There's nothing like going out on top. The Bowdoin Football Team did just that, winning its final three games of the season, including Saturday's 20-6 win over archrival Colby that clinched Bowdoin's third-straight Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Championship.
Junior quarterback Oliver Kell shined in the win, amassing 244 yards of total offense himself'23 yards more than the entire Colby team combined. Kell finished 17-27 for 152 passing yards with a touchdown and an interception. He also had 30 carries for 92 yards on the ground.
"Ending our careers with three-straight wins and three-straight CBB championships is great," said senior quad-captain Gus Spaulding. "It makes all the hard work we have put in over the last four years entirely worth it."
After Colby scored on its opening possession and missed the extra point to take a 6-0 lead, the Bowdoin defense took charge. A second quarter interception by Matt Leotti '10 put the Polar Bears on the Mules' 22-yard line and senior Nolan McNair halved the lead with a 34-yard field goal.
Later in the quarter, Bowdoin took the lead for good on a dominating nine play, 58-yard drive that resulted in a four-yard touchdown reception by senior Michael Welsh with just 25 seconds left in the half.
In the fourth quarter, Bowdoin sealed the win on an impressive 17-play, 80-yard drive. After leading the team to three third-down conversions and one fourth-down try, Kell capped the drive with a six-yard touchdown run to put the Polar Bears up 17-6. McNair added another field goal in the fourth quarter for the final score of the afternoon.
Senior linebacker Damon Hall-Jones won NESCAC Defensive Player of the Week honors for his sensational play in the Polar Bear win. Hall-Jones recorded nine tackles, seven of them solo, including three for a loss and one sack. He finished the season with 58 tackles on the year, good for second on the team, and led the league in tackles-for-loss with 15.
College football is known for its rivalries and although Bowdoin plays in Division III, ending the year with two wins over rivals Bates and Colby is enough for most to call the team's season a success. In addition, it is the team's first .500 or better finish since the 2005 season.
"All week we said that this was going to [be] the most important game of our careers," said quad-captain Jack Dingess '09. "To go out and beat a good Colby team, win the CBB, and finish .500 was the realization of all the work we put in over the last four years. It was great."
Many believe that the 4-4 record the team posted this season does not accurately reflect the team's in-season growth.
"The most important thing that happened was that our defense matured a lot in the last half of the year," Dingess said. "We had freshmen and sophomores playing in every position group, and as those guys gained experience we started playing up to our potential. In the beginning of the year, we knew our offense would be able to put up a lot of points, but it took our defense some time to catch up."
Kell's quarterback play was outstanding for most of the year, and his performances helped the team immensely.
"Obviously, Oliver Kell had a great season," said quad-captain Tim Kelleher '09. "Hopefully he can build upon this year's fundamentals and apply them to help the Polar Bears win next year."
"On offense, Oliver Kell became one of the best, if not the best, quarterbacks in the NESCAC," Dingess said. "On defense, three players stand out to me: Kevin Zikaris '10 had a great year, Damon Hall-Jones '09 lead the league in tackles-for-loss, and Ben Shulman '09 dominated every offensive linemen he played against, and was the key component in our defense all year," said Dingess. "He deserves all-league honors."
In all, the Polar Bears surprised a lot of people and surpassed expectations by finishing .500 this year.
"When we were 1-4 after Homecoming, a lot of people counted the season as a failure," said Dingess. "But the guys on the team stayed strong, never let the negative criticism affect them, and ended up winning out and finishing up with a CBB title and a .500 record. I think that showed strong character, and I'm proud to have been a part of it."