Turnovers hurt football team in loss

LEWISTON, Maine --- Turnovers and a slow start to the game for the Colby College football team was all Bates College needed in posting a 31-21 victory over the Mules in New England Small College Athletic Conference play Saturday at Garcelon Field.

The Mules fall to 3-3 and will play at Tufts University next Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Bates is 1-5 and now takes charge of the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin (CBB) series for this year. The Bobcats, a winner over Colby for the first time since 2002, can win the CBB title with a victory at Bowdoin College next Saturday.

Colby, which had just nine turnovers in five games this season, committed 10 against the Bobcats. The Mules had seven turnovers in a row to start the game.

The Mules’ defense performed admirably in the first half despite falling behind 28-0 at one point. One Bobcat touchdown came on a fumble recovery and two touchdowns came from Bates drive starts of 9 and 22 yards because of other Colby turnovers.

Bates first-year quarterback Ryan Katon completed 13 of 23 passes for 139 yards and three touchdowns, one each to Sean Wirth, Evan Tierney and Matt Gregg. Colby, though, held Bates to 185 yards of total offense and 10 first downs despite the Bobcats' big advantage in time of possession, 36:20 to 23:40.

Bates scored first when Rich McNeil batted a Colby pass into the arms of fellow defensive lineman Mark Liu, giving the Bobcats the ball at the Colby 9-yard line. Katon found Wirth in the corner of the end zone for a 2-yard touchdown connection.

Bates got the ball back as Ted Durkin recovered a fumble at the Bates 30 at the end of the first quarter, and Katon found Evan Tierney for a 35-yard touchdown strike.

Cam Evans then picked off a pass at the Colby 22 to set up a third Bates score, a 20-yard connection from Katon to Matt Gregg.

With the Bobcats ahead 21-0, free safety Kyle McAllister recovered a fumble and sprinted 41 yards into the end zone for a 28-0 lead.

Colby got on the scoreboard on the final play of the first half, a 1-yard plunge by Dan Prunier. The score came two plays after Carroll found Connor Walsh for a 38-yard reception that took the Mules to the Bates 2-yard line with under 15 seconds left.

The Mules cut the lead to 28-21 in the third quarter. They completed an 8-play, 44-yard drive capped by an 11-yard Carroll toss to first-year wide receiver Kenneth Prior for his first collegiate touchdown.

Katon was sacked by Sam Handler and fumbled on Bates' next play from scrimmage, and Alex Tisch fell on the ball at the Bates 10. Prunier ran the ball into the end zone on the next play, cutting the lead to 28-21 with 6:30 left in the third.

Colby had four opportunities to tie the game, but twice had to punt and lost two fumbles. The second fumble set up a 12-play, 36-yard drive for a 27-yard field goal by Gavin Segall-Abrams for the final points of the game with 3:41 to go.

Lamont Henry led the Colby defense with 10 tackles (eight solo), while Alex Halls had nine stops and two pass break-ups. John Murphy and Gardiner Parker both had six tackles and Sam Handler had a sack among his five stops. Richard Newton intercepted a pass for the Mules and Casey Sullivan recovered a fumble.

Prunier had 25 rushes for 104 yards and the two touchdowns. Walsh caught three balls for 50 yards.

Bates 31, Colby 21

Colby...............  0  7 14  0  - 21      

Bates College.......  7 21  0  3  - 31      

Scoring Summary:

  1st 05:52 BAT - S. Wirth 2 yd pass from R. Katon (Segall-Abrams kick), 3-9 1:11, COL 0 - BAT 7

  2nd 14:17 BAT - E. Tierney 35 yd pass from R. Katon (Segall-Abrams kick), 9-70 4:48, COL 0 - BAT 14

      09:34 BAT - M. Gregg 20 yd pass from R. Katon (Segall-Abrams kick), 2-22 0:40, COL 0 - BAT 21

      08:19 BAT - K. McAllister 41 yd fumble recovery (Segall-Abrams kick), , COL 0 - BAT 28

      00:00 COL - Dan Prunier 1 yd run (Victor Gagne kick), 6-49 1:05, COL 7 - BAT 28

  3rd 06:57 COL - Kenneth Prior 11 yd pass from Stephen Carroll (Victor Gagne kick), 8-44 2:49, COL 14 - BAT 28

      06:30 COL - Dan Prunier 10 yd run (Victor Gagne kick), 1-10 0:06, COL 21 - BAT 28

  4th 03:41 BAT - Segall-Abrams 27 yd field goal, 12-36 6:55, COL 21 - BAT 31

                                      COL      BAT

  FIRST DOWNS...................        8       10

  RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............   34-125    46-46

  PASSING YDS (NET).............      104      139

  Passes Att-Comp-Int...........   32-9-4  25-13-1

  TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   66-229   71-185

  Fumble Returns-Yards..........      0-0     1-41

  Punt Returns-Yards............     4-21     3-22

  Kickoff Returns-Yards.........     5-66     3-46

  Interception Returns-Yards....      1-9     4-14

  Punts (Number-Avg)............   5-31.0   7-30.3

  Fumbles-Lost..................      7-6      2-2

  Penalties-Yards...............     5-27     3-16

  Possession Time...............    23:40    36:20

  Third-Down Conversions........  2 of 17  4 of 18

  Fourth-Down Conversions.......   2 of 3   2 of 4

  Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      3-3      3-5

  Sacks By: Number-Yards........     2-13      1-2

  RUSHING: Colby-Dan Prunier 25-104; Stephen Carroll 1-10; Michael Cuqua 4-9;

  Patrick Burns 2-8; Connor Walsh 2-minus 6. Bates College-J. Smith 13-42; G.

  Thornton 24-36; D. Taylor 1-0; T. Beaton 1-minus 1; M. Gregg 1-minus 1; R. Katon

  6-minus 30.

  PASSING: Colby-Stephen Carroll 8-25-1-91; Patrick Burns 1-7-3-13. Bates

  College-R. Katon 13-23-1-139; T. Beaton 0-2-0-0.

  RECEIVING: Colby-Connor Walsh 3-50; Matt Hellinger 3-18; Andrew Carey 2-25;

  Kenneth Prior 1-11. Bates College-J. Smith 3-21; T. Beaton 3-9; S. Wirth 2-19;

  E. Tierney 1-35; M. Sherburne 1-20; M. Gregg 1-20; G. Thornton 1-12; M. Flaherty

  1-3.

  INTERCEPTIONS: Colby-Richard Newton 1-9. Bates College-C. Peeke 1-12; K.

  McAllister 1-2; C. Evans 1-0; M. Liu 1-0.