Now that the season is at the halfway point, the Colby College football team can catch its breath after playing the toughest schedule in the New England Small College Athletic Conference over the first month of the season.
Colby first four opponents — Trinity, Middlebury, Wesleyan and Amherst — are a combined 14-2. That doesn’t make the Mules’ 0-4 record sting any less, coach John Michaeles said.
“I know we’re playing hard. We’re just not playing with the consistency in which you need to to beat good teams,” Michaeles said. “No excuses, we knew we were going to face some good teams on the front end of the schedule. I like where we are as well as you can when you’re 0-4 after four weeks.”
This week’s opponent, Hamilton, comes to Colby on Saturday with an 0-4 record.
“We had probably our best week of practice of the season these last three days. We challenged our guys this week in a big way,” Michaeles said. “We challenged their focus, their mental toughness, and they’ve responded in the best way possible. In that, I like where we are at this point.”
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Cony graduate Luke Duncklee is playing iron man football for the Mules. With a number of injuries in the secondary, the senior wide receiver will also play cornerback this week, along with wideout Nick Joseph.
Colby has six defensive backs out, Michaeles said.
“We need (Duncklee) to play both ways for us, he and Nick Joseph,” Michaeles said. “He’s doing all right. We had him at safety last week, but we think putting him at corner makes it a little bit easier. There’s a few less calls to make. He can just play football. Find the ball and play the ball in the air.”
Duncklee leads the Mules with 14 catches for 83 yards. Joseph has 12 catches for 171 yards and two touchdowns.
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Lawrence grad Shaun Carroll had the best game of his Bates career last week in the Bobcats 24-10 loss to Wesleyan. Carroll led Bates with 51 yards rushing and 45 yards receiving.
On the season, Carroll leads the Bobcats with 118 yards rushing on 26 carries. Carroll also has eight catches for 63 yards.
Carroll and the Bobcats play at Middlebury on Saturday.
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Bowdoin head coach Dave Caputi announced earlier this week he will step down at the end of the season.
Caputi took over the Polar Bears in 2000. This is his 15th season on the Bowdoin sideline.
Bowdoin is 2-2 going into Saturday’s home game against Trinity. Special teams have been a key for the Polar Bears. Freshman kicker Andrew Sisti is 5 for 5 in field goal tries, with a long of 36 yards.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
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