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Date: November 12, 2005
Contact: Bill Sodoma

 

Colby football wins third straight CBB title

BRUNSWICK, Maine -- Colby College football head coach Ed Mesteiri will be able to keep the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin (CBB) trophy in his office for another year.

Colby won the coveted CBB title for the third straight year and for the fifth time in the last six years with a 28-3 victory over Bowdoin College on Saturday in a New England Small College Athletic Conference game. The Mules are 28-5-1 over Bates and Bowdoin in the last 17 years and have won or shared the CBB title in 13 of the last 17 years.

Colby, which has beaten Bowdoin seven straight times, also clinched sole possession of second place in the NESCAC with a final record of 7-1. Trinity College won its 30th straight game with a win over Wesleyan University on Saturday and earned the NESCAC title.

Colby’s defense was once again the difference for the third straight year over the Polar Bears (6-2). The Mules have not allowed a touchdown in the last 10 quarters against Bowdoin dating back to the 2003 season. The Polar Bears have scored nine points in the last three games against Colby.

Senior running back Aaron Stepka finished his career with 3,465 rushing yards after carrying the ball 29 times for 117 yards. For the second straight week, Colby had two running backs over 100 yards. Chris Bashaw also ran 15 times for 100 yards as the Mules rushed 51 times for 260 yards.

Bowdoin did take a 3-0 lead after one quarter on a 22-yard field goal by Nolan McNair. Colby’s defense set the tone, though, by stopping the Polar Bears from scoring a touchdown.

The Mules went ahead for good when Rob Jacobs caught a 2-yard touchdown pass from Justin Smith on a nine-play, 65-yard drive for a 7-3 lead at intermission.

Stepka scored on a 13-yard touchdown run with 9:41 left in the third quarter to give Colby a 14-3 lead. Stepka had 27 touchdowns in his Colby career, including five this season. He finished this year with 778 yards of rushing and led the NESCAC in total rushing yards and yards per game.

Colby sealed the game with two fourth quarter touchdowns. Smith hit Matt Peabody on an 11-yard scoring play with 13:20 remaining in the game. Backup quarterback John Bateman hooked up with fellow senior Roddy Ames for the fourth touchdown on a 16-yard pass play with 6:21 left.

The Mules showed their defensive pride by stopping Bowdoin late in the fourth quarter. The Polar Bears drove to the Colby 3-yard line, but senior defensive end Steve Kiely picked off Ricky Leclerc’s pass with 2:42 left to end a 19-play drive.

Mike Bracco had eight solo tackles among his nine stops and had two pass break-ups for Colby. Bracco, a senior, led the Mules this year in total tackles (67), solo stops (45) and interceptions (4). Josh Donabedian made seven tackles and Alan Chang finished with six stops. Josh Berman added an interception and five tackles, while Kiely also forced a fumble to go along with the interception.

Colby senior punter/kicker John Goss hit all four of his extra points, had two of his three punts go inside the 20-yard line and averaged 39 yards per kick. Meanwhile, Bashaw helped out on special teams by averaging 34 yards on his two kickoff returns.

Colby last went 7-1 in 2000 when the Mules finished in a three-way tie for the NESCAC title.