The Battle for the Brice–Cowell Musket is the rivalry between the

Maine Black Bears The Maine Black Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of Maine. A member of the America East Conference, the University of Maine sponsors teams in eight men's and nine women's NCAA sanctioned sports. The men's and women's ice ...

and the

New Hampshire Wildcats The New Hampshire Wildcats, or 'Cats, are the American intercollegiate athletic teams representing the University of New Hampshire (UNH), located in Durham. The wildcat is the school's official mascot, the colors are UNH Blue and white. The Uni ...

. Both schools are members of

CAA Football The Coastal Athletic Association Football Conference, formerly the Colonial Athletic Association Football Conference, branded as CAA Football, is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I whose full members are loca ...

, the legally separate football league operated by the multi-sports

Colonial Athletic Association The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I whose full members are located in East Coast states from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Most of its members are public universi ...

(CAA). Through the 2022 season, the two teams have met 113 times on the football field, with New Hampshire currently holding a 59–46–8 edge in the all-time series.

History

The winner of each year's game gets possession of an "antique fowling"

musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually d ...

, named after former head coaches of the two programs;

Fred Brice Fred Mansfield Brice (December 6, 1887 – January 10, 1967) was an American football, basketball, and baseball coach. Brice served as the head football coach at the University of Maine from 1921 to 1940, compiling a record of 79–58–9 and ...

who coached at Maine (1921–1940) and

Butch Cowell William Harold "Butch" Cowell (July 21, 1887 – August 28, 1940) was an American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He is best known for his tenure as head coach of the New Hampshire Wildcats football team from 1 ...

who coached at New Hampshire (1915–1936). The musket was "donated by

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

alumni of the two institutions", and was first awarded to the winner of the 1948 game (New Hampshire). It is a

flintlock Flintlock is a general term for any firearm that uses a flint-striking lock (firearm), ignition mechanism, the first of which appeared in Western Europe in the early 16th century. The term may also apply to a particular form of the mechanism its ...

with a barrel in .65 caliber, made by Ebenezer Nutting of

Falmouth, Maine Falmouth is a New England town, town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 12,444 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is part of the Portland, Maine, Portland–South Portland, Maine, South Portland&ndas ...

, in the 1722–1745 era. The teams have met annually since 1922 except for two seasons during World War II, and the 2020 season when New Hampshire ended their season after playing just one game due to impact from the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Notable games

The Maine and New Hampshire football programs first met in 1903, when two games were played, both won by Maine. The 1919 contest ended in controversy, with confusion over whether a New Hampshire

trick play A trick play, also known as a gadget play, gimmick play or trickeration, is a play in gridiron football that uses deception and unorthodox tactics to fool the opposing team. A trick play is often risky, offering the potential for a large gain or ...

in the final minute of the game was a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

or a

touchback In American football, a touchback is a ruling which is made and signaled by an official when the ball becomes dead on or behind a team's own goal line (i.e., in their end zone) and the opposing team gave the ball the momentum, or impetus, to trav ...

. Days later, a board of officials ruled the play a touchback, giving Maine a 7–3 win. In 1944, the teams met twice, with each team winning the game played on its home field. The 1944 Wildcats played a limited four-game schedule, with a roster consisting of 17-year-olds and returning veterans. The results of these two games are listed in Maine's media guide and

College Football Data Warehouse College Football Data Warehouse is an American college football statistics website that was established in 2000. The site compiled the yearly team records, game-by-game results, championships, and statistics of college football teams, conferences, ...

, but have been absent from New Hampshire's media guide. The 1993 game had the largest margin of victory, 50 points, as New Hampshire won, 63–13. News reports around the 2012 game referred to it as the 100th meeting between the two programs. If the aforementioned 1944 games are included the all-time series, as is reflected in the below table, the 2012 game was actually the 102nd meeting between the teams. The only season to feature two games between the teams—other than 1903 and 1944 as mentioned above—was 2013, with New Hampshire first winning the regular season contest, and then a rematch as part of the 2013 FCS playoff. The Maine–New Hampshire contest scheduled for November 21, 2020, was not played, as New Hampshire announced the postponement of fall sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic on July 17, 2020. On October 27, 2020, the CAA announced a tentative football schedule for spring 2021, with New Hampshire and Maine scheduled to play in Orono on April 17, 2021. However, on April 6, following the cancelation of three games due to COVID issues, New Hampshire opted out of the remainder of the season. Following the resumption of the rivalry in 2021, Maine defeated New Hampshire on November 20, 33–20.

Game results

Note: The score of the first game between the teams, held on September 26, 1903, is listed as 18–0 in the New Hampshire football media guide, and in contemporary news reports of 1903;

and the Maine football media guide list it as 10–0.

References

College football rivalries in the United States Maine Black Bears football New Hampshire Wildcats football 1903 establishments in Maine 1903 establishments in New Hampshire {{DEFAULTSORT:Battle for the Brice-Cowell Musket

History

Notable games

Game results

See also

References