Waterville, Maine – The Colby Mules traveled to Lewiston on Saturday, October 30 to play the Bates Bobcats. They were able to pull out a 10-2 win to move to 3-4 as Bates falls to 1-6.
Colby came into this game in great position to pick up a big bounce back win after last week's loss to Trinity. Colby kicked off to start the game, but immediately recovered a fumble on the return forced by
Alex Nuahn and recovered by
Locksley Burke to get some great starting field position. They pushed the ball into the redzone but came up empty, getting turned over on downs. The defense returned the favor, though, stopping Bates on fourth down in the Colby redzone to keep the game scoreless and giving the Mules the football.
Matt Hersch led an 81-yard drive all the way down the field with help from
Devin Marrocco and
Jack Sawyer, getting the ball inside the Bate's 10 yard line.
Moises Celaya capped off the drive with a 24-yard field goal, giving Colby a 3-0 lead.
Bate's opened the second quarter with a long drive from inside their own 10 yard line, getting deep into the Colby red zone. They chose to go for it on fourth down from the Colby three.
Rome Banaitis came up big for the Mules and was able to keep Bate's out of the endzone. Bate's responded, though, picking up a safety on the first play of Colby's drive, making the score 3-2. Colby quickly got the ball back and Hersch was able to drive down the field and connect with
Brendan Sawyer for a 33-yard touchdown, extending the lead to 10-2.
The second half saw a lot of defense, as neither team was able to get any more points on the board. Bates knocked on the door a couple times but came up short. They were able to force a fumble in Colby territory with less than a minute left, giving them an opportunity to tie the game. The Mules got the red zone stop, though, securing the win. The Colby defense looked elite, as they were able to complete the shutout, doing so for the first time this season.
Nick Donatio stood out, picking up a total of seven tackles.
Matt Panker had a great day on offense as well, hauling in seven receptions for 65 yards.
This was an awesome road win for Colby as the defense played their best game of the season. They travel to Medford, Mass next week to play Tufts on Saturday, November 6th at 1:00 pm.
