Maine Holds Off Tribe, 20-17, in Atlantic 10 Opener

W&M's Two Second-Half Touchdowns Not Enough in Home Opener

09/16/06 11:15PM

Williamsburg - Maine quarterback Ron Whitcomb rushed for a pair of scores and passed for another to lead the Black Bears past William and Mary, 20-17, Saturday night in an Atlantic 10 Football Conference game at Zable Stadium.

Whitcomb, who finished with 64 yards rushing on 21 attempts and 98 yards through the air on 9-of-15 passing, crossed the goal line for the second time on an 8-yard run to give Maine a commanding 20-3 lead with 10:20 remaining in the third quarter.

Arel Gordon added 100 yards rushing on 23 attempts for Maine, which earned its first victory in Williamsburg in four attempts and sent W&M to its sixth consecutive defeat, dating back to last season.

Tribe quarterback Jake Phillips (Warm Springs, Va.) passed for 184 yards and a touchdown, completing 22 of his career-high 44 attempts. Joe Nicholas (Sugarloaf, Pa.) brought in five receptions for 46 yards and a touchdown, and DeBrian Holmes (Ft. Eustis, Va.) scored on a 14-yard run, finishing with 26 yards on four attempts.

Whitcomb’s 1-yard scoring run in the first quarter and a 29-yard touchdown pass to Landis Williams early in the second gave Maine a 14-3 lead at the break, before the Black Bears marched 60 yards on eight plays on their opening possession of the second half to increase the advantage to 20-3 on Whitcomb’s run.

Trailing by three scores, W&M’s offense came alive behind Phillips in the third, as the Tribe answered with a nine-play, 74-yard scoring drive on the ensuing possession. Phillips completed passes to D.J. McAulay (New Haven, Conn.) and Elliott Mack (Irvington, N.J.) to move the chains, then Mack ripped off 14 yards on a reverse, moving the Tribe into Maine territory. Phillips completed three more attempts, then carried himself for nine yards, setting up a first down at the Maine 14. On the next play, Phillips completed a lateral swing pass to Holmes, who finished the drive with a 14-yard scoring run to cut the deficit to 20-10 with 5:49 remaining in the third.

Corner Richard Riley (Gaithersburg, Md.) ended Maine’s next drive with an interception near midfield, but the Tribe’s offensive try stalled at the Maine 37-yard line after three-straight incomplete passes.

Josh Wright (Madison Heights, Va.) came up with another big defensive play for W&M on the next series, sacking Whitcomb for a 3-yard loss on first down. Maine eventually was forced to punt, giving it back to W&M at its own 43-yard line.

Elijah Brooks (Largo, Md.) started the drive with a 6-yard gain, and McAulay gained a first down with a 15-yard reverse moving W&M to the Maine 37. Consecutive completions by Phillips to R.J. Archer (Earlysville, Va.) moved the Tribe inside the 20-yard line, and Phillips eventually connected with Nicholas on an 8-yard touchdown pass that trimmed the Maine lead to 20-17 with 8:30 remaining.

W&M had two more possessions in the final seven minutes, but the Tribe could only manage one more first down the rest of the way, punting once and then turning the ball over on downs in the final two minutes.

McAulay finished with five catches for 53 yards, and Archer recorded three receptions for 25 yards. Brooks led the Tribe rushing attack with 29 yards on 12 carries.

W&M returns to action next weekend, hosting state-rival VMI at 7 p.m. Maine will host Shaw on Saturday in its home-opener.

Video Hightlights
DeBrian Holmes' Third-Quarter, 14-yard TD run
Maine's First-Quarter Fumble, Forced By Kevin Allen, Recovered by Derek Cox

Box Score | Quotes | Photos

Game Notes: W&M dropped its sixth consecutive decision, dating back to last season, which marks the program’s longest losing streak since dropping six-straight over the 1980 and ’81 seasons … Maine won its first game in Williamsburg in four visits … Tonight marked the first time W&M hosted its Atlantic 10 opener since 1995 (JMU) … Maine is the first team from the A-10 Northern Division to win a game at Zable Stadium in September … W&M dropped to 5-2 in home conference games played in September … The Tribe is now 0-2 under the permanent lighting system at Zable Stadium and has lost its last three night games at home overall … With two caused turnovers, the Tribe is now +6 in turnover margin on the season … W&M has gained at least two turnovers in six of its last seven games, dating back to last season … Phillips’ 44 pass attempts were a career-high, surpassing his previous career mark of 34 against Delaware last season … With the fourth quarter touchdown pass, Phillips has now thrown a touchdown pass in 11-straight games … McAulay shared the team lead in receptions for the second-straight week, finishing with five each time … Derek Cox recorded his second fumble recover of the season in the first quarter … Riley’s interception was the second of his career … With his touchdown catch, Nicholas is now two scoring receptions away from moving into the College’s career top 10 … Nicholas is also 13 receptions shy of cracking the school’s top 10 for career receptions with 127 … Nicholas has caught at least one pass in 20 consecutive games.