The Bowdoin Football Team was unable to hold back the Williams College Ephs Sunday, as the Polar Bears fell 27-0 in Bowdoin's season opener in Williamstown.
Williams found the end zone in each quarter, beginning with a one-yard rush by Cory Catelli near the end of the first. They scored again in the second, when quarterback Sean Gleeson found wide receiver Brendan Fulmer in the end zone for a 24-yard completion. Fulmer then missed the extra point try, in his additional role as the team's place kicker.
In the third quarter, Williams scored another seven points, capping a 13-play, 78-yard drive with a seven-yard touchdown run. The final blow to Bowdoin's defense came in the fourth, when Catelli rushed seven yards for another score.
The Polar Bears came close to notching a touchdown in the fourth, when they held the ball inside the opposing team's 10-yard line. However, a pass on fourth-and-goal fell incomplete, giving Bowdoin a shutout to start off the 2006 season.
"The Williams game was very frustrating for us," said offensive lineman Greg Righter '07. "We didn't play up to our potential. It was just a bad game overall for the whole team. This week against Amherst, we look to come out, play a lot more physically, take it to Amherst and come out with the win."
Quarterback Tom Duffy '07 led the Bowdoin offense with a 10-for-27 effort that resulted in 89 yards through the air, with Doug Johnson '07 and Lamont White '08 eating up 52 and 39 yards, respectively. Jeff Smith '08 contributed 61 yards on the ground, but the team's 10 first downs paled in comparison to Williams' 25.
On the defensive side of the ball, co-captain John Regan '07 had the team's lone interception and had nine solo tackles. Damon Hall-Jones '09 led all players with 10 solo tackles and Dave Donahue '07 had a game-high 14 tackles.
The Ephs had two quarterbacks at the control, Gleeson (eight for 16 passing attempts, 126 yards, one touchdown) and Pat Lucey (14 for 21, one interception, 131 yards). Brian Morrissey led all rushers with 84 yards, while Catelli had 40 yards to go along with his two touchdowns. Williams defenders forced two fumbles.
Saturday, at 1 p.m., Bowdoin plays host to Amherst (1-0), who dropped Bates 31-6 last week behind the play of wide receiver Mark Hannon, the NESCAC Offensive Player of the Week. Hannon had three touchdowns in the first half, including a 64-yard punt return for a score.
Bowdoin defeated Amherst last season in week two, even though the Lord Jeffs out-produced the Bears in almost all offensive aspects of the game, amassing 399 total yards to Bowdoin's 139. But Donahue's 65-yard interception return for a score in the first gave the team a lead it would not yield.