NORTH ANDOVER — The Merrimack College football team will travel to face the Maine Black Bears at Morse Field on Saturday evening.
The Warriors (0-2), who opened the season against a top-10 FCS team in Rhode Island and a FBS-rooted opponent in Delaware, are seeking their first victory of the season.
Merrimack head coach Mike Gennetti remains confident the Warriors will start to take shape despite the slow start against highly-talented opponents.
“We need to play with more consistency,” Gennetti said. “Our execution needs to improve. We’ve shown signs of progress on both sides of the ball, but not nearly enough to yield winning results.”
Merrimack will play three teams from the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) this season with Rhode Island and New Hampshire joining Maine in the conference. It marks the fourth time in history the Warriors will face the Black Bears. Maine holds a 3-0 edge in the series, including a 20-13 victory during the 2025 campaign.
The Black Bears (1-1) are coming off a 55-3 loss to Appalachian State University last week. Maine head coach Jordan Stevens, who enters his fifth season with the program, is known for his development at the quarterback position and has given the keys to redshirt sophomore quarterback Eddie Buehler, who will get his third career start against the Warriors.
Gennetti has been impressed by Stevens and company, who earned a Week 0 road win against Towson.
“I think their coaching staff does a great job schematically,” Gennetti said. “They put their players in positions to be successful. They’re a tough team, they play a physical style on offense and mix up coverages really well on defense and play really hard.
“Complementary football is something we need to establish periodically throughout a game, and we’ve yet to do that,” Gennetti added.
Kickoff from Morse Field is set for 5 p.m., and you can watch it live via Flo College.