ORONO, Maine – The University of Maine football team dropped its first Coastal Athletic Conference game of the 2024 season, 51-22, to Monmouth on Saturday at Alfond Stadium.

Shakur Smalls led Maine with a career-high matching 10 tackles while Dorian Blackwell logged eight tackles, a new career-high, with a pass breakup. Xavier Holmes made seven stops.

Carter Peevy was 16-for-26 for 159 yards and rushed five times for 34 yards. Eight receivers hauled in Peevy's 16 passes, led by Montigo Moss' six catches for 48 yards. Jaharie Martin and Joe Gillette each had a rushing touchdown. Martin led Maine on the ground on the day, rushing 11 times for 46 yards.

The Hawks struck first, opening up the game with a 16-play, 75-yard drive over seven minutes that ended with a four-yard rushing touchdown up the middle. The visitors pushed the lead to 20-0 late in the first quarter with a pair of touchdown passes.

Trevin Ewing responded for Maine late in the first quarter, running a kickoff back 98 yards down the right sideline for a touchdown. Anthony Harris then rushed in the two-point conversion for the Black Bears to cut the deficit to 20-8 after one.

Monmouth, though, had another rushing touchdown for a 27-8 scoreline at the break.

The Hawks used a 56-yard touchdown pass and a point-after attempt on their first drive of the second half to extend the lead.

Maine then scored on back-to-back possessions. First the Black Bears responded with an eight-play, 65-yard march. A 30-yard scramble from Peevy was punctuated by a one-yard touchdown run from Martin. After another Hawks score, Maine had another eight-play drive – including a 10-yard rush by Martin and a 14-yard scramble by Peevy – that ended in a two-yard punch-in by Gillette.

The Hawks closed out the scoring with a touchdown pass and a field goal in the fourth quarter.

For the game, Maine logged 286 yards of total offense. Monmouth (632 yards) converted 10 of its 14 tries on third down.

The Black Bears return to action on Saturday, Sept. 21 with a trip to Merrimack. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

-UMaine-