WATERVILLE, Maine -- The Bates football team takes on Colby College for the 123rd time when the Bobcats visit Colby for a night contest Saturday at 7pm.
This game marks the beginning of the annual CBB series. Bates won four CBB titles in a row before the Mules prevailed the past three seasons. The Bobcats host Bowdoin on Saturday, Oct. 15 and Colby plays the Polar Bears on Nov. 12 to wrap up this year's edition of the classic three-way rivalry. Whoever emerges with the best record among the three teams against each other earns the CBB series trophy.
THE PARTICULARS:
What: Bates (0-2) vs. Colby (1-1)
When: Saturday, Oct. 1, 7 p.m.
Where: Seaverns Field at Harold Alfond Stadium (Waterville, Maine)
Live Coverage: Video | Stats
All-Time Series: Colby leads 69-47-6
Previous Meeting: Colby 10, Bates 2 (Oct. 30, 2021 in Lewiston, Maine)
COLBY LAST WEEK:
The Colby football team traveled to Hartford to take on the Trinity Bantams. After taking a scoreless game into the second half, Trinity was able to link a trio of scores together in the second half to pull away 19-7. Trinity remained undefeated at 2-0, while Colby fell to 1-1.
The first half saw the Mules hold possession for less than 10 minutes while the Bantams pressed into Colby territory on all four possessions. The Colby defense stiffened at the right times, forcing a first quarter field goal attempt wide and also holding Trinity on a second quarter goal line stand.
Colby got on the board first in the second half, taking the opening drive 75 yards all the way to the end zone. Quarterback Matt Hersch capped the drive with a one-yard touchdown run, putting the Mules up 7-0. The hosts responded by finding pay dirt on each of their next three drives, totaling 177 yards on three possessions. A failed extra point attempt, as well as a failed 2-point attempt, left the score 19-7 in favor of Trinity.
Colby held possession for only one drive in the fourth quarter, driving 74 yards to the Trinity one-yard line. The Bantams notched a goal line stand of their own, and never relinquished the ball for the rest of the contest. Running back Keon Smart was the top target out of the backfield for Colby, hauling in five of Hersch's eight completions for 45 yards. March Dougherty led the Mules on defense with nine total tackles, including seven solo.
BATES LAST WEEK:
The visiting Tufts University Jumbos put up 21 points in the second quarter on their way to a 35-7 victory over the Bates football team Saturday afternoon at Garcelon Field.
The Bobcats (0-2) struggled offensively, as Tufts (1-1) held Bates to 203 yards of total offense and just 76 passing yards. Tufts quarterback Michael Berluti was efficient, completing 18-21 passes for 237 yards and two touchdowns. He did throw one interception, when Bates junior cornerback
Johnny Walker (Brooklyn, N.Y.) ripped the ball out of the intended receiver's hands at midfield late in the first quarter.
In addition to his passing prowess, Berluti ran the ball six times for 35 yards and a touchdown. Tufts' Jackson Butler rushed just twice, but made the most of it, tallying a game-high 70 yards and a touchdown. Cade Moore caught six passes for a game-high 81 yards to pace the Tufts receivers.
The Bobcats didn't complete a pass until sophomore quarterback
Colton Bosselait (Westminster, Mass.) came off the bench and found senior
Mohamed Diawara (Philadelphia, Pa.) for a 20-yard gain early in the third quarter. Bosselait finished the contest completing 7-14 passes for 76 yards and an interception. He also scored a rushing touchdown late in the game for Bates.
Senior
Reza Badiee (La Jolla, Calif.) ran 10 times for 50 yards and senior
Jack Bryant (Falmouth, Maine) carried the ball eight times for a team-high 63 yards, including a 52-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Diawara caught a team-high three passes for 28 yards and senior
Christian Olivieri (Hull, Mass.) added two catches for a team-high 29 yards.
Defensively, senior captain
Tony Hooks (New Rochelle, N.Y.) led the way with a game-high 11 total tackles, including five solo stops. Cam O'Brien paced Tufts with 10 total tackles.
BATES AND COLBY'S LAST MEETING:
Hooks recorded a career-high 15 tackles and was responsible for the Bates football team's only points in a 10-2 loss to Colby on a rainy Saturday afternoon at Garcelon Field.
