The Black Bears will play in the national semifinals for the first time in school history next weekend.<\/b>
\nThe University of Maine football team has gone from an afterthought in its own league to one of the final four teams standing in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
The Black Bears were picked to finish eighth in the Colonial Athletic Association preseason poll. After Friday night\u2019s 23-18 win over Weber State, they\u2019re in the national semifinals for the first time.
In a joyous locker room after the game, Coach Joe Harasymiak \u2013 who choked up during his on-field post-game interview while reflecting on the season \u2013 had a simple message for his players: \u201cRight now, as of this, you\u2019re the best team to ever play at the University of Maine.\u201d
It\u2019s hard to disagree. Maine did participate in the 1965 Tangerine Bowl, but its seven previous forays into the NCAA playoffs never got past the quarterfinals, where the Black Bears were 0-3 before Friday night\u2019s game.
\u201cIt\u2019s unbelievable, honestly,\u201d senior tight end Drew Belcher said Saturday afternoon. \u201cI woke up this morning and almost didn\u2019t think it was real. To be where we were at, last year we were 4-6, two years before we were 3-8, to just to go from that to being one of the final four teams left? It\u2019s tremendous. It\u2019s an unbelievable feeling.\u201d
Maine (10-3) will play in the semifinals at Eastern Washington or UC Davis next Friday (8 p.m.) or Saturday (2 p.m.).
The Black Bear offense made just enough big plays Friday night \u2013 including a 67-yard touchdown pass from Chris Ferguson to Earnest Edwards and a clinching 45-yard run by Ramon Jefferson \u2013 to hold the lead. But it was the defense that shined brightest.
Maine held Weber State to minus-1 rushing yards, intercepted four passes and had 13 tackles for a loss.
Senior safety Jeff DeVaughn, a co-captain with Belcher, had two of the interceptions. \u201cI just didn\u2019t want to go home, it\u2019s as simple as that,\u201d said DeVaughn. \u201cThere\u2019s a ball in the air and I wanted the ball\u2026 I didn\u2019t want to let my teammates down.\u201d
It\u2019s that accountability that has carried the Black Bears all season.
This team rallied together even before the first practice of preseason, following the tragic death of freshman Darius Minor during a supervised workout in July. They found strength in each other, which has carried them through the toughest of times during the season.
\u201cThis goes to show you if you believe in something and are accountable to yourself and your teammates, you can accomplish anything,\u201d said Harasymiak, who watched the UMaine women\u2019s basketball game Saturday afternoon in Bangor, then went home to decorate his Christmas tree
\u201cIt\u2019s so powerful when you have a group of young men who come together and buy into the brand and into the culture you\u2019re trying to develop. When that happens, you play at another level.\u201d
Maine, ranked 12th in the nation, has been overlooked all season, seldom being picked as the favorite in a big game.
Yet the Black Bears are 7-0 against ranked opponents after beating No. 3 Weber State.
\u201cWe\u2019re underdogs each week,\u201d said Ferguson. \u201cAnd for us, we almost like to hear what people think. Then we just roll with it. It gives us more energy, more fuel. It makes us smile.
\u201cWe know who we are and who we\u2019ve got in that locker room. We believe in each other in that locker room.\u201d
They support each other. Even as the offense struggled at Weber State \u2013 just 3 of 15 on third-down plays \u2013 Ferguson and Belcher knew the defense would hold up its end.
\u201cWe know we have the best defense in the country,\u201d said Belcher, who led Maine with five catches. \u201cAnd we knew the game was going to be a slugfest like that. But we knew we had our defense to rely on. And they did what they do.\u201d
Kayon Whitaker, Sterling Sheffield, Taji Lowe and Deshawn Stevens led a dominant front seven that completely shut down the Wildcats.
The secondary also was superb, with cornerbacks Manny Patterson (interception) and Katley Joseph (four pass break-ups) holding their own against Weber State\u2019s speedy receivers.
And when the game got tight, the defense was at its best.
And Maine is moving on.
\u201cWe\u2019re where we expected to be at the start of the season,\u201d said Ferguson. \u201cThe guys believed that, no matter what everybody else said. We\u2019ve been underdogs, and we\u2019ve taken that identity and rolled with it. But we\u2019re not done yet. We\u2019re not satisfied.
\u201cWe want it all. That\u2019s all we want.\u201d
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