Merrimack Takes Maine 23-14 on Two Defensive Scores
Take away the punt return and the interception return and this is a 9-14 loss for Merrimack. That is not how it went, so the Warriors won 23-14 at Maine with two touchdowns they did not need the offense for.
Maine opened the scoring on a 41-yard Samuel Tremblay field goal in the first quarter. Merrimack answered in the second with a 12-yard punt return touchdown from Danny Simms, which made it 7-3, and that was the only lead change of the game. Maine never led again. In the third quarter Juice Ricks returned an interception 32 yards for a score and it was 14-3.
Maine did not go quietly. Rashawn Marshall ran in from 7 yards with 3:50 left in the third, and Corey Rideout found Eli Mahan on the two-point try to make it 14-11. Merrimack got the points back right away, with DeMarcus McElroy scoring from 4 yards with 0:45 left in the quarter. Tremblay hit a 45-yard field goal in the fourth to cut it to 21-14, and a team safety with 2:10 to play closed the book at 23-14.
The box score is a mess in a very specific way. Merrimack threw for 79 yards and ran for 212 on 41 carries, which sounds like a plan, though it also threw two interceptions and lost a fumble. Maine managed 53 rushing yards on 31 carries and 146 through the air, and gave it away three times as well (two picks and a fumble). Nobody covered themselves in glory. One team just got more points out of the mess.
Both teams are 1-1. The fantasy story is small. Marshall led all players with 11.9 points on a touchdown and 39 total scrimmage yards, and Merrimack quarterback AJ Hairston scored 9.4 with 65 rushing yards, despite a 9-for-16 passing line. Ugly games produce odd leaders.