By Chris Estrada
Two years after suffering a 30-3 rout to the University of Maine, the Huskies wound up having another (black) bear of a day Saturday in the Pine Tree State.
A stellar performance from Maine (5-3, 3-2 Colonial Athletic Association) on pass defense and in the running game proved to be the right combination to send Northeastern (2-6, 1-3 CAA) to its third straight defeat with a 20-0 win on Homecoming Day in Orono, Maine.
The Black Bears grabbed four interceptions off quarterbacks Anthony Orio and John Sperrazza, while their ground attack racked up 246 yards on the day against a Husky defense missing several key personnel to injuries.
“I’d say there’s a level of respectability between the two defenses; offensively, we didn’t daggone produce,” said head coach Rocky Hager, who saw his offense notch just 69 running yards Saturday. “We have some injuries, we have to overcome them. We’re not able to show that we’re capable of that at this point, and it says Coach on my shirt, so I’m the one responsible for trying to get those youngsters progressing and moving forward.”
With tight end Brian Mandeville still nursing a knee injury he suffered against UC Davis Sept. 27, the Huskies took another injury on offense during the game as well. Orio (7-of-20, 93 yards, three interceptions) only played one possession in the second half before coming out with a thumb injury on his non-throwing left hand.
Hager said the problem was “affecting his ability to properly get the exchange and catching [snaps].”
“You’ve seen him play previously,” he said. “He has executed exceptionally well. Things that have been – throws that [he] could drive into spots, he could not drive. I can’t explain all of the reasons why, but he didn’t drive ’em.”
Regardless of the quarterback, however, the Black Bear defense had the Huskies’ number all day.
Junior linebacker Mark Masterson victimized Orio late in the first quarter by picking off a pass at the Maine 21 and going 79 yards the other way for the game’s opening touchdown. The pick party was on after that as safety Lamir Whetstone grabbed two (one off each NU quarterback), and Jonathan Calderon had one for himself on an Orio pass in the third quarter.
Combined with its abilities to neutralize tailback Alex Broomfield (10 carries, 39 yards) and keep their offense on the field (38:20 of possession time to NU’s 21:40), it was clear that Maine deserved the laurels.
“They were able to come up with the things necessary to win,” Hager said of the Maine defense.
Northeastern attempted to get back into the game late. Starting at the 9-yard line with 1:40 to go in the third quarter, Sperrazza (10-of-19, 91 yards) got two major receptions out of Tony Lott, a 16-yard run from Greg Abelli, and a 15-yard pass interference penalty against Maine to push the Huskies into their red zone.
But from the Black Bears 18, NU went through three incomplete passes and a short two-yarder to turn the ball over on downs with 12:04 left in the contest. The two sides traded mostly three-and-out drives for the rest of the afternoon.
The Huskie look to get their season back on track this Saturday at Parsons Field, where they’ll face the Villanova Wildcats (1 p.m.; 104.9 WRBB, 890 ESPN).
– News Staff Andrew Parente contributed to this report
