SOMERVILLE, Mass. -- Sophomore wide receiver Sergio Beltran turned in a huge performance for the visiting Bates football team, but the Tufts University Jumbos rushed for 329 yards and defeated the Bobcats 44-16 Saturday night in NESCAC action. 

Beltran (East Palo Alto, Calif.) caught seven passes for 127 yards and two touchdowns in the loss. Bates (0-2) kept the game close with Tufts (1-1) during the first half of action, but the Jumbos pulled away in the second half.

The Bobcats got the ball to start the game and moved it into Tufts territory to the 47. But a deep shot on third and eight came up empty, and Bates had to punt. Senior Archie Green Jr. (Upland, Mass.) did a good job, pinning the Jumbos at their own 12 with a 35-yard punt. The Jumbos moved the ball to their own 39, and on second and nine, quarterback Michael Berluti executed a read-option to perfection, taking the ball 61 yards down the far sideline for a touchdown. 

Bates got the ball back with 9:10 left in the opening quarter, and the Bobcats went on an extended drive. Starting at their own 25, Bates went 70 yards on 14 plays, taking 7:36 off the clock, the longest drive of the game for either team. Junior captain quarterback Colton Bosselait (Westminster, Mass.) had rushes for 10 and eight yards, and he hit his tight end senior captain Steven Guerrette (Bow, N.H.) twice on the drive. A big personal foul against the Jumbos got the ball to the Tufts 10. Bates worked it down to the five before the drive finally stalled and first-year Marcos Ruiz (Haskell N.J.) hit a 23-yard field goal, trimming the Tufts lead to 7-3 with 1:34 left in the first quarter.

Running back Chartellis Reece was the story of the game for the Jumbos, carrying the ball 20 times for 178 yards and two touchdowns. He opened the ensuing Tufts drive with his biggest run of the game, a 38-yard sprint to the Bates 35. Then he took it 14 yards to the 21 and four yards to the Bobcat 17 as the quarter came to a close.

On third and goal from the 10, Berluti found wide receiver Cade Moore with a perfectly thrown pass between two Bates defenders on the far sideline for a touchdown, making the score 14-3 in favor of Tufts after the extra point, with 12:11 left in the second quarter.

The Bobcats went three-and-out on their next possession and Tufts extended the lead to 17-3 thanks to a Vaughn Seelicke 26-yard field goal with 6:17 on the clock.

Bates refused to back down, pulling off a 10-play, 77-yard drive as time ticked down in the first half. Facing a third and 11 from the Tufts 46, Bosselait hit Beltran with a deep ball, a 40-yard pass to the Tufts six. On the very next play, Bosselait made a perfect back shoulder throw to Beltran at the near pylon on the far side of the field for the touchdown, trimming the Tufts lead to 17-10 after Ruiz made the extra point.

The Jumbos only had 41 seconds to work with on their next drive, but they made the most of them. Starting at their own 26, Tufts moved the ball thanks to Berluti completing passes of 22 yards to Henry Fleckner and 12 yards to Ryan Doyle. With the ball at the Bates 40, the Jumbos called timeout with 19 seconds remaining. Then Berluti connected with Doyle again for eight yards and with Moore for 17 yards to the Bates 15. The Jumbos ended up making a 32-yard field goal, taking a 20-10 lead over the Bobcats into halftime.

Tufts went on an 11-play, 63-yard drive to start the third quarter. But Bates forced the hosts to kick another field goal, staying within striking distance at 23-10 after Seelicke connected from 27 yards out with 10 minutes left in the third.

Unfortunately for the visitors, Bosselait's first interception of the season came on the ensuing drive, and Tufts capitalized on the short field, going 47 yards in four plays, capped off by a 10-yard touchdown run from Reece.

Now down 30-10, the Bates offense started clicking again. Facing second and 17 from their own 23, the Bobcats struck gold when Bosselait found Beltran for a 57-yard completion to the Tufts 20. On third and goal from the four, Bosselait found Beltran again for his second touchdown of the evening, cutting the deficit to 30-16 after the extra point got blocked.

But the Jumbos put the game away with an early fourth-quarter score. They put up 14 points in the final quarter of action and blanked the Bobcats down the stretch. Tufts did not punt nor did the Jumbos turn the ball over all game. Their only drive that did not end in points was the final one, as the hosts ran the clock out.

Tufts put up 469 yards of total offense and held Bates to 261 total yards. Berluti completed 12-19 passes for 140 yards and a touchdown. Bosselait finished 11-20 for 162 yards and two touchdowns. First-year Ryan Lynskey (Cranford, N.J.) paced Bates on the ground, running the ball 11 times for 35 yards. Moore caught five passes for 59 yards and a touchdown for Tufts.

First-year Jack Morrison (Manchester Center, Vt.) made a team-high seven total tackles for Bates, with five solo stops. EJ Comerford led the Jumbos with nine total tackles, including one for loss.

The Bobcats are back in action next Saturday when they open the CBB Series with "The Big Game" against Colby at Garcelon Field. Kick is set for 6pm.