Waterville, Maine - Despite the last three contests between the Mules and Mammoths being decided by an average of less than four points (all Colby wins), this latest edition in the series shattered all preconceived notions of what to expect Saturday afternoon on Mayflower Hill. Amherst was no match for the Mules as Colby took a 24-0 lead into halftime and cruised to a 38-7 victory.
The opening quarter looked more like a stalemate as the only points collected were a trio for Colby off the foot of
Christos Tzoumakas midway through the frame. Three trips to the end zone in the second quarter on consecutive drives (
Declan McNamara 1-yard run,
Atticus Duncan 2-yard reception from
Miles Drake,
Brendan Sawyer 46-yard pass from Drake) left Colby fans ecstatic and the visitors looking for answers into the third. The three scoring drives combined for 24 plays covering a collective 190 yards.
A Drake to
Duke Ferrara scoring strike early in the third quarter paced the lead to 31-0, which is where the score would remain until Amherst finally struck pay dirt early in the fourth quarter. Up until that lone scoring drive for Amherst, the Mules out-gained the Mammoths 314 yards to a mere 47, and Colby's defense had only allowed three first downs. In the end, the Mules not only led in key statistical categories, but did so in a big way. Colby collected 21 first downs in the contest compared to nine for Amherst. The Mules held possession for almost 36 minutes of the available 60, and outgained the Mammoths 372 to 131. Colby did not allow Amherst to convert a single 3rd down attempt all game.
A familiar name to this column,
Julian Young led Colby defensively with 10 total tackles including a key sack on a 3rd down attempt in the fourth quarter.
Sebastien Romain continued his strong season from the linebacker position with 1.5 sacks and
Jack Mullen, the NESCAC leader in sacks, added another to his total giving him 7.5 after six games. Offensively Drake kept the chains moving for the Mules. The quarterback connected on almost 70% of his 28 pass attempts, covering a season-high 236 yards and completing touchdown strikes to four different receivers.
Keon Smart led the team in all-purpose yards with 68 on the ground and another 31 through the air. The talented senior running back ranks second in the conference with 114.8 all-purpose yards per game.
Colby is set to embark on its longest road trip of the season next weekend when they head to Clinton, N.Y. to take on the Continentals of Hamilton College.
