LEWISTON, Maine -- Senior quarterback Brendan Costa threw a pair of touchdown passes and ran for a game-high 88 yards and a touchdown in the Bates football team's 38-21 loss to the undefeated Williams College Ephs Saturday afternoon at Garcelon Field.

Costa (Westport, Mass.) completed 19 of 38 passes for a game-high 231 yards in the contest. The Bobcats (1-5) fell behind 17-0 before cutting the deficit to 10 with 7:30 remaining in the third quarter on a 40-yard strike from Costa to senior Liam Kelly (Milton, Mass.) for the latter's first collegiate touchdown catch. 

The Ephs (6-0) showed why they are one of the top teams in the conference, answering on the ensuing drive. Mario Fischetti returned the kickoff 47 yards to the Bates 45. Then on third and one from the Bates 36, Joel Nicholas took the handoff and ran between the tackles 36 yards for the touchdown, putting the Ephs up by 17 again after the extra point.

Nicholas was the offensive star for Williams, accounting for three touchdowns. He ran the ball 10 times for a team-high 66 yards and two scores. He also caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Bobby Maimaron. Maimaron completed 10 of 15 passes for 184 yards and a touchdown.

Bates went three-and-out after Nicholas' touchdown run and the Williams offense went back to work after an 11-yard punt set the Ephs up with great field position at the Bates 38. Dan Vaughn ran the ball 15 yards to the Bates 23 and Fischetti rushed for 11 yards to the Bates 12. That's when Maimaron connected with Nicholas on a swing pass to the left. Nicholas beat the defense to the far sideline and scampered inside the pylon for the touchdown, making the score 31-7 in favor of the Ephs with 2:57 left in the third quarter after the extra point. 

The Ephs added another score early in the fourth quarter on a Vaughn four-yard touchdown run. 

Down 38-7, the Bates offense came alive after the Vaughn touchdown thanks in part to Costa's legs. On second and 10 from the Bates 34, Costa scrambled 16 yards to midfield. Then on fourth and six from the Williams 46, he found senior Christian Olivieri (Hull, Mass.) for 10 yards and a first down. On third and eight from the Williams 34, Costa delivered his longest rush of the afternoon, racing 28 yards to the Williams 6. One play later, Costa ran the ball in from four yards out for his fourth rushing touchdown of the season. 

Still up 38-14, the Ephs were content to simply run the ball with Fischetti on their next drive. But on third and seven from midfield, junior linebacker Tony Hooks (New Rochelle, N.Y.) sacked backup QB Jackson Bischoping, forcing a punt.

Taking over at their own 15, the Bobcats matriculated the ball down the field, highlighted by a pair of connections between Costa and his younger brother junior Chis Costa (Westport, N.Y.) for gains of 25 and 10 yards respectively. Costa ran the ball to the Williams 16 and hooked up with sophomore tight end Alexander Suny (North Reading, Mass.) for a 16-yard touchdown on a throw to the back right corner of the end zone. It marked Suny's third career catch and his first career touchdown. 

Suny's touchdown came with less than a minute to go in regulation so the Ephs were able to run out the clock, securing the 38-21 win over Bates.

The Williams defense turned in an impressive performance, particularly in the first half when they shutout the Bobcats. Bates got the back to start the game and marched down the field, going 68 yards on 16 plays and taking 6:25 off the clock. But a 30-yard field goal attempt got blocked by Ian Devine, resulting in an empty trip to the red zone for Bates.

The Ephs went for the jugular on their first play from scrimmage and it worked, with Maimaron finding Cameron Lee for a 55-yard completion to the Bates 25. The Bates defense settled down after that, forcing a 21-yard field goal from Ivan Shuran.

Down 3-0, the Bobcats went three-and-out on their next drive. Williams got the ball back with 2:50 left in the first quarter and marched 71 yards on nine plays, going up 10-0 on a Nicholas three-yard rush with 13:45 left in the second quarter.

Bates' next drive went poorly, with Costa catching a break after a lost fumble was nullified by a Williams personal foul penalty. But then Costa had the ball slip out of his hands and go straight up in the air on a pass attempt. Calvin Jackson caught it out of the air for the Ephs at the Bates 44 for the interception. 

Maimaron made the Bobcats pay for the turnover, connecting with Mike DeGasperis for 16 yards to the Bates 31 and later running the ball in from 17 yards out on a broken play, putting the Ephs up 17-0 with 9:27 left in the half.

Both defenses played really well the rest of the half, making the score 17-0 in favor of Williams at the break.

The Ephs got the ball to start the second half and junior Mohamed Coulibaly (Philadelphia, Pa.) picked off a Maimaron pass on the second play from scrimmage. The Bobcats couldn't take advantage of the opportunity, with Costa getting sacked by Coleston Smith and Calvin Jackson on a fourth and six from the Williams 34.

The Bobcat defense forced a three-and-out and the Bates offense went back to work, driving the ball from their own 20 to the Williams 40 before Costa went over the top of the Williams defense to Kelly for the touchdown. 

But that's as close as Bates got down the stretch.

Smith led all tacklers with 11 stops for the Ephs, including six solo tackles. He notched three tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks, plus two QB hurries. Senior Jack Ryan (Cornwall on Hudson, N.Y.) had an excellent game for Bates, tallying a team-high 10 tackles, with four solo stops. He also picked up 1.5 sacks. Hooks sacked the quarterback twice and finished with nine total tackles. Senior captain Mike Bulman (Hanover, Mass.) had a half sack, nine total tackles and a game-high seven solo stops.

DeGasperis led all receivers with four catches for 61 yards. Kelly paced Bates with three catches for 58 yards. 

Williams finished with 384 yards of total offense while Bates tallied 340 yards on the day. The Ephs scored four of their five touchdowns on the ground, finishing with 189 rushing yards to Bates' 109 yards, most of which came from Costa.

The Bobcats are back in action next Saturday when they open the CBB series with rival Colby at 1pm at Garcelon Field.