By Jake Brown
GoRhody.com Staff

How it Happened
Kasim Hill's three total touchdowns helped ignite No. 23/22 Rhode Island to a 26-22 win over Maine as the Rams snapped their 14-game losing streak against the Black Bears. Rhody last defeated Maine in 2006.
 
Maine (2-7, 2-4 CAA Football) struck first with a 29-yard field goal from kicker Cody Williams in the first quarter. The visitors followed that up with a 15-play, 91-yard drive that resulted in a 2-yard rushing touchdown by Elijah Barnwell giving Maine an early 10-0 lead. 
 
After a slow start, Rhode Island (6-3, 4-2 CAA Football) answered with a 63-yard receiving touchdown from wide receiver Ed Lee.  After a 46-yard field goal from Cody Williams closed out the second quarter, the Rams headed into the locker room trailing 13-7.
 
Rhode Island opened up the third quarter with a 66-yard drive that resulted in a 7-yard rushing touchdown by Hill. Running back Gabe Sloat set up the score with a 20-yard reception on third-and-10 that got URI into the red zone and allowed Hill to score on the following play. 
 
After a 42-yard drive that resulted in an 18-yard touchdown for Maine's Rohan Jones, the Rams responded with a quick drive, highlighted by a 47-yard catch for Ed Lee. This allowed Kasim Hill to get his second touchdown on the day with a 9-yard run, with Rhody taking a 20-19 lead heading into the fourth quarter. 
 
The final quarter of play saw some scoring early with a 39-yard field goal from Williams for Maine. Rhode Island responded on the next drive, as running back Marques DeShields capped off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown. A crucial third-down stop late in the fourth quarter from defensive back Antonio Carter forced Maine to punt, allowing the Rams to run the clock down and get into victory formation.

Inside the Box Score

• Saturday's matchup was the 100th between Rhode Island and Maine all-time, with Rhode Island snapping a 14-game losing streak with the win.
• With the victory, Rhode Island secured its third consecutive winning season and fourth in the last five years.
• Rhody had 244 yards of passing offense, compared to Maine's 126. 
• Wide receiver Ed Lee led all players with eight catches for 190 yards.
• It was Lee's third 100-yard game of the season, and the most receiving yards by a Rhode Island player since Aaron Parker had 227 receiving yards against Delaware in 2019.
• The running game proved to be essential for Rhode Island. Running back Marques DeShields ran 23 times for 110 yards and a touchdown.
• It was DeShields' fifth straight game with 100+ rushing yards, and his sixth 100-yard game of the season. 
• With his touchdown, DeShields has scored 72 points this season, which is tied for the fifth most in a single season in program history. The only non-kicker with more in a season was Dameon Reilly, who had URI record 102 points in 1985 and 84 points in 1984.
• Quarterback Kasim Hill passed for 244 yards and one touchdown while adding 41 rushing yards and two scores on the ground.
• With his rushing scores, Hill joined former Rhody signal caller Derek Cassidy as the only players in program history to rank in URI's top 10 in both career touchdown passes (third with 35) and career touchdown runs (10th with 14).  
• Linebacker Jake Fire had another outstanding game on the defensive side of the ball, finishing with 13 total tackles. He also added a quarterback hurry up.
• Fellow linebacker Evan Stewart added 12 stops and three quarterback hurries.
• Defensive lineman Matt Thomas had seven tackles and one pass break up.
• Cornerback Jordan Jones broke up a pass for the 26th time in his career, which tied Virgil Gray's program record.
• Defensive tackle James Makszin had four stops and the game's only sack.
• The anchor bearer for URI was safety A.J. Rogers, and the game captain was left tackle Lorenzo Thompson.
• Attendance was 4,377.