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Date: September 24, 2005
Contact: Bill Sodoma

 

Colby football opens season with win over Williams

WATERVILLE, Maine ---- Justin Smith (Rockland/Rockland, Mass.) threw for 207 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Colby College football team to a 35-9 season-opening victory over Williams College in New England Small College Athletic Conference play Saturday at Seaverns Field. Colby has won six straight games at Seaverns Field dating back to the final home game of the 2003 season.

After a scoreless opening quarter, Colby got two touchdown throws from Smith and a scoring run from Chris Bashaw (Wachussett Regional/Rutland, Mass.) to open up a 21-3 halftime lead.

Smith hit Michael Tomich (Kinkaid School/Houston, Texas) on a 20-yard pass play on a 79-yard drive that took nine plays for the Mules' opening score with 10:27 left. After a Williams fumble on the kickoff, Colby (1-0) went 25 yards on four plays and got in the end zone on Bashaw's 12-yard run with 8:56 left.

Colby defensive back Brian Liberty (Trinity/Hollis, N.H.) set up the next score when he intercepted a pass and returned the ball 32 yards to the Williams 20-yard line. Five plays later, Smith hit Rob Jacobs (University School of Milwaukee/Meguon, Wisc.) on a 5-yard pass play to give Colby a 21-0 lead with 5:59 remaining.

Williams (0-1) put together a 15-play, 62-yard drive to get three points on a 33-yard field goal by Brendan Fulmer (Leroy, N.Y.) with 1:09 remaining to intermission.

Colby put the game away with 14 points in the third quarter. The Mules went 80 yards in five plays and scored when Smith found Roddy Ames (New Hampton School/Cotuit, Mass.) on a 3-yard scoring pass with seven minutes left in the third quarter. Bashaw got his second touchdown of the game on a 5-yard pass play with 34 seconds left in the third quarter.Williams got its only touchdown with 9:05 left in the game on a 3-yard pass play from quarterback Pat Lucey (Plymouth, Mass.) to Fulmer.

Smith completed 17-of-23 passes in about three quarters of work. Ames caught five balls for 67 yards and Tomich had four catches for 87 yards. Williams starting quarterback Sean Gleeson (Glenridge, N.J.) completed 23-of-33 passes for 215 yards.

Colby's defense finished second in NCAA Division III last year in scoring defense at 8.3 points per game. Liberty, besides the key interception, had eight tackles and one fumble recovery. Mike Bracco (St. Thomas Aquinas/North Hampton, N.H.) and Andrew Heaney (Reading/Reading, Mass.) each led the way with 10 tackles.