LEWISTON, Maine – Hamilton College's Matt Banbury '24 ran for two touchdowns and the Continentals shut down the Bates College offense in a 21-7 win at the Bobcats' Garcelon Field on a breezy and cool Saturday, Nov. 11.
 

Season Update

• Hamilton won three of its last four games and finished the season with a 3-6 record in the NESCAC.
• Bates (0-8) gets one more crack at its first win this season on Saturday, Nov. 18 when the Bobcats host Williams College.

 

How It Happened

• Bates' opening drive lasted 19 plays and more than eight minutes, but a 21-yard field goal attempt missed wide right.
• The Continentals marched right back down the field in 10 plays and took the lead. Banbury completed the 80-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown run. The entire offensive line blocked towards the right and Banbury cut back to his left, broke two tackles at the line of scrimmage and powered into the end zone. Ben Waterman '27 added the extra point and it was 7-0 with 2:54 left. The play was set up by a 21-yard catch-and-run from Luke Kurzum '27 to Ezra Lombardi '24.
• The Bobcats went three-and-out on their next drive. The punt was shanked out-of-bounds and travelled just seven yards to the Bates 32. It took Hamilton six plays to extend their lead. On third-and-seven at the Bobcats 13, Kurzum lined up a few yards behind center and took off up the middle on a designed quarterback draw. He made a tackler miss at the 7 and scampered virtually untouched into the end zone. Waterman's PAT gave the Continentals a 14-point advantage 1:19 into the second quarter.
• Another short punt on Bates' next possession put Hamilton in great shape again at the Bobcats 39. A 12-yard pass to tight end Mark Howrigan '24 to the Bates 12 on third-and-seven kept the drive alive. Four plays later, Banbury scored from the 2. The Continentals lined up in their power formation and Banbury, who was the third back behind Kurzum, took the handoff. Banbury shook off an ankle tackle in the backfield and rumbled into the end zone. Waterman made it 21-0 with 7:14 remaining in the first half.
• The Bobcats got on the scoreboard with 35 seconds to go in the half on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Colton Bosselait to Sergio Beltran. Marcos Ruiz's extra point completed the scoring.
• The second half was filled with missed opportunities. Bates turned the ball over on downs at the Hamilton 5 with 4:48 left in the third quarter. Banbury thought he had scored his third touchdown on a four-yard run early in the fourth quarter, but it was wiped out by a holding penalty. The Continentals eventually missed a 27-yard field goal wide left, and they were wide left again on a 24-yard attempt with 4:14 remaining. The teams also combined to commit three turnovers after halftime.

 

Notes

• Banbury's two touchdowns were his first this season. The senior, who opened the season as the starting quarterback and ended it as the No. 1 running back, finished with 322 yards rushing. Banbury scored nine touchdowns during his Hamilton career.
• Kurzum was 12 of 23 passing for 143 yards with another 50 on the ground. He scored three touchdowns and rushed for 320 yards this season.
• Howrigan recorded season highs with five catches and 67 yards receiving.
• Kyle Bratcher '26 tied for the team lead with six tackles, forced a fumble, recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass. Bratcher is tied for second in the NESCAC with four picks this season.
• Aiden Held '25 was credited with six solo stops, including two sacks, and forced a fumble. It was the first multi-sack game of Held's career, and he's tied for eighth in the conference with 4.5.
• Gavin Lawlor '25 posted the first three sacks of his career with the Continentals. Those sacks resulted in a total loss of 30 yards.
• Chase White '25 sacked the quarterback for a loss of six yards and has 7.5 in his Hamilton career.
• Bosselait was 12 of 28 for 144 yards for the Bobcats. Beltran boasted game highs of 11 receptions for 112 yards. Jackson Collins led all players with 11 tackles and Matt Juneau added nine. Josh Ezerioha notched Bates' sack and forced a fumble.
• The Continentals limited the Bobcats to 204 yards of offense, and Bates averaged just 2.8 yards per play.
• The Bobcats were 2 of 17 on third down conversions, but 5 of 9 on fourth down. They came up empty on three trips to the red zone.
• Hamilton's six sacks were the most in a game by the Continentals since Oct. 18, 2008, when they also had six at Colby College.