Hooks recorded career-highs with nine solo stops and 3.5 tackles for loss in the contest, adding in a pass break-up for good measure. He also tackled Colby running back Keon Smart in the end zone for a safety, cutting an early Colby lead to 3-2 with 10:04 remaining in the second quarter.
But Bates could not get anything going against the Mules on offense. Colby out-gained the Bobcats in total offense by a count of 317 to 271 yards.
Before leaving the game due to injury, senior quarterback
Brendan Costa (Westport, Mass.) broke his own single-season Bates record for total yards, tallying 154 yards of total offense to give him 1,777 on the year. In 2019, Costa recorded 1,739 yards of total offense, breaking a record previously held by
Trevor Smith '13.
The game did not start auspiciously for Bates, with the Bobcats fumbling the opening kickoff. But the Bates defense shut down the Colby offense. The Mules got the ball at the Bates 24-yard line after the fumble and on fourth and one from the 15, Hooks stuffed Smart for a loss of one.
Costa got the Bates offense going on the ensuing drive, finding senior
Derek Marino (Marblehead, Mass.) over the top for a 54-yard reception to the Colby 19. The Bobcats came up empty though, going for it on fourth and three from the Colby 12, only to have the pass fall incomplete.
Then Colby took more than seven minutes off the clock on a 13-play, 81-yard drive, culminating in a 24-yard Moises Celaya field goal, putting the Mules up 3-0 with 1:45 left in the first quarter.
It turned out to be the only points Colby needed, with the rain impacting both offenses throughout the afternoon.
BATES' PROBABLE STARTERS:
OFFENSE
LT 73 Peter Simplicio Jr. 6-5 280
LG 76 Quinn Woods Sr. 6-2 275
C 71 Nick Florio Sr. 6-0 265
RG 77 Cameron Winslow Sr. 6-4 306
RT 63 Cole De Magistris Jr. 6-4 270
TE 89 Steven Guerrette Jr. 6-3 225
WR 7 Mohamed Diawara Sr. 6-1 180
WR 81 Sean Bryant Sr. 6-3 200
WR 1 Jackson Hayes Sr. 5-9 165
QB 8 Colton Bosselait So. 6-0 200
RB 4 Reza Badiee Sr. 5-11 201
DEFENSE
DL 90 Matthew Juneau So. 6-1 220
DL 98 Kyle Hamilton Jr. 6-3 230
DL 93 Drew Kremhelmer So. 6-0 275
DL 52 Jack Ryan Sr. 6-2 255
LB 17 Thomas Formus Sr. 6-0 205
LB 5 Tony Hooks Sr. 6-1 225
LB 23 George Hawkins III Jr. 6-1 205
CB 21 Owen Straley Sr. 5-9 165
CB 2 Mohamed Coulibaly Sr. 6-0 180
S 24 Jarrin Sato Jr. 5-8 170
S 14 Jose Calleja Sr. 5-10 175
SPECIALIST
P/K 35
Archie Green Jr. Jr. 5-11 190
COLBY'S PROBABLE STARTERS:
OFFENSE
LT 65 Cooper Tamisiea So. 6-3 267
LG 64 Liam Daly Sr. 6-0 259
C 66 Ty Mahar Sr. 6-1 262
RG 71 Harrison Hill Jr. 6-1 294
RT 72 Bryce Leos So. 6-5 311
TE 44 Will Terzi Sr. 6-1 222
QB 3 Matt Hersch Sr. 6-1 189
RB 33 Keon Smart So. 5-8 179
WR 15 Jack Sawyer So. 6-2 212
WR 13 Isaac Anderson Jr. 6-0 182
WR 17 Duke Ferrara So. 6-2 180
K 8 Lowell Carr Sr. 6-3 179
DEFENSE
DE 90 Rome Banaitis Jr. 6-2 249
NT 92 Sam Hazzard So. 6-4 278
DE 48 Wellington Jr. 5-11 239
LB 36 Locksley Burke So. 5-9 203
LB 9 Marc Dougherty Sr. 6-0 221
LB 50 Julian Young So. 6-2 218
LB 7 Luke D'Aloia Sr. 5-11 211
CB 1 Javon Williams Sr. 6-0 192
CB 21 Joshua East So. 5-11 174
S 2 Will Nipon Sr. 6-0 181
S 20 Nick Donatio Jr. 5-11 185
P 8 Lowell Carr Sr. 6-3 179
