The Bates football team travels to Brunswick Saturday for their annual rivalry game with Bowdoin, as the Bobcats look to get back on the winning track against the Polar Bears.

Bates (2-5 NESCAC) has won 10 of their past 13 games against Bowdoin (1-6 NESCAC) but the Polar Bears have won two in a row against the Bobcats. The Polar Bears have struggled on offense this season, averaging just 10.7 points per game, which ranks last in the NESCAC. Meanwhile, the Bobcats have scored 19 points per game, good for seventh in the conference. Bates is ranked eighth in scoring defense, allowing 26.9 points per game while Bowdoin is ninth at 28.9 points per game. The Polar Bears are giving up more than 400 yards of total offense per game.

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THE PARTICULARS:

What: Bates (2-5) @ Bowdoin (1-6)

When: Saturday, Nov. 1, 1 p.m.

Where: Whittier Field (Brunswick, Maine)

Live Coverage: Video | Stats

All-Time Series: Bowdoin leads 69-50-7

Previous Meeting: Bowdoin 35, Bates 24 (Nov. 2, 2024 in Lewiston, Maine)

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BOWDOIN LAST WEEK:

Trinity posted a 45-3 win over Bowdoin on Saturday in a NESCAC contest at Whittier Field. The victory moved the Bantams to 6-1 on the year while the Polar Bears fell to 1-6.
 
A competitive first quarter saw the Bantams march 51 on six plays to take a 7-0 lead, but Bowdoin answered with a ten-play, 65-yard drive that ended in a 27-yard field goal by Caden Perry that cut the lead to 7-3.

The game turned on the first play of the second quarter as Bowdoin punted from deep in its own territory. Shane Mosia blocked a Perry punt and Bryce Ferrell scooped it up, returning it five yards to the end zone for a 14-3 Trinity lead.

The Bantams added two more touchdowns before halftime to build their lead to 28-3, and scored on the very first play from scrimmage in the second half to push their advantage to 35-3 en route to the win.

Trinity totaled 441 yards of offense, went 7-13 on third down and held the ball for 35:34 of the game.

Bowdoin could only muster 162 yards of total offense and went 0-13 on third down for the day.

Soren Hummel completed 17-36 passes for 137 yards passing while Ty Connolly gained 51 yards on 11 carries rushing. Jude Baker caught five passes for 54 yards.

Noah DiRenzo led Bowdoin with seven tackles while Charlie Saurack and Abe Herzog both had 1.5 tackles for loss.

BATES LAST WEEK:

The Bates football team kept things close Saturday until the fourth quarter as the host Middlebury College Panthers scored the final 10 points of the game to pull away for a 34-16 win over the Bobcats in NESCAC action. 

Turnovers hurt Bates (2-5) down the stretch, with two interceptions and a muffed punt in the fourth quarter sealing their fate. 

Trailing 24-10, the Bobcats inched closer late in the third quarter, going on a nine-play, 75-yard drive to pull to within one score. The drive started with a big 41-yard completion from senior quarterback Jack Perry (Newbury, Mass.) to sophomore Jeff Vidou (Cornish, N.H.) as the Bobcats quickly moved the ball into Middlebury territory. On third and 10 from the Middlebury 34, Vidou caught another pass, this one for nine yards down to the 25. On fourth down, first-year running back Michael Seward (New Haven, Conn.) picked up the yard he needed to move the chains, extending the drive. 

Perry rushed for eight yards on the next play and a personal foul on Middlebury moved the ball down to the Panther eight. On third and goal from the six, Perry found senior Matthew Holmes (Carpinteria, Calif.) in the middle of the end zone for the latter's second touchdown of the season, trimming the deficit to 24-16 with 2:08 left in the third quarter.

The Bates defense forced a punt on the ensuing Middlebury drive, giving the Bobcats a chance to drive down the field early in the fourth quarter and potentially tie the game. But on first and 10 from the Bates 35, Middlebury's James Woodward intercepted a Perry deep ball at the Panther 37. 

Bates stood tall on defense again, forcing another punt. But this time, the ball hit the Bobcat return man and the Panthers grabbed it, getting possession back deep in Bates territory at the 12-yard line. Once again, the defense did their part, holding Middlebury to a field goal as the Panthers went up by 11 at 27-16 with 6:21 remaining in regulation.

Unfortunately, another interception, this one by Middlebury's Charlie Grant, gave the ball right back to the home team. And this time, the Panthers turned it into a touchdown. Connor McClellan ran the ball in from six yards out to cap off an eight-play, 47-yard drive, icing the game.

BATES AND BOWDOIN'S LAST MEETING:

Running back Ryan Lynskey broke the NESCAC record for rushing yards in one game, but the Bates football team could never wrestle the lead away from Bowdoin in a 35-24 loss last year at Garcelon Field. 

Lynskey (Cranford, N.J.) tallied 344 yards on the ground, breaking the single-game conference record previously held by Trinity College's Thomas Pierandri, who rushed for 304 yards against Wesleyan in 2003. The previous Bates record was held by Sean Atkins '03, who ran for 302 yards against Bowdoin in 2002.

Despite Lynskey's big game, the Bobcats never led in the contest, as Bowdoin quarterback Peter Macaulay completed 16-23 passes for 272 yards and five touchdowns. 

Bowdoin struck first, taking advantage of a short Bates punt to go 45 yards in seven plays, capped off by a Macaulay pass to Ty Connolly for 17 yards and a touchdown, putting the Polar Bears up 7-0 after the extra point with 8:57 left in the first quarter.

A second straight Bates three-and-out to start the game led to another Bowdoin touchdown drive. This time they went 66 yards on five plays, with Macaulay finding Jed Hoggard for a 35-yard TD strike with 4:26 left in the first quarter.

Now down 14-0, the Bobcats answered in a big way. On the second play from scrimmage on their next drive, Lynskey burst through the line and raced away from everyone, taking the ball 72 yards to the house. Marcos Ruiz (Haskell, N.J.) made the extra point and the Bobcats were within a score with 3:46 remaining in the opening 15 minutes of action.

The Bates defense forced a three-and-out of their own and the Bobcats took over at their own 48 after a 31-yard punt. Lynskey took the handoff on the first play from scrimmage and raced 46 yards to the Bowdoin six. Sam Schwartz made a touchdown saving tackle, and the Bowdoin defense stiffened from there, forcing the Bobcats to try a field goal. Ruiz knocked it through the uprights from 24 yards out and the Bobcats trailed 14-10 with 52 seconds to go in the opening quarter.

Bowdoin moved the ball to the Bates 28 on their next possession, but they went for in on fourth down and linebacker Ryan Rozich (Cromwell, Conn.) stuffed Robbie Long on a rush attempt for a loss of two yards, and Bates took over.

Unfortunately for the Bobcats, their next drive ended after just three plays when Schwartz picked off a Bates pass at the Bowdoin 38-yard line.

The Polar Bears failed on a fourth-down attempt for the second drive in a row, but this time it came on a QB sneak attempt at the goal line after they went 61 yards on six plays. Shane Broughton (Arlington, Mass.) and a pack of Bobcats stopped Long's push at the line of scrimmage. 

But the Bates offense went three-and-out, without gaining any yards, forcing the Bobcats to put from their own one-yard line. 

Not surprisingly, the Polar Bears got the ball back with terrific field position at the Bates 30. On third and 10 from the Bates 18, Macaulay found Austin Hiscoe for an 18-yard touchdown, putting the Polar Bears up 21-10 after the extra point with 3:08 remaining until halftime.

Bowdoin led by 11 at halftime and the Polar Bears maintained a double-digit lead for the remainder of the contest.