Waterville, Maine – In the final game of the season, the Colby Mules played the Bowdoin Polar Bears under the lights at home for the first night game ever in the history of the matchup. In fact, this marked the first time Colby has ever hosted a night game in football. Behind a fourth quarter comeback, the Mules were able to come out with a 21-10 victory.
Colby concluded their season at home in a game that saw incredible energy from the students and fans. It was the final game for the fourteen graduating seniors who were honored before the game. The first quarter saw great defense from both teams, especially the Mules who were able to keep Bowdoin scoreless. Late in the first Bowdoin made it into Colby territory for the first time, but the Mules came up with a huge fourth down stop ending the first real threat made by either team. The game went into the second quarter 0-0.
Midway through the second quarter, the Polar Bears looked poised to score once again, but
Will Nipon was able to deliver another huge stop to keep the game scoreless. The crowd went crazy, and the Mules were amped up. Bowdoin was able to threaten the red zone yet again late in the half. The Colby defense held strong and forced the Polar Bears to settle for a field goal. With only a couple seconds left, Bowdoin was able to force a fumble on the ensuing kick return, recovering the ball in field goal position. The Polar Bears decided to run one more play with the ball carrier tackled in bounds and the clock running to zeros. The officials converged and decided the visitors signaled for a timeout before the clock ran down, and allowed for one more play with one second on the clock. Bowdoin missed the kick wide to the right, and Colby went into the locker room down 3-0.
The Polar Bears received the ball to open the second half and came out on fire. They drove all the way down the field and Andre Eden was able to punch in a two-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 10-0. The Mules responded with a 16-play 76-yard drive, scoring as the third quarter expired.
Donovan Ganges plunged in for the one-yard touchdown, making it 10-7.
The Colby defense came up big on the next drive, forcing a punt. Senior
Matt Hersch then went on to have one of the best drives of his career. He completed multiple clutch passes to both
Matt Panker and
Jack Sawyer and finished the 10-play 79-yard drive by running in a two-yard touchdown to take a 14-10 lead. Bowdoin got the ball back looking to respond, but Colby had no intention of giving it up. On the third play of the drive, Colby defensive back
Joshua East intercepted the ball, creating a little breathing room for the Mules and 1100 spectators.
Devin Marrocco picked up big yards to run the clock, and on third down in the Bowdoin red-zone, Hersch ended the game by running in a 19-yard touchdown to make it 21-10 with under a minute remaining.
Colby was able to win the CBB Championship for the third consecutive time, and end their season with an amazing win. They finish 4-5, the most wins since 2013, and look to go into next year with momentum.
