LEWISTON, Maine -- The Bates football team welcomes rival Colby to Garcelon Field on Saturday for the annual Big Game under the lights at 7 p.m. as part of Back to Bates weekend.
The Bobcats (1-2 NESCAC) and Mules (1-2 NESCAC) are both trying to snap two-game skids after both teams won their season-openers over Amherst and Trinity respectively. Colby has had the better of their CBB rival Bobcats in recent years, winning the last six contests. Prior to that, Bates had won four in a row against the Mules. Eight of the last ten games between the two teams have been decided by one score.
Bates will look to run the ball more effectively this week, as Colby has the worst rush defense in the NESCAC, allowing 194.7 rushing yards per game. The Bobcats are averaging 99.7 rushing yards per game, seventh in the conference.
Defensively, Bates junior captain
Ryan Rozich (Cromwell, Conn.) has had a strong start to the season, averaging 11 tackles per game which is tied for first in the NESCAC through three contests.
THE PARTICULARS:
What: Bates (1-2) vs. Colby (1-2)
When: Sat., Oct. 4, 7 p.m.
Where: Garcelon Field (Lewiston, Maine)
Live Coverage: Video | Stats
All-Time Series: Colby leads 72-48-7
Previous Meeting: Colby 28, Bates 26 (Oct. 5, 2024 in Waterville, Maine)
COLBY'S LAST TIME OUT:
The Mules couldn't hold on to a 10-0 halftime lead in a 27-17 loss to Middlebury last Saturday in Waterville.
Colby led 17-14 after a Miles Drake two-yard touchdown with 8:24 remaining in regulation. But Middlebury's Connor McClellan ripped off a 66-yard touchdown run with seven minutes remaining to put the Panthers ahead for good. A late pick-six with less than a minute remaining put the icing on the cake for the visitors.
Jack Nye caught eight passes for 85 yards to pace the Mules while Ryan Singhal carried the ball 11 times for 75 yards. Drake completed 16-22 passes for 180 yards to go along with his rushing touchdown. But he threw two interceptions and got sacked three times.
Trevor Smith and Jack Mullen paced Colby on defense with six tackles apiece.
The Panthers gained 324 yards of total offense while the Mules finished with 305 yards of total offense.
BATES' LAST TIME OUT:
Matt Fitzsimons passed for 254 yards and a touchdown as the defending NESCAC champion Wesleyan University Cardinals pulled away in the fourth quarter to defeat the Bates football team 23-7 Saturday afternoon at Garcelon Field.
The Bobcats (1-2 NESCAC) hung with the Cardinals (2-1 NESCAC) for most of the game despite the early loss of senior captain
Sergio Beltran (East Palo Alto, Calif.) due to injury.
Wesleyan struck first, going on a 16-play, 76-yard drive that started late in the first quarter and stretched well into the second, totaling more than 10 minutes. Tyler Flynn punched it in on third-and-goal from four yards out and Gage Hammond made the extra point, putting the Cardinals up 7-0 with 7:05 left in the second.
But the Bobcats answered with an impressive drive of their own, going 75 yards in 10 plays. A roughing the passer call got the ball into Wesleyan territory and a 27-yard strike from senior quarterback
Jack Perry (Newbury, Mass.) to junior captain
Ryan Lynskey (Cranford, N.J.) got the ball to the Cardinal 17. On third and 13 from the Wesleyan 20, the Bobcats got a big pass interference penalty whistled against the visitors, moving the ball down to the five. Lynskey muscled his way into the end zone on the next play and junior
Marcos Ruiz (Haskell, N.J.) made the extra point, tying the game at seven with 1:49 remaining until halftime.
Unfortunately for Bates, Wesleyan wide receiver Blake Newcomb took over on the ensuing drive. He caught passes of 12, 35, and 12 yards, with the 35-yard catch a leaping grab over two Bates defenders. Then he drew a pass interference penalty to get the ball to the Bates five. Matt Diaz ran it in from there to put the Cardinals up for good at 13-7.
