UNH Defeats Maine, 33-27, to Retain Brice-Cowell Musket

Saturday, November 22

Durham, N.H.

1 PM

University of New Hampshire

8-4 , 6-2

Maine

6-6 , 5-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Maine

New Hampshire

Photo by: Alex Miller

11/22/2025 7:25:00 PM | Football

Box Score

DURHAM, N.H. – Sophomore quarterback Matt Vezza (Elmhurst, Ill.) passed for a touchdown and ran for another, and sophomore Nick Reed (Harrison, N.Y.) made four field goals, including a school-record 55-yarder, to lead the 25^th-ranked University of New Hampshire football team to a 33-27 victory against the University of Maine at Wildcat Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Wildcats retain the Brice-Cowell Musket, which goes to the winner of the annual Buffalo Wild Wings Border Battle, with the Senior Day victory.

Reed kicked a school-record and career-long field goal of 55 yards to close out the scoring for UNH in the second quarter.He converted on all his other field goal attempts from 29 yards, 21 yards and 33 yards and also made his only PAT kick attempt.

Redshirt freshman safety Cohen Cook (Somers Point N.J.) led the 'Cats with eight total tackles, intercepted his first career pass and tied a career high of 1.5 tackles for loss.

Junior Josh Fillion (Quebec City, Quebec) matched a personal high of four catches to lead the team in that stat and finished with 48 receiving yards. Senior wide receiver Chase Wilson (Lake Charles, La.) had three catches for a 58 yards and a TD. Caleb Burke (Johnstown, Pa.) had a team-high 63 receiving yards on his one catch.

Thomason rushed the ball 22 times for a team-high 74 yards, including the 1-yard touchdown in the second quarter.

UNH extended its winning streak to five games to improve to 8-4 overall and 6-2 in CAA Football, while Maine ends the season at 6-6, 5-3.

UP NEXT 

The Wildcats await the announcement of the NCAA FCS selection show Nov. 23 (12pm) on ESPNU that will reveal the playoff bracket.

 
FIRST QUARTER 

Vezza completed a pass to Caleb Burke (Johnstown, Pa.) for 63 yards on the second play of the game to set up Reed's 29-yard field goal that ended the 6-play drive at 11:44 to make it 3-0 UNH.

SECOND QUARTER

Vezza's completion down the left sideline to Chase Wilson (Lake Charles, La.) for 33 yards to put the Wildcats at the Maine 1-yard line. Myles Thomason (Montclair, N.J.) ended the drive with a rush up the middle for 1 yard to get in the end zone for a touchdown at 13:20. Reed's PAT extended the Wildcats' lead to 10-0.
Thomason's punt return of 64 yards set up 1^st-and-goal at the Black Bears 10. The 5-play drive was capped by Reed's 21-yard field goal at 9:49 push the score to 13-0.
Maine quarterback Carter Peevy's 2-yard TD run up the middle at 7:40 put the visitors on the scoreboard 13-7.
Vezza connected with Wilson in the back-right corner of the end zone at 4:19 and the Wildcats executed a successful 2-point conversion with Vezza's pass to the right flat for Josh Fillion (Quebec City, Quebec) to give the Wildcats a 21-7 lead.
UNH Justice Akinmoladun (Grandview, Mo.) recorded a sack on 3^rd-and-6 to turn the ball over at the Maine 45 at 2:45.
Reed ended the ensuing Wildcats' drive with a school-long 55-yard field goal to extend their advantage to 24-7.
On Maine's next play, Cohen Cook (Somers Point, N.J.) intercepted a pass at the UNH 38 and returned it to the Maine 44 at 1:35.
Reed kicked a 33-yard field goal – his fourth of the half – on the last play of the second quarter and UNH ended the first half ahead 27-7.

THIRD QUARTER 

Maine started the quarter with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Peevy to Trevin Ewing down the middle at 12:32 to trim the deficit to 27-14.
Sean Webb (San Diego, Calif.) intercepted a pass at the UNH 36-yard line and had a 12-yard return to set up 1^st-and-10 at the UNH 48 with 1:06 on the clock.

FOURTH QUARTER

Rashawn Marshall ran up the middle for a 9-yard TD at 9:39 on the clock for a Maine touchdown and the PAT by Tremblay was good to lift the Black Bears within 27-21.
On a 13-play, 73-yard drive that took 7:42 off the clock, Vezza carried the ball up the middle 10 yards for a touchdown at 1:56. The 2-point PAT was unsuccessful to keep the score 33-21.
Peevy rushed up the middle for a 62-yard score with 39 seconds to go. The PAT was blocked by Cameron Garner-Young (Laurel, Md.) for a 33-27 score.
Wilson recovered the onsides kick attempt to seal the victory.

UNH NOTEBOOK 

New Hampshire has won each of the last four matchups vs. Maine, 13 of the last 15 and 20 of 23 dating back to 2003. The Wildcats have also won 11 of the last 12 games in Durham.
Reed's school-record 55-yard field goal broke the previous benchmark of 54 yards by Tom Manning set Oct. 24, 2009 versus Hofstra University.
Thomason's 64-yard punt return was the longest punt or kickoff return by a Wildcat this season.
He finished 73 rushing yards, caught two passes for 28 yards and had a pair of punt returns for 70 yards for a total of 171 all-purpose yards.
Akinmoladun recorded his team-leading seventh sack of the season
Burke's 63-yard catch tied UNH's third longest pass play of the season.
The New Hampshire offense scored 33 points, which is the second-most allowed by Maine this year.
This was the first game of the season UNH's defense intercepted two passes.
The defense recorded six tackles for loss, including two by Darren Burton II (Newark, N.J.), the aforementioned 1.5 by Cook and another 1.5 by Akinmoladun.
UNH honored 26 players in a pre-game Senior Day ceremony.