The Bowdoin football team faced arguably one of the greatest football programs in Division III history on Saturday, and it showed.
Trinity College (4-0) came into the game riding an 18-game winning streak, which ranks as the longest ever in NESCAC history. Still feeling the sting of their second double-overtime loss of the season, the Polar Bears (1-4) knew they would have to execute their game plan to perfection in order to break this streak. The Bantams had other plans, however, as they defeated Bowdoin 41-0, extending their run to nineteen games.
Bowdoin had an enormous Homecoming Weekend crowd behind it, including many parents, alums, and former players. Trinity, which has now outscored its opponents 211-32 in the first five games, focused on taking the home crowd out of the game as quickly as possible. Two touchdowns on drives of 65 and 57 yards put Trinity ahead 14-0 at the end of the first quarter. Undaunted, Bowdoin orchestrated a 14-play drive of its own that brought the ball to its opponent's three-yard line. Trinity had not given up a drive of more than ten plays all season, and Bowdoin would do it twice (14 plays and 11 plays). Bowdoin drove the field on the arm of quarterback Mike Ferrante '05 and the legs of Rob Patchett '05, but could not punch the ball into the endzone. This has been the Achilles' heel of the Polar Bear offense all season: it can't seem to finish drives, a trait needed to beat good teams.
The second half did not prove much better for the Polar Bears, as the visitors ran away with this one. Bowdoin was outmatched on this Saturday afternoon, but it is unlikely that anyone will beat Trinity this season. They are just too good.
Wesleyan is next on the schedule for Bowdoin, and it stands as the first obstacle towards a .500 season.
In a game that stresses statistics, every so often a person comes along that reminds everyone why the game is played. For Bowdoin, that man is defensive line coach Phil Soule. After the game on Saturday, Bowdoin honored nine Bowdoin alumni in its third annual Athletic Hall of Honor induction ceremony. Of these nine inductees, five of them had the surname Soule (William '36, Paul '66, Morton '68, and James '77, and Phil). When people talk about Maine football, Soule is a name which always finds its way into the conversation. The Soule family is legendary in this state, and Bowdoin has been lucky enough to have given almost every member an education. William Soule and his three sons, Paul, Mort, and Jim, all starred at Bowdoin as athletes in football as well as in other sports. They hold numerous football records that still stand today.
Phil Soule was Bill's only son who did not attend Bowdoin. He chose to attend the University of Maine, but was drawn to Bowdoin in 1967 to join the coaching staff. After nearly 40 years of coaching football, as well as almost every other sport Bowdoin has to offer, the man know simply as "Coach" has earned his rightful place as the fifth member of his family named to the Athletic Hall of Honor.
The impact that the Soule family has made on Bowdoin is difficult to comprehend. In particular, Phil has made his presence felt on every player or fellow coach that he has worked with over the years. When asked what Coach Soule has meant to the Bowdoin football team, Head Coach Dave Caputi said, "Phil is the absolute salt of the earth. We could not live without him. In my years of coaching against him while I was at Williams, I could tell just how good he was with his players. Phil is Bowdoin."
Coach Soule and his wife Maureen, or "Mo," may be Bowdoin's two biggest sports fans, and no one appreciates them more than the players who step out on that field.
Coach Soule's contributions don't just stop at athletics. Year in and year out, he can be found organizing charity events like the Relay for Life Cancer Walk which was sponsored by Bowdoin.
Jarrett Young '05, who played three seasons for Soule before suffering a career-ending shoulder injury, said, "Coach can motivate anyone to do anything. He can make players play well beyond their physical limitations because of his great leadership. He is respected as a mentor on and off the field, because players know that he would do anything in his power for them."
Coach Soule and the football team travels to Wesleyan this Saturday at 12:30 p.m.