In a game played through a steady rain, the Bowdoin Polar Bears wrapped up a season that began with so much promise. After suffering its third straight loss at the hands of Bates, the football team hoped to find consolation in defeating its traditional rivals, the Colby Mules, and claiming a share of the CBB title.
"To win our last game, that was something that was very important to a lot of us," said senior quarterback and team captain, Oliver Kell. "For most of us, it's going to be the last time we play football competitively, so it was huge for us to go out with a win."
Colby rushed out to an early lead with a six-yard rushing touchdown, while Bowdoin was forced to punt after a quick three and out on its first possession.
With just a little over four minutes left, Bowdoin, using a balance of run and pass, took the ball from its own 25 to the Colby 24 to closeout the first quarter.
The momentum carried over to the second quarter as Kell put the finishing touches on a 75-yard drive with a beautiful one-yard pass to Justin Starr '10, but the extra point was blocked.
Colby answered right back, taking the lead with a 13-yard throw to the end zone.
For the rest of the quarter, Bowdoin was frustrated by the Colby defense and could not get anything going. The Polar Bears went into the locker room trailing 14-6.
On the team's first offensive possession of the second half, Bowdoin's passing attack began to find its rhythm, as Kell completed his first six pass attempts before the drive stalled at the Colby seven-yard line. Kicker Billy Donahue '10 connected on a 25-yard try to cut the deficit to five.
Looking to build off the positive momentum of the team's opening drive, the Polar Bear defense took the field to the cheers of raucous crowd filled with Bowdoin and Colby students.
On the third play of the series, senior linebacker Tyler Tennant added to the crowd's excitement with a 43-yard interception return to give Bowdoin the ball two yards away from taking its first lead of the game.
Kell bull-dozed his way through the Colby defense for a hard-fought two-yard touchdown run to give the Polar Bears the 15-14 lead after a two-point conversion try failed.
Colby's offense took the field, looking to make up for its costly mistake. Instead, Tennant intercepted another errant pass to give Bowdoin a chance to take a commanding lead.
Senior Nick Tom made sure the team did just that, scoring the team's third touchdown of the day on a 25-yard scamper, giving the Polar Bears a 22-14 lead at the end of the third quarter.
"We only had three drives in the first half and we executed well enough on each one," said Kell. "We knew our defense was going to make some big plays to get us the ball a little more, and they did."
Bowdoin's offensive onslaught continued into the fourth quarter as Tom scored his second touchdown of the day, this time on a 35-yard gallop past the Mules' defense.
Colby wasn't ready to surrender its claim to the CBB title just yet, however, and scored a touchdown to pull within a single score.
After a Bowdoin field goal, time seemed to be running out on the Mules' chances to claim victory, but another touchdown cut the score to 32-27, with just under two minutes left to play.
The Mules would have one more chance to claim victory, but the Polar Bears refused to give in, coming up with a game-ending fumble recovery to seal the senior-day victory, Bowdoin's fourth-straight against the Mules.
With the victory, Bowdoin ends its season at 3-5, with a share of the CBB title. Seniors Kell, Tom and Justin Starr enjoyed impressive offensive performances in their final game as Polar Bears, while Laurence Duggan '10, Matt Leotti '10 and Tennant led the defensive charge, with a combined 18 tackles, two sacks, two interceptions, two fumbles forced and one fumble recovered.
Duggan and Noone were both named to the first team All-NESCAC, while Kell and Tennant were named to the second team. Noone was also named to the New England Football Writers D-II/III All-New England team.
"It was a good season. We didn't always get the results that we wanted, but I'm excited for next year," said sophomore lineman Joseph Smith. "We're going to work hard and try to continue to improve."