For three quarters, Maine’s defense bent, and their offense sputtered.

Despite an early 7-0 lead, the fans at Burgess-Snow Field remained rowdy, urging their team to break through the Black Bear fortress and make their way onto the scoreboard.

But the fourth quarter belonged to the visitors.

Wallis Wallace ran for 102 yards and two scores, Maine forced four Gamecock fumbles, and the Black Bears stifled #6 Jacksonville State for a 21-0 victory, the first shutout of Scarsden Billings’ tenure.

“We knew we’d be going up against a top-ten team to open the season, and our guys were fully prepared for the challenge,” Billings said. “They practiced well, and it showed on the field.”

The Gamecocks’ option offense initially presented a challenge for the Black Bears, as JSU drove into Maine territory on their first five drives of the game.

But two of those drives ended in fumbles, one saw JSU stopped short on fourth down, one resulted in a punt, and one finished with a missed field goal attempt.

“They may have bent early, but when the importance of the moment rose, every one of those young men stepped up,” Billings said.

Sophomore linebacker Ryan Borlin, who led the team with six tackles, including Maine’s only two for a loss, pointed to the strong play of a mostly-new defensive line as key to the victory.

“Look at Whit[ley Steen], Russ [Nobek], Az[ter Washington]… he was here last year, but still, all of them kept going after the ball and the guy carrying it,” Borlin said. “The way they played kept our energy up.”

Despite strong defensive play, Maine’s offense was but a trickle for the first three quarters of play. Wallace’s 33-yard touchdown run in the first quarter set the only positive mark on the scoreboard for most of the game.

And after Maine failed to convert a second- and third-and-1 late in the third quarter, momentum seemed to continue to flutter about. Despite the visitors’ seven-point lead, JSU had outgained the Black Bears 167 yards to 80, more than double Maine’s progression along the field.

“We needed a play there,” Billings said. “Special teams gave us a chance, and the offense took it from there.”

On that fourth down, Ghoma Iderrin’s tumbling punt slipped through the arms of the Jacksonville State returner; reserve offensive lineman Chase Sanders came out of the pile with the ball. One play later, the first of the fourth quarter, Wallace took a handoff, cut left between tackle and guard, and ran untouched through the JSU defense for a 34-yard touchdown.

“From then on, you could feel the energy not just from the sideline, but from the one section of ours in the stands,” Borlin said.

Indeed, the defense would not allow Jacksonville State another first down, promptly stopping the Gamecocks on fourth and 1. The offense proceeded to run down the field and the clock, with two-way player Alan Thomas carrying the ball the final six yards for a touchdown.

Maine’s offense never put the ball in the air in that fourth quarter, a three-yard pass from Andy Horn to Anderson King with 4:36 remaining in the third the final aerial play call from Billings’ offense. Horn finished with just 40 passing yards on eight attempts.

“At that point, it wasn’t just running down the clock,” Billings said. “It was the best way to gain ground on their defense.”

After one more JSU fumble recovered by Steen, his second recovery of the game, Maine ran out the clock.

Wallace, who crossed the 100-yard mark for the first time since Week 3 of last season, isn’t dwelling on the win.

“We’ve got a night to enjoy this,” he said. “But after tonight, we’ve got to get ready for Campbell next week.”

The upcoming matchup will see Billings face Campbell for the first time, but for some of this roster, this will be a vengeance match two years in the making. The Fighting Camels claimed victory then in a Gameday 35-11 win, but with Maine under new coaching, no one is saying any particular result is certain.

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