ORONO, Maine — Coastal Athletic Association newcomer Sacred Heart overcame a nine-point deficit to beat the reeling University of Maine’s Black Bears 24-16 at Morse Field in Alfond Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Sacred Heart is now 2-3 overall and 2-2 in the CAA while UMaine has now lost five in a row and is 1-5 and 1-2.
Sacred Heart junior quarterback Poochie Snyder completed 21 of 27 passes for 207 yards and two touchdowns and he also rushed for 73 yards on 15 carries.
Dean Hangey caught seven passes for 58 yards and Jason Palmieri caught six for 73 more.
UMaine head coach Jordan Stevens alternated quarterbacks with Caden Drezek finally winning the job later in the game. Drezek completed 12 of 28 passes for 141 yards and Eddie Buehler was 1-for-5 for 13 yards.
Rashawn Marshall carried the ball 13 times for 67 yards and Nick Laughlin had four catches for 22 yards.
UMaine built a 9-0 lead on three Sam Tremblay field goals but the Black Bears’ inept offense couldn’t find the end zone and Sacred Heart made them pay by stringing together two second-quarter scoring drives that enabled the visitors to take a 14-9 lead into the intermission.
The offense had little to do with the field goals.
Sacred Heart’s Jack O’Sullivan shanked a 22-yard punt in the first quarter to give UMaine the ball at the Sacred Heart 30-yard line but three plays produced only 6 yards so UMaine had to settle for a 42-yard field goal by Tremblay.
The UMaine defense stopped Sacred Heart on a fourth-and-one on its 47-yard line with Bryce Purnell leading the charge and UMaine’s offense received two runs totalling 20 yards by Marshall before the drive stalled and Tremblay booted a 45-yard field goal.
Freshman Ty Boone’s 34-yard punt return to the Sacred Heart 34-yard line and a Buehler pass to Elijah Smalls moved it to the 21-yard line. Smalls tried to hurdle a tackler but got hurt on the play and didn’t return.
The next three plays generated just 1 yard, so Tremblay kicked a 37-yard field goal.
The UMaine defense had been stout up until that point and had done an excellent job containing Sacred Heart dual-threat quarterback Snyder.
But that all changed.
Snyder engineered drives of 79 and 81 yards to give the Pioneers a lead they would never relinquish.
The first drive was an eight-play affair and included a 33-yard pass from Snyder to Palmieri and their ability to pick up a first down on first-and-20.
Dean Hangey’s 3-yard touchdown run capped the drive.
The next drive took 12 plays and a 16-yard pass from Snyder to Hangey on third-and-nine from the Sacred Heart-30 extended the drive.
Snyder tossed an 8-yard TD pass to finish off the drive with 19 seconds left.
Sacred Heart opened the second half with another impressive and methodical drive that culminated in a 6-yard TD pass from Snyder to Brendan Errity. That completed a 12-play, 75-yard drive.
The UMaine offense finally came to life and Drezek orchestrated a six-play, 69-yard drive capped by Nick Laughlin’s 2-yard run.
He completed a 24-yard pass to Major Leak and a 30-yard pass to Keyon Concepcion.
Sacred Heart expanded its lead to 24-16 on a 40-yard field goal by Ryan Bocklet with 6:48 left.
UMaine had a chance to tie it late in the game but a costly drop by Sebastian Rammery on what would have been a 30-yard gain and then a fourth-down completion that came just a yard short of a first down on fourth-and-15 ended the drive.
UMaine had one last chance in the last 1:30 but the Black Bears couldn’t convert.