Wesleyan sacked Bates quarterbacks five times and held the Bobcats to just 6-13 on third downs. Meanwhile, the Cardinals converted 10 of 14 third-down chances and only allowed their QB to get sacked once.
The Cardinals gained 351 yards of total offense to 225 for Bates. The Bobcats managed just 32 net rushing yards.
Perry completed 11-22 passes for 188 yards and an interception. Lynskey ran the ball 17 times for 51 yards and a touchdown. Senior
Matthew Holmes (Carpinteria, Calif.) caught four passes for 68 yards and sophomore
Quinn Carver (Boston) added three catches for 54 yards.
Four Wesleyan players combined for 97 net rushing yards as both teams were stout against the run. Fitzsimons completed 20-31 passes, with Newcomb catching eight balls for a game-high 116 yards. Donte Kelly added five catches for 84 yards and a touchdown.
Chris DeMartino had a monster day on defense for the visitors, tallying a team-high six total tackles, with 4.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.
Junior captain
Ryan Rozich (Cromwell, Conn.) led all players with 11 tackles, including four solo stops. He also broke up a pass. Junior
Ryan Kimmel (Jeannette, Pa.) recorded a sack for Bates.
BATES AND COLBY'S LAST MEETING:
The Bates football team took the lead in the second half only to see the host Colby College Mules score twice in the fourth quarter to defeat the Bobcats 28-26 last year in Waterville.
The Mules were able to stop a late Bates two-point conversion attempt that likely would have forced overtime.
With the score tied at 14 and 11:21 left in the third quarter,
Sergio Beltran (East Palo Alto, Calif.) ran it in from nine yards out for his first career rushing touchdown. But an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the play on the Bobcats moved the PAT try back 15 yards. The attempt was no good and Bates led 20-14.
The Bates defense forced a punt on the next possession, and the Bates offense was able to get the ball to midfield. The drive stalled there, but punter
Parker Huynh-Benningfield (Austin, Texas) pinned the Mules at their own one yard line with 4:51 left in the third quarter.
Then Colby went on the drive that changed the game, going 99 yards in 12 plays for a touchdown. Facing a 3rd and 14 at the Bates 41 early in the fourth quarter, Colby quarterback Miles Drake found Jack Nye for a 41-yard touchdown, tying the game at 20. Christos Tzoumakas made the extra point, and the Mules grabbed a one-point lead with 14:53 left in regulation.
The teams traded punts, as the game remained a one-point affair until the Mules struck again. Starting their drive at their own 25, the Mules simply handed the ball off to running back Keon Smart, who did the rest, sprinting 46 yards to the Bates 29. Then he ran 24 yards to the Bates five, and punched it in on the next play, extending the Colby lead to 28-20 after the extra point with 8:22 remaining in regulation.
The Bobcats were able to move the ball well on their next possession, as quarterback
Colton Bosselait (Westminster, Mass.) found his fellow senior captain
Steven Guerrette (Bow, N.H.) for a couple of nice gains. An 18-yard pass to Guerrette got the ball to the Colby 14, and the Bobcats went back to the run game. They slowly moved closer to the end zone, and on second and goal from the one, running back
Ryan Lynskey (Cranford, N.J.) punched it in to get Bates to within two.
But the two-point conversion failed, as Bosselait rolled to his right looking to throw. He fired a pass that got tipped and fell incomplete, preserving Colby's 28-26 lead with just 1:54 left in regulation.
The Mules recovered a Bates on-side kick attempt. The Bobcats still had two timeouts and used both of them after the defense was able to contain Smart on the first two plays of the Colby drive. But once again, a deep ball did in the Bobcats, as Drake connected with Nye for a 34-yard gain. With no timeouts left, the Bobcats could only watch as Drake took three knees to run out the clock.
