BRUNSWICK, Maine - The Williams College football team scored on its first two possessions and held on for a 24-21 win over Bowdoin in a season-opening New England Small College Athletic Conference contest on Saturday afternoon at Whittier Field.

The Polar Bears out-gained Williams 212-92 in the second half and held the Ephs scoreless for the final 30:23, but could only muster one touchdown after intermission in the defeat. In the loss, Bowdoin's Pat Noone became the school's all-time leader in career receiving yards (1,681).

A pair of short Tom Wohlwender touchdown runs gave the visitors the early lead after drives of 59 and 85 yards to open the contest. Bowdoin answered early in the second quarter as Zach Donnarumma blew through the middle of the Williams defense for a 41-yard touchdown scamper to cut into the lead

Wohlwender capped a five-play, 58-yard Williams drive late in the period with a seven-yard touchdown run to make it 21-7 Ephs but the Polar Bears replied quickly as Grant White found Nick Goldin with a 54-yard strike down to the Williams 1. After a false start penalty, Donnarumma covered the final six yards to paydirt to close the gap to 21-14. The Ephs increased their halftime advantage to 10 points when Joseph Mallock banked in a 30-yard field goal off the upright with 23 seconds left on the clock.

Bowdoin came out rolling in the third quarter, dominating the Ephs with a pair of long possessions. The Polar Bears totaled 101 yards to -3 for Ephs and held the ball for over 11 minutes in the period, but only cashed in once when White found Goldin in the back corner of the end zone with 1:05 left in the stanza.

The teams traded possessions seven times in the fourth quarter and Williams appeared poised to put the game on ice when they drove deep into Bowdoin territory late in the half. QB Chris Cleary found Darren Hartwell at the Bowdoin 5, but Hartwell coughed up the ball on the goalline and through the endzone for a touchback, giving the Polar Bears the ball with 2:47 remaining.

The Polar Bears drove to midfield, but turned it over on downs with 1:06 left. Bowdoin had one more opportunity with under 40 seconds to play after Williams punted on their ensuing possesion and White moved Bowdoin into Ephs territory again with a 45-yard pass to Goldin. But his hail-mary pass to the end zone was intercepted by Hartwell as time expired.

Bowdoin held a 19-18 edge in first downs while Williams led 394-376 in total yards. The teams went about it in different fashions, as Bowdoin got 247 through the air and Williams 219 on the ground.

Marco Hernandez was the leading rusher for the Ephs with 71 yards while Wohlwender ended with 50 yards and three scores. Cleary went 11-20 for 175 passing for the Ephs, with five of those tosses going to Hartwell for 84 yards.

Donnarumma was the game's leading rusher with 108 yards and two scores while White went 19-34 for 247 yards in the air. Noone caught 10 passes for 80 yards, passing Peter Nye '94 as the program's all-time leader in receiving yards. Goldin caught three passes for 113 yards for the Polar Bears.

Photos courtesy of Brian Beard and Creative Images Photography.

Zach Donnarumma's 41-yard touchdown run