Courtsey of Brian Beard

Last Saturday, the football team (3–5) beat the Bates College Bobcats (2–6) by a score of 35–24 up the road in Lewiston. The Polar Bears added to their all-time rivalry record (65–50–7) with the win.

Head Coach B.J. Hammer was very satisfied with how his team executed against Bates’s unique style of play.

“We challenge our guys a lot to be in the right mindset, to be a bully, and they accomplished that on Saturday,” Hammer said. “Overall, I thought they played very physical, complementary team football in all three phases.”

The scoring started with a four-minute-long drive resulting in a 17-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Peter Macaulay ’28 to wide receiver Ty Connolly ’27. Kicker Jotham Casey ’25 successfully converted, giving the ball back to the Bobcats with a 7–0 lead in the first quarter. The Polar Bears’ defense proceeded to force a three-and-out of the Bates offense with help from defensive lineman Kanoa Young ’25, who had back-to-back tackles on the drive.

Starting their second drive on their 34-yard line, the Polar Bears put together a cohesive series of runs and passes, including a 21-yard pitch and catch from Macaulay to running back Luke Watson ’27 and a 35-yard pass to wide receiver Jed Hoggard ’25 for a touchdown.

Hoggard was excited to catch his fourth touchdown of the season.

“It was … a special play for me. I know the ball is supposed to come to me,” Hoggard said. “I ran my route and was wide open and got to walk into the endzone.”

Bates scored a touchdown and field goal on its following two possessions of the quarter, but the Polar Bears held a 14–10 lead going into the second quarter. The scoring picked up with three minutes left in the half with Macaulay’s third touchdown pass of the day, this time an 18-yard dot to Austin Hiscoe ’25. Casey made the extra point again, putting the team up 21–10 at halftime.

Less than two minutes into the third quarter, Macaulay found running back Brennan Pagan ’25, who ran down the field for a 50-yard touchdown, immediately followed by an extra point by Casey that put the College up by 18 points. After a quick touchdown-scoring drive by the Bobcats, the Polar Bears needed a final score to put the game away for good. Finishing a drive that started at the end of the third quarter, Macaulay threw his program-tying fifth touchdown pass of the game to wide receiver Jake Gaylord ’26.

“I just had a big catch in the play before, so I was kind of tired,” Gaylord said. “I knew I was a viable option to get the ball on the play. When I ran my route, I was wide open and caught the ball, turned around and was basically in the endzone. It was a super cool feeling—it was my first career touchdown.”

When thinking about his team’s defensive play, Hammer didn’t harp on giving up three 50-plus yard-long touchdown runs.

“Other than that, [Bates] couldn’t throw the ball, they couldn’t pitch the ball,” Hammer said.

The game against Bates sets the stage for the Bowdoin versus Colby College (3–5) game next weekend, which will determine the Colby, Bates, Bowdoin (CBB) champion. This rivalry game series dates back to the 1940s, while the Bates-Bowdoin football games started in the 1870s. The CBB title as it is known today was created for the 1965 season and has been played every year since. The College holds the win title with 20, followed by Colby with 17 and Bates with 13.

Hoggard loves playing in CBB games—he noted the heightened intensity in practices leading up to the Polar Bear’s face offs against the Bobcats and the Mules.

“It’s everything. Once you get to the last two weeks of the season and it’s Bates and Colby, the whole season starts over. You are 0–0 and just want to be 2–0,” Hoggard said. “For me as a senior, going out and beating Bates and then Colby would make my whole football career here perfect.”

With the crucial win over the Bobcats, the team is one win away from the CBB title, the first time the College could go back-to-back since they won three times in a row between 2006–2008. The Polar Bears will face the Mules at Whittier Field at 5 p.m. tomorrow.

“It’s my last game of my career—my goal is just to enjoy every moment,” Hoggard said. “Every ball that comes my way, every block I get, just do it to the fullest.”