CASTINE, Maine — The Maine Maritime Academy football team fell 47-22 to Keystone College in its home opener Saturday at Ritchie Field.

Keystone (1-1) opened the scoring midway through the first quarter and extended its lead to 8-0 following a Maine Maritime (0-3) safety.

The Giants struck again in the opening minute of the second quarter, but the Mariners answered at the 11:32 mark when freshman Evan Arceneaux connected with freshman Eli Bennett for a 10-yard touchdown. Sophomore Aidan Sullivan added the extra point to make it 8-7.

Maine Maritime struck again late in the half, driving 80 yards on nine plays, capped by freshman Nyrel Norris's 7-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 16-14. Keystone responded just before halftime with a 27-yard touchdown pass with two seconds remaining to take a 23-14 lead into the break.

The Giants added a field goal on their opening drive of the third quarter and followed with a 43-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead to 33-14. Keystone added two more touchdowns — one late in the third and another early in the fourth — to go up 47-14.

Norris added his second touchdown of the day on a 13-yard run to close the gap to 47-22.
Sophomore Will Keach led the Mariners on the ground with 58 yards on five carries, while Norris added 43 yards on 16 attempts. Arceneaux and Norris combined for 11 completions and 98 passing yards, with Keach hauling in four receptions for 39 yards.

Defensively, sophomore Lucas Houghton paced the Mariners with 11 tackles, including eight solo stops and one interception. Freshman Theo Blanke added nine tackles and a sack, while freshmen Tucker Clark and Connor Cuba each recorded seven tackles.

Sophomore James Boyer-Russell added a tackle for loss, and sophomore Tristan Valentine picked off a pass and returned it eight yards.

Maine Maritime returns to action Saturday at 1 p.m., hosting Nichols College for homecoming and the start of Commonwealth Coast Conference play.