ORONO — This was a game the University of Maine football team badly needed to win. Saturday afternoon’s 37-30 victory over North Carolina A&T wasn’t perfect, but winless teams don’t need perfection. The Black Bears finally were able to get their offense untracked after it sputtered through four games to start the season.

Maine twice held a 21-point lead Saturday, including to start the fourth quarter, but victory wasn’t assured until Aggies quarterback Kevin White’s pass to the end zone was incomplete as time expired.

“At the end, not as pretty as we’d like, but that comes with playing in this league. You’ve got to close out games, and we found a way to do that. Not the way we wanted, but it’s a win,” Maine coach Jordan Stevens said.

Maine (1-4) led 37-16 going into the fourth quarter before the Aggies (1-4) made it close. Antoine Bell caught a 26-yard touchdown pass from White with 12:09 left. Then, Elijah Kennedy returned a punt 85 yards for a touchdown with 1:43 to play.

Both teams are now 1-1 in Coastal Athletic Association games.

Black Bears quarterback Carter Peevy entered the game having completed just over 50% of his passes on the season, but he was sharp on this day. Peevy connected on his first 12 passes, capped by an 81-yard touchdown to Cape Elizabeth’s Nick Laughlin that give Maine a 30-9 lead with 1:49 left in the first half.

Peevy finished 20 of 27 for 298 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Maine gained 478 yards. Throughout the game, the Black Bears focused on passes and routes that allowed Peevy to get rid of the ball quickly, particularly quick outs to the sidelines.

“I wouldn’t say I felt any differently (than previous games). This game is not easy. Only so many people do it,” Peevy said. “We really executed well today. Nothing really different. We just kept sticking with it. No matter what the results were the past weeks, we practiced the same every single day.”

Peevy’s 205 yards passing in the first half was more than Maine’s total in any complete game this season. The Black Bears’ previous high was 139 yards in last week’s 45-17 loss at Georgia Southern.

“Getting the first win, it’s a confidence win. It’s a big deal. I think it’s going to give us a lot of momentum going into next week (a conference game at Bryant),” Peevy said.

Laughlin caught three passes for 100 yards and had nine carries for 36 yards. Sincere Baines led Maine’s ground game with 98 yards on 15 carries, including a 51-yard touchdown that gave the Black Bears a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter.

“Good to get Nick going. We think very highly of him and his ability as just a very tough football player in the pass game and run game,” Stevens said. “We’ve limited him on special teams just because he’s coming back from injury. He’s someone we want to continue to find ways to get the ball to.”

Linebacker Christian Thomas led Maine’s defense with 11 tackles, including a sack.

“We’ve got to do a better job executing, but overall we did a great job coming out fast and physical and setting the tone. We’ve got to clean up some little things,” Thomas said.

After North Carolina A&T closed to within 37-30, Laughlin recovered the Aggies’ onside kick, but Maine went three and out and was forced to punt, giving the visitors a final chance to tie or win. The Aggies advanced to the Maine 25 and had two cracks at the end zone in the final 11 seconds. On the next-to-last play, White’s pass to Amonte Jones in the right corner of the end zone was knocked down by Maine’s Malcolm Folk.

On the final play, White’s pass sailed high over the head of Jones in the left corner of the end zone, setting off Maine’s victory celebration.