third-and-goal play at the WPI-3 yard line, and a fourth down pass fell incomplete with 10 seconds left as WPI secured the win.
Earlier in the fourth quarter, trailing 13-7, the Eagles squandered a first-and-goal opportunity at WPI’s four-yard line, turning the ball over on downs.
All the scoring came in the second quarter as the Engineers took a 13-0 lead on field goals of 42 and 25 yards by Nathan Napier and a 29-yard interception return by Grant Engelhardt.
Napier had kicked a game-winning 50-yard field goal as time elapsed to beat UNE 22-21 the previous weekend.
Gibson tossed a 19-yard TD pass to Brett Davis with 27 seconds left in the half to pull the Eagles within six.
Dylan Gallo completed 17 of 32 passes for 196 yards for WPI, which is now 2-1.
Garrett Ranieri caught seven passes for 79 yards. Husson held WPI to 24 rushing yards on 25 carries.
Pat Andrews and Carter Learned had a game-high nine tackles each for WPI and Engelhardt and Michael Doherty had eight each.
Gibson completed 25 of 42 passes for 204 yards and a TD. He was intercepted twice. Jacob Lenz caught seven passes for 81 yards and Davis had seven for 44. Anthony Santacroce was the game’s leading rusher with 57 yards on 16 carries.
Melvyn Telisca had eight tackles for Husson and A.J. Oliver, Brayden Trombly and J.T. Wright had six each.
Husson is 0-3 for the first time since 2019.
At Castleton, Vermont, R.J. Monger threw two touchdown passes and Chase Viana Negron ran for a pair of TDs as the Spartans improved to 2-1.
Monger found Ty Dowell for a 35-yard connection and Justin Brown for a 10-yarder and Viana Negron had plunges of two and one yard. Max Cutler added a 23-yard TD run and Zach Dragon kicked two field goals.
Monger completed 23 of 31 passes for 258 yards and Ryan Freund rushed for a game-high 78 yards on 18 carries. Brody Tyburski had eight catches for 76 yards and Dowell had six for 123 yards.
Deacon Schneider’s six tackles paced the Spartan defense. Josh Cormier and Tanner Fields had five each.
Freshman Stone Harris completed nine of 24 passes for 91 yards for MMA, and Auston Harris had seven receptions for 87 yards. Lucas Houghton had a game-high 12 tackles and Matt Gagin had 10 for the 0-2 Mariners.
The Hampden-Sydney-UNE game featured four 100-yard rushers.
Terry Hicks ran for a game-high 317 yards on 36 carries for the 2-1 winners while 0-3 UNE received 189 rushing yards from Damien Jones on 26 carries, 143 on 24 from Javin Willis and 107 on 20 carries from Nathan Delgado.
Willis and Delgado each scored two touchdowns while Hicks and Jones had one apiece.
Hampden-Sydney’s Connor Creech completed 13 of 19 passes for 144 yards including a 22-yard TD strike to Tyler Hendley, who had six catches for 94 yards.