Hamilton College quarterback Kenny Gray '20 ran 5 yards for a touchdown with 33.6 seconds left in the fourth quarter and lifted the Continentals to a 26-25 NESCAC victory against the Bowdoin College Polar Bears at Hamilton's Steuben Field on Saturday afternoon.

The Continentals (1-3 NESCAC) trailed by as many as nine points late in the third quarter before their offense found its groove in the final 16 minutes. Hamilton scored on four straight possessions in the third and fourth quarters.

Bowdoin (0-4) was held to just eight first downs and 182 yards on offense, and the Polar Bears had the ball for less than 21 minutes. Bowdoin was able to stay in the game thanks to two interceptions and two blocked punts in the first half.

Gray replaced starting quarterback Cole Freeman '18 late in the first quarter and was 19 of 32 for 303 yards with one TD pass and no interceptions. Gray's yardage total was the most for a Continentals quarterback since Chase Rosenberg '17 -- now a wide receiver -- threw for 320 at Tufts on Sept. 20, 2014.

Hamilton's 484 yards of total offense are the most for the team since Nov. 10, 2012 when the Continentals racked up 491 at Bates. Charles Ensley '17, who is in the top 10 in the NESCAC in recpetions and receiving yards per game, caught four passes for 122 yards. Alec Waugh '18added four catches for a career-high 94 yards and Joe Schmidt '20 chipped in seven receptions for 93 yards. Marcus Gutierrez '18 carried the ball 21 times for 76 yards.

Robert Morris '17 played on the soccer team his first three years at Hamilton but he nailed field goals from 24 and 39 yards out and made his only extra-point attempt on Saturday for the Continentals. Erik Fyrer '19 had three of his six kickoffs go for touchbacks.

Mickey Keating '18 led the Hamilton defense with seven tackles and picked off the first pass of his career. Brent Lobien '17 came up with his seventh career sack and blocked an extra-point attempt. Jimmy Giattino '17 broke up three passes.

Polar Bear quarterback Noah Nelson was 13-for-29 for 137 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Andrew Sisti kicked field goals of 36 and 39 yards, and Chandler Gee returned three kicks for an average of 29.7 yards.

Bowdoin's defense was busy as Cameron Rondeau was credited with a game-high 12 tackles and returned an interception 55 yards for a score. Latif Armiyaw added 11 stops and Henry Little recorded a sack among his nine tackles. Jack Whiting ran an interception back 33 yards and Jibrail Coy blocked two punts. 

The Continentals started their game-winning drive with great field position after the Polar Bears had to kick off from their own 10 after a pair of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. The kick only made it to around midfield and David Kagan '20 returned it to the Bowdoin 42 with 2:59 remaining. On fourth down at the 36, Gray found Waugh for an 11-yard gain to keep the drive alive. Hamilton was 3 of 4 on fourth down for the afternoon. Gray rushed for a combined 20 yards on the next two plays to set up first-and-goal. After an incomplete pass, Gray ran 5 yards up the middle on a draw play and wasn't touched on his way into the end zone.

The Continentals had two cracks at a two-point conversion that would have extended their lead to three thanks to a face mask penalty on Bowdoin, but both rushing attempts came up short.

After the ensuing kick return, Nelson completed a pass to Nate Richam for 16 yards to the Bowdoin 45. The Polar Bears called a timeout with 5 seconds left to set up a Hail Mary by Nelson that was batted down by Conor Powers '17 as time ran out.

Hamilton scored on its very first play from scrimmage. The Continentals had the ball at their own 46 and Freeman unloaded a long pass that Waugh caught along the right sideline around the 15 and fought off the defender to the end zone for a 54-yard score with 13:11 left in the first quarter. Fyrer added the PAT for the 7-0 lead.

Hamilton's next drive ended with Bowdoin's first blocked punt, which was recovered at the Hamilton 31. Three plays later, Keating intercepted Nelson at the 28. The Continentals gained 17 yards on the first two plays of their next drive but Rondeau picked off an errant pass at his own 45 and sprinted 55 yards for a touchdown with 6:29 to go in the opening quarter. Sisti's extra point tied the score at 7-7.

Three drives later, Whiting grabbed a Freeman pass at the Bowdoin 35 and returned it 33 yards until he was pushed out-of-bounds at the Hamilton 32. The Polar Bears' six-play drive ended with Sisti's 36-yard field goal that made it 10-7 with 32.2 seconds left.

The Continentals were forced to punt on their next drive from their own 43 and Coy busted through the line again to block it. Bowdoin recovered at the Hamilton 16 and on the next play, Nelson found Nick Vailas across the middle in the back of the end zone for the touchdown. Sisti's kick was blocked by Lobien and the Polar Bears led 16-7 with 13:28 left in the second quarter.

The Continentals embarked on a 14-play, eight-plus minute drive on their next possession. The drive was kept alive by a 21-yard completion from Gray to Schmidt on fourth-and-long to the Bowdoin 5. The Polar Bear defense stiffened and forced Hamilton to attempt a 24-yard field goal, but the snap was high and holder Daniel Finger '17 had his pass sail out-of-bounds.

Bowdoin couldn't move the ball and a poor punt gave the Continentals the ball at the Polar Bear 31. Hamilton drove to the 10 but an intentional grounding penalty moved the Continentals back to the 22 and they missed a 39-yard field goal wide left with 35 seconds remaining in the half.

Hamilton, which won the coin toss and deferred to the second half, took the opening kickoff in the third quarter and drove 53 yards to field goal range again. This time, a 29-yarder missed to the right.

The teams traded punts three times until the last drive of the quarter for the Continentals. Hamilton started at its own 26 and marched 74 yards on 10 plays as Gray was 6-for-7 passing. The last completion came on fourth-and-2 from the 18 where Gray found Schmidt at around the 15 on a screen pass. Schmidt eluded some tacklers and scampered towards the right side of the end zone with 39 seconds to go. Morris added the extra point and the Continentals were within 16-14.

Hamilton forced another punt and took the lead on another long scoring drive. The big play was a 59-yard bomb from Gray to Ensley down to the Bowdoin 6. The Continentals couldn't get any closer to the end zone, but Morris booted a 24-yard field goal, and Hamilton held a 17-16 edge with 11:29 left in the fourth quarter.

The Polar Bears responded with their longest drive of the day at 53 yards on 11 plays. Nelson completed five passes for 34 yards and the possession ended with Sisti's 39-yard field goal that put Bowdoin back up 19-17 with 6:50 remaining.

The Continentals went back in front 20-19 on Morris' own 39-yard field goal with 3:48 to go. Gray found Ensley for a 40-yard catch-and-run on the first play down to the Bowdoin 36, and Gutierrez carried three times for 15 yards to the 21.

The Polar Bears had to be feeling pretty good about their chances after they took the lead again just 47 seconds later. Gee returned the kickoff 45 yards to his own 48 and, three plays later, Nelson lofted a long pass down the left sideline to Liam Ford who caught it at the 14 and cruised into the end zone. Nelson's two-point conversion pass was picked off by Preston DeLaurentis'18 and Bowdoin led 25-20.

Hamilton travels to Colby College for its next game on Saturday, Oct. 22 at noon. The Polar Bears host undefeated Trinity College on Saturday at 12:30.