ORONO — It’s really very simple for the University of Maine football team. Win all its remaining games and have a shot at the FCS playoffs. Lose one and those hopes are gone.

The Black Bears took the first step Saturday. Leading by 19 points heading into the final quarter, Maine held on to defeat William & Mary 34-25 before 8,123 at Alfond Stadium to snap a three-game losing skid.

The victory was Maine’s first in the Colonial Athletic Association, improving the Black Bears to 3-5 overall, 1-3 in the CAA with four games left. William & Mary dropped to 2-6, 0-4.

“This was kind of a big one for us, to get this whole thing rolling,” said Maine Coach Nick Charlton. “We were treating it like a championship week because, you know, we’re still in it with our goals. And we’re taking it one game at a time and next week we have another championship game.”

The Black Bears had to hold on.

After a 38-yard field goal by Kenny Doak on the final play of the third quarter gave Maine a 31-12 lead, things got interesting. William & Mary freshman quarterback Hollis Mathis scored on a 16-yard run with 10:25 remaining and, following a successful onside kick, got his third touchdown of the game on a 7-yard run with 6:59 remaining. Suddenly it was 31-25.

But Ori Jean-Charles of Maine recovered the pooch kick and the Black Bears got a 24-yard field goal by Doak with one minute remaining.

“There’s a lot of things we’ve got to address,” said Charlton, “but it’s easier to address things after a win.”

Freshman quarterback Joe Fagnano completed 15 of 22 passes for 249 yards and two touchdowns – 67 yards to Earnest Edwards and 64 yards to Jaquan Blair –and added 42 rushing yards. Blair caught four passes for 115 yards and Edwards caught four for 92. Edwards also threw a 19-yard pass to Blair for Maine’s first touchdown.

“I can always count on those guys,” said Fagnano. “They’re playmakers and it’s my job to get them the ball.”

The game turned on a series of four plays in the second quarter. The Tribe had taken a 12-6 lead on a 3-yard run by Bronson Yoder with 9:57 left.

Two plays and 35 seconds later, Maine had the lead. On second-and-5, Fagnano found Edwards on the left at the Tribe 40. He made the first defender miss was off to complete the 67-yard play.

On the first play after the kickoff, Maine defensive end Kayon Whitaker ripped the ball out of Mathis’ hands and recovered the fumble at the Tribe 41. “Each week we emphasize creating turnovers,” said Whitaker, who led Maine with nine tackles. “That’s the identity of the Black Hole.”

That led to a 1-yard run by Joe Fitzpatrick (57 rushing yards) to make it 21-12.

“I don’t know what happened,” Mathis said of the fumble. “But no matter how they ball got out, it can’t happen.”

The Black Bears are looking forward to what’s ahead of them. “It makes the game fun,” said Blair. “It makes you feel alive again. It’s like dominos, you knock one down, they’ll all fall.”