Well, Bowdoin College sports fans have a big reason to celebrate this week. The Boston Red Sox beat the dreaded New York Yankees in a decisive Game 7, rallying from a three game deficit to advance to the World Series. However, this victory does very little to alleviate the sting felt by the Bowdoin football team after a devastating loss in yet another double overtime game to Hamilton College.
After defeating a very good Tufts Jumbos team, Bowdoin went into Saturday's contest with confidence, but without their starting quarterback. But, now is not the time to make excuses, as the Red Sox proved this week. This team has the talent to win games, but something continues to hold them back.
Mike Ferrante '05 took over for the injured quarterback Rich Leclerc '06 and enabled the offense to score 48 points. On most days, that would be good enough to get a win. Early on in the game, several electrifying plays enabled them to take the lead. Dave Donahue '07 returned a Hamilton punt 65 yards for a touchdown for a 10-3 advantage. Ferrante was able to find Jeff Nolin '06 on a 34-yard toss, setting up one of senior tailback Rob Patchett's three rushing touchdowns on the day. Patchett rushed the ball 39 times for 231 yards and three scores, and also pulled in three catches for 31 yards and another TD. His 335 yards of total offense in one game rank third on Bowdoin's all-time list, trailing Hayes McArthur's 399 yards in 1998 and Ramon Martinez's 342 in 1993. All three of these marks were set against Hamilton. With this offensive explosion, coupled with a strong defensive effort through three quarters, it looked as if Bowdoin was going to enter Homecoming Weekend with a 2-2 record.
With a 21 point lead, the coaching staff decided Hamilton had had enough and proceeded to let Patchett and Matt Boyd '06 run the clock out in the final quarter. At this point, the offense needed to be relentless and add on to their lead, as 21 points is not an insurmountable deficit. Bowdoin proved that two weeks ago against Amherst, rallying to score three touchdowns in the final six minutes to send the game into overtime. It would be Hamilton this week that would match that feat versus Bowdoin, tying the game at 38-38. Seeing a prevent defense for the fourth quarter must have sparked something in the Hamilton quarterback. In the fourth quarter, he completed 13 of 21 passes for 188 yards and one TD, while also rushing the ball eight times for 50 yards and two touchdowns. One must wonder why the game plan was changed to accomodate this comeback.
The talent is there, so why aren't we winning? The players in this game did not lay down with a big lead. They know all too well how quickly a lead can change, and gave it everything they had for 60-plus minutes. Some will say that they did not have their quarterback, but that is a lame excuse as Ferrante's numbers against Hamilton were better than Leclerc's in the win over Tufts. So what is going wrong? The coaches will have to figure it out soon. Bowdoin has one of the most dedicated coaching staffs in the league, working 12 to 14 hours every day trying to prepare their players for Saturday games. Yet they have been unable to find what it takes to right the ship this season. Until that missing ingredient is found, the Polar Bears will have their work cut out for them against top-ranked Trinty College this Saturday at Whittier Field. Come join Polar Bear Nation in the far end zone at 1:00, as the Polar Bears will attempt to ride the wave like our Red Sox. Keep the Faith.