BRUNSWICK, Maine – The Bowdoin College football team withstood a late rally from Wesleyan to take a 28-26 Family Weekend win on Saturday afternoon at Whittier Field. The Polar Bears (2-4) snap a four-game losing skid and defeat the Cardinals (4-2) for the first time since 2011.
 
Game Highlights

• After Bowdoin's first possession resulted in a punt, Wesleyan marched 77 yards in ten plays, scoring on a seven-yard touchdown run by David Estevez to take a 7-0 lead at 8:40 of the opening quarter.
• The Polar Bears answered, however, following a poor Cardinal punt, covering 19 yards in four plays to score on an Andre Eden one-yard dive with 51 seconds left in the period to tie it 7-7.
• The teams traded possessions and Bowdoin punted deep into Cardinal territory early in the second quarter, but Andrew Rowader's punt was fumbled by Wesleyan's Luis Sanchez and recovered by Trent Lipsett, giving Bowdoin a great chance at the Cardinal 6. Four plays later, another Eden one-yard touchdown run gave the Polar Bears a 14-7 edge.
• Bowdoin continued to roll offensively, getting the ball back and scoring on a four-yard pass from Andrew Boel to Colton Fahey at the 8:11 mark, pushing their edge in 21-7.
• Wesleyan was able to trim the lead to 21-14 at intermission as Thomas Elkhoury hauled in a 17-yard pass from David Estevez with 48 seconds left in the half.
• The third quarter proved to be mostly a stalemate until a late sequence changed the course of the game. With Bowdoin driving for a score, Chris Guttman stepped in front of a Boel pass at the goal line, intercepting a pass and returning it to the Cardinal 16.
• On the very next play, Niko Candido dropped back to pass for Wesleyan, the ball was deflected high into the air, where Max Jacobs collected it and sprinted into the end zone, giving the Polar Bears a 28-14 lead with 2:59 left in the third quarter.
• Bowdoin's defense stymied Wesleyan, and the Polar Bear offense used up a large chunk of time in a non-scoring drive in the fourth quarter, putting the Cardinals in a corner.
• Wesleyan cut the lead to 28-20 as Candido found Logan Tomlinson from 16 yards out, capping an eight-play, 81-yard drive with 3:53 to go, only to see Bowdoin's Aidan Reidy block the PAT, keeping it an eight-point game.
• After a Bowdoin punt, Wesleyan was able to go 65 yards in six plays to score again on a Candido pass to Elkhoury with just 1:34 remaining. But Wesleyan's PAT rush attempt was stopped short of the goal line by Koy Price as Bowdoin's defense preserved the lead.

By The Numbers

• Wesleyan outgained Bowdoin 502-261 in total yards and had 27 first downs to Bowdoin's 17, but the Polar Bears controlled the field possession game and dominated on special teams to earn the win.
• Andrew Rowader averaged 34.8 yards per punt, dropping three kicks inside the Wesleyan 20, Aidan Reidy blocked a key PAT, and Trent Lipsett recovered a fumble on a punt return and Jotham Casey went 4-4 on extra points, proving to be the difference in the game.
• Andrew Boel went 22-31 passing for 207 yards while Andre Eden rushed 24 times for 59 yards for Bowdoin.
• Colton Fahey caught eight passes for 95 yards while Brendan King collected six passes for 78.
• Defensively, Aise Pream led Bowdoin with ten tackles and two pass break-ups while Max Jacobs had seven tackles, two pass breakups and an interception returned for a TD.
• Drew Ortiz also had 2.5 sacks on the afternoon.

Up Next

• Bowdoin will head to Connecticut next weekend for a 1:00 p.m. game at Trinity on Saturday, October 29.