Two of the lowest scoring football teams in the Coastal Athletic Association engaged in an unexpected shootout on Saturday afternoon at Robins Stadium in Richmond.
After an encouraging start in which they jumped out to a 14-0 lead, the University of Maine’s Black Bears were shredded by Richmond freshman quarterback Camden Coleman.
Making just his second start, Coleman threw six touchdown passes and the Spiders pulled away for a 42-31 victory.
Richmond, picked third in the CAA coaches preseason poll, improved to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in the conference.
UMaine fell to 1-5 and 1-3.
Coleman completed 25 of 36 passes for 365 yards and Nick DeGennaro caught eight passes for 113 yards and three TDs. Brooks Heagarty, Quayne Venehy and Landon Ellis also caught TD passes.
UMaine quarterback Derek Robertson completed 18 of 25 passes and two TDs with Joe Gillette catching a pair. Gillette also caught a TD pass from Anthony Harris and Montigo Moss threw a 24-yard TD pass to Tavion Banks.
Gillette finished with eight receptions for 169 yards and Moss had six catches for 72. Harris completed eight of 11 passes for 71 yards.
It took the two teams just 13:36 to rack up 31 points and they combined for 52 in the first half.
UMaine came into the game averaging 19 points per game and that was 13th among 15 teams in the CAA. That was greatly enhanced by last Saturday’s 56-point outburst in the 56-28 win over Stony Brook.
Richmond’s 19.2 points-per-game was 12th.
But the Spiders rattled off 21 unanswered to transform a 17-7 deficit into a 28-17 lead and they never trailed again.
Robertson hooked up with Gillette on a 73-yard touchdown pass to open the scoring just 3:14 into the game and the Black Bears built the lead to 14-0 by opening up the playbook with wide receiver Moss throwing a 24-yard TD pass to running back Banks.
But Richmond answered with a 56-yard TD strike from Coleman and Heagarty and, after Cody Willilams kicked a 23-yard field goal for UMaine after a drive stalled at the Richmond six-yard line, Coleman fired a 56-yard TD pass to DeGennaro.
Reigning CAA Co-Offensive Player of the Week Robertson completed all 10 of his passes in the first period for 202 yards. Lafayette College transfer Gillette had four receptions for 110 yards.
The scoring spree continued early in the second period when Richmond took its first lead of the game on Coleman’s 13-yard TD pass to Veney.
He then threw a 13-yarder to DeGennaro and, after Gillette caught a 50-yard TD pass from Robertson with 5:04 left in the half, Coleman closed out the half with an 11-yarder to Ellis.
Coleman found DeGennaro for a two-yard TD pass in the third quarter to make it 42-24 before UMaine scored a late TD on a two-yard pass from Harris to Gillette.