LEWISTON, Maine -- The Bates football team welcomes Amherst to town this Saturday for a 1pm kick as the Bobcats look to get their first win of the 2023 season.

It's "Back to Bates: Parents Weekend" and a chance for Bates to beat the Mammoths for a second consecutive season. Amherst ranks last in the NESCAC in scoring offense at eight points per game while Bates is sixth at 19 points per game. Meanwhile, Amherst is allowing 28 points per game on defense and the Bobcats are surrendering 32 points per game.

Offensively, sophomore wide receiver Sergio Beltran (East Palo Alto, Calif.) ranks third in the NESCAC in receptions with 20 on the season, good for 235 yards and two touchdowns.

On defense, first-year safety Michael Spencer (Mansfield, Texas) leads the Bobcats and ranks 13th in the NESCAC with 6.7 tackles per game.

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THE PARTICULARS:

What: Bates (0-3) vs. Amherst (1-2)

When: Saturday, Oct. 7, 1:00 p.m.

Where: Garcelon Field (Lewiston, Maine)

Live Coverage: Video | Stats

All-Time Series: Amherst leads 28-5-2

Previous Meeting: Bates 27, Amherst 23 (Oct. 8, 2022 in Amherst, Mass.)

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AMHERST LAST WEEK:

Trinity College raced out to a 14-0 in the opening seven minutes Saturday and did not look back, topping the Amherst College football team 49-0 at Jesse Miller Field.

Trinity scored 2:04 into the contest, constructing a 5-play, 75-yard drive that was capped when Tyler Dinapoli found paydirt from 51 yards out. 

Amherst's first play resulted in a 17-yard pass from John Collier to Carter Jung, but the Bantam defense stiffened and forced a Mammoths punt four plays later. After a Trinity punt pinned the Mammoths at their own 7-yard line, Collier found Cato Legaspi for a nine-yard pass play, but on the following play a fumble was recovered by the Bantams at the Mammoths' 16-yard line. 

It took Trinity two plays to score, as Colin McCabe's 3-yard rush gave the Bantams a 14-0 lead 7:05 into the first quarter. 

After a third Amherst punt, Trinity took over at its own 21 and drove 79 yards in 7 plays to take a 21-0 lead with 2:20 left in the opening stanza. Spencer Fetter tossed a 20-yard TD pass to Nicholas Zalankas to cap the drive. 

Amherst had five turnovers in the defeat. Trinity did not have a turnover. Trinity finished with 457 total yards of offense. The Mammoths finished with 145. Trinity had 20 first downs to the Mammoths 10. 

Collier finished 15 of 29 for 95 yards and 2 interceptions. Owen Gaydos had 5 receptions for 45 yards. Anthony Kelly led the Mammoths with eight tackles, three solo. Luke Harmon, Trey Doyle and Damian Carrano had six each.

BATES LAST WEEK:

The Bates football team rallied from 17 points down, but fell just short in a 30-24 loss to rival Colby College Saturday night in NESCAC action.

Bates was driving for the win at the end of regulation, only to have a pass picked off in the end zone by the Mules, which clinched the win for the visitors. 

Sophomore Matthew Holmes (Carpinteria, Calif.) finished with six catches for a team-high 110 yards and a touchdown for Bates. Senior captain Steven Guerrette (Bow, N.H.) had a career day as well, catching nine passes for 102 yards and two touchdowns. Sophomore Sergio Beltran (East Palo Alto, Calif.) added a game-high 10 catches for 67 yards. 

Junior captain Colton Bosselait (Westminster, Mass.)  completed 28-49 passes for 312 yards and three touchdowns. He was also picked off two times. Colby's Thomas Keeling completed 12-19 passes for 165 yards and a touchdown.

Mule running back Keon Smart was borderline unstoppable for the visitors, rushing 15 times for 137 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught six passes for 118 yards and a touchdown. 

Defensively, first-year Michael Spencer (Mansfield, Texas) and junior captain Matt Juneau (Wakefield, Mass.) led the way for Bates with eight total tackles each. Spencer had a team-high five solo stops, broke up a pass, and recorded a tackle for loss. Juneau finished with a pair of tackles for loss and a QB hurry. First-year Trenton Boltz (Johnstown, Pa.) recorded a sack and the duo of junior Finn Duffey (Scituate, Mass.) and senior Kyle Hamilton (White River Junction, Vt.) combined on a sack. Senior Jarrin Sato (Honolulu, Hawaii) broke up a pair of passes.

