Buoyed by the NESCAC Offensive Player of the Week and three forced turnovers by its defensive unit, the Bowdoin Football Team won its second game of the season at Wesleyan on the road.
The 17-10 victory put the Polar Bears (2-4) in a position to finish .500 and gives the team momentum heading into two tough games against rivals Bates and Colby that will decide the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin (CBB) Championship.
Junior Oliver Kell was superb at quarterback for the Polar Bears, amassing 342 of the team's 392 yards of total offense and winning Offensive Player of the Week for the second time in his career.
Kell rushed 30 times on Saturday and ran for 113 yards, both school records. He also ran for a touchdown and threw the winning score to senior Ian Merry.
"Kell did a great job of leading the offense and making big plays when we needed them," said senior quad-captain Jack Dingess.
"He allowed us to stay in the game against Wesleyan," senior quad-captain Tim Kelleher said, "and then eventually picked the team up and scored the winning touchdown. It's great when you can look to a player to help pull out a victory in a close game like that."
The first half of the game was a defensive battle, and the defense was strong throughout the game to help secure the Bowdoin win.
"The defense played really well all game and kept us in it when our offense was struggling to finish drives in the first half," said senior quad-captain Gus Spaulding.
Bowdoin jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead after a 23-yard field goal by senior Nolan McNair. After keeping the Cardinals scoreless in the rest of the first quarter, linebacker Tyler Tennant '09 and defensive back Chris Martin '12 stopped a fake field goal attempt from the three-yard line early in the second quarter to preserve the Polar Bear lead.
With four minutes left in the first half, Wesleyan took the ball on its own 10-yard line and hoped to drive down the field to take the lead into the locker room at halftime. Instead, Bowdoin linebacker Damon Hall-Jones '09 intercepted a pass to swing the momentum toward the Polar Bears once again.
"Our defense played great as a unit all game," Dingess said, "but the performance of Hall-Jones was outstanding. His interception really turned the tide of the game."
After Wesleyan tied the game on a 22-yard field goal in the third quarter, Bowdoin exploded for two touchdowns in the fourth. Kell hit Merry for a 19-yard touchdown with 13 minutes left in the game, but the Cardinals tied the score again on the ensuing possession.
Never losing faith, Kell saved the day for the Polar Bears and ran in a 5-yard touchdown with under two minutes to play to put Bowdoin up for good.
"Kell had a very good performance," Head Coach Dave Caputi said, "and it was a great team win. We did some good things with the kicking game and defensively we played very well."
Defensively, sophomore Kevin Zikaris led the team with 11 tackles. Hall-Jones had nine stops and an interception, and Matt Leotti '10 and Tennant both had interceptions to stop Cardinal drives.
Tomorrow, the Polar Bears will take on rival Bates in their first leg of the CBB Championship. Bates beat Colby last weekend 31-21, in a turnover-filled game, to open the CBB. Bowdoin hopes to put itself in the driver's seat with a win Saturday.
"Bates has a very opportunistic defense and a 'wear-them-down type' offense," Kelleher said. "By making sure that our offense plays error-free football and our defense stays focused throughout the whole game, we will have the chance to beat Bates and set-up a showdown with Colby for the CBB Championship."
Bowdoin hopes to duplicate the success it had against Wesleyan on Saturday.
"We have to win the turnover battle and limit explosive plays," Caputi said. "They are a lot like us?a young, maturing team, and we have to do the things we did last week if we're going to win."
Make no mistake, the Polar Bears are gunning for the CBB title and a .500 finish for the season.
"The CBB means a lot, especially to the older guys on the team who have won it two years in a row," Spaulding said.
The Bears kick off against Bates at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Whittier Field.