Waterville, Maine - Legendary coach Bear Bryant once said "defense wins championships" in reference to the 80's Bears. Although the Mules weren't playing for a championship, and their defense is way better than that of the 80's Bears, today was a massive win for the Colby College Football team as their defense came up big in crucial moments. This afternoon, Colby hosted a strong Wesleyan side at Seaverns Field, knocking off the Cardinals 20-13. Their second consecutive NESCAC win takes them to 2-2 on the season, while formerly undefeated Wesleyan falls to 3-1. 

It was Wesleyan who struck first, their opening drive resulted in six points as the extra point went wide. But Colby responded promptly, converting a 75 yard drive as quarterback Thomas Keeling found Jack Sawyer for a nine yard touchdown. On the resulting kickoff, Locksley Burke punched the ball out forcing a fumble which was recovered by Sebastian Romain. The drive ended up with a field goal coming off the right up right as Chris Tzoumakas came inches from giving the Mules the lead. Both teams couldn't get the ball moving the remainder of the first and into the second until Tzoumakas made up for the earlier miss with a 42 yard field goal to give Colby a 10-6 lead going into the half.

Coming out of the break, both teams continued to dominate on defense until Wesleyan broke the drought, scoring on a 93 yard drive to go up 10-13 heading into the fourth. Early in the fourth quarter, Keeling found receiver Emmanuel Tshowa downfield, setting Tzoumakas up at the Wesleyan 19 to convert a 31 yard field goal to tie the game up. The final drive of the game had the ball in Wesleyan's hands. With two minutes left, The Cardinal drove down the field, eventually getting stopped on a short third down by Lincoln Merrill at the Colby 21. With three seconds on the clock, Wesleyan set up for a 37 yard field goal attempt to win the game, only to be blocked by Will Nipon, sending the game to overtime.

To start overtime, Colby started with the ball but made quick work of it as the first play of the drive, Keeling found Sawyer for a 25 yard touchdown and his second of the game. Wesleyan got the ball for their final drive of the game and set themselves up inside Colby's 10 yard line. A third down sack from Andrew Hart put the pressure on and it was too much as an incomplete pass on fourth down gave the Mules their second win of the season. 

Colby's defense was electric today, yet again keeping them in big games. Marc Dougherty led the game in sacks and tackles for loss as he posted 2 and 2.5 respectively for a total of 19 yards. On the offensive end of the ball, Keeling had another career game, completing 19 for 29 for 212 yards and two touchdowns. 

Next weekend, the Mules will travel down to Amherst, Mass. to take on the 2-2 Mammoths.