BATES AND AMHERST'S LAST MEETING:

Senior Mohamed Diawara caught a 28-yard touchdown pass with 13 seconds remaining and the Bates football team rallied from nine points down to defeat the Amherst College Mammoths 27-23 in NESCAC action. 

It was the first win of new Bates head coach Matt Coyne's career at the helm of the program, and the first time Bates has beaten Amherst in football since 1999. 

With Bates down 23-20 and only 1:04 remaining on the clock, the Bobcats started their game-winning drive on their own 28. Facing a third and seven, quarterback Colton Bosselait (Westminster, Mass.) found senior wide receiver Christian Olivieri (Hull, Mass.) for a 19-yard gain to midfield. On a 3rd and 10, Bosselait connected with Olivieri again, this time for 11 yards to the Amherst 39. The Bosselait-Olivieri connection continued to click on the next play, as the speedy receiver got 12 more yards to the Amherst 27.

Bates spiked the ball and on the next play Bosselait found Diawara (Philadelphia, Pa.) wide open down the seam for the game-winning touchdown. 

Bosselait completed 23-40 passes for 239 yards and three touchdowns. Olivieri had a big day with a game-high nine catches for 96 yards and a touchdown. Diawara caught five passes for 64 yards and two touchdowns. 

BATES' PROBABLE STARTERS:

OFFENSE
OL 73 Peter Simplicio Sr. 6-5 280
OL 60 Tyler Castriotta Sr. 6-0 285
OL 66 John Antolik Fy. 6-1 280
OL 72 Kevin McDonald Fy. 6-3 255
OL 75 Matthew Schreiber Sr. 6-3 295
WR 84 Drew Sachs Jr. 6-0 190
WR 6 Sergio Beltran So. 5-11 180
WR 80 Maverick Selementi So. 6-0 185
TE 89 Steven Guerrette Sr. 6-3 232
RB 4 Ryan Lynskey Fy. 5-11 190
QB 8 Colton Bosselait Jr. 6-0 210

DEFENSE
DL 90 Matt Juneau Jr. 6-1 227
DL 93 Drew Kremhelmer Jr. 6-0 275
DL 99 Finn Duffey Jr. 5-10 250
DL 98 Kyle Hamilton Sr. 6-3 245
LB 44 Jackson Collins So. 5-11 225
LB 39 Ryan Rozich Fy. 5-11 205
LB 2 Matthew-Michael Assivero Fy. 5-11 195
DB 12 Presley Green So. 5-9 175
DB 0 Jarrin Sato Sr. 5-8 170
DB 23 Jack Morrison Fy. 5-10 195
DB 5 Michael Spencer Fy. 5-10 162

SPECIALISTS
P 97 Parker Huynh-Benningfield So. 5-10 185
K 49 Marcos Ruiz Fy. 5-8 200

AMHERST'S PROBABLE STARTERS:

OFFENSE
OL 77 Frankie Kelley Sr. 6-4 285
OL 54 Nate Frankel Jr. 6-4 280
OL 72 Miles Roberts Fy. 6-3 281
OL 60 Zach Walker So. 6-2 270
OL 61 Jake Yoffee Sr. 6-1 260
TE 85 Tom Nash So. 6-5 245
WR 80 Owen Gaydos Jr. 5-11 175
WR 83 Sam Gerber So. 5-10 175
WR 5 Carter Jung So. 6-1 199
TB 14 Tariq Muhammad Sr. 5-10 195
QB 7 John Collier Fy. 6-3 205

DEFENSE
DL 55 Kemit Fisher So. 6-2 275
DL 9 Anthony Leneghan Jr. 6-3 255
DL 99 Phillip Slaughter Jr. 6-1 270
LB 26 Luke Harmon So. 6-1 190
LB 31 Trey Doyle Jr. 6-0 205
LB 43 Damian Carrano So. 6-0 210
LB 38 Adam Tolk Sr. 5-11 220
DB 2 Solomon Christopher Jr. 5-10 177
DB 20 Miles Harmon So. 6-1 175
DB 4 Ryan Monteleone Jr. 6-0 195
DB 27 Matt Monteleone So. 6-0 195

SPECIALISTS
P 92 Michael Mitchell Jr. 6-0 170
K 93 Matthew Kelley Fy. 5-10 180