LEWISTON – Don’t reinvent the wheel, just kick it into a higher gear.

That was the message Bates football coach Mark Harriman was trying to relate to his players Saturday after falling to Middlebury 21-13.

The Bobcats, as they have done for most of the season, ran the ball with ease in the first half, jumping out to a 7-0 lead four minutes into the game. But as time passed, the holes up front became smaller and yards gained became less and less.

And as the battle for field position grinded out, the Panthers eventually exposed Bates’ weakness, making big-time plays and beating the Bobcats secondary with long passes down the middle of the field. It was something Bates struggled to do in a last-ditch effort to find the end zone.

“Two really even teams played each other today, but (Middlebury) made plays when they had to,” Harriman said. “They shut down our running game in the second half and that’s something we have to be able to do if we want to win.”

Perhaps the biggest play of the game came at the 8:43 mark in the fourth quarter. Facing a third and 10 on its own 29-yard line, Middlebury moved the ball across midfield on a full-extension, one-handed grab by Tim Cleaver with a defender in his hip pocket at Bates 43. The Panthers, leading 21-13, didn’t score on the drive, but the swing in field position and a punt by Craig Pittman pinned the Bobcats inside their own five with six minutes left to play.

Bates didn’t see the greener side of midfield the rest of the day, ending one drive with a Chris Gwozdz interception at the 4:02 mark and turning the ball over once more on downs with 1:11 left to play.

“In the first half our receivers weren’t making a lot of plays against a tough defense, but Cleaver and (Michael) Murray made some exceptional plays in the second half to help us win the ball game,” Middlebury coach Bob Ritter said.

Sandwiched between two defenders, Murray scored the eventual game-winner to open the third, twisting his body back towards the line of scrimmage to catch Mike Keenan’s 28-yard pass in front of the uprights. Andrew Bohlin’s point-after put Middlebury up 14-13.

Keenan (17 for 33, 256 yards) then connected with Matt Wolf on a 7-yard toss in the end zone nearly 10 minutes later, giving the Panthers an eight-point cushion as Bates failed to move the ball downfield in the waning moments of the game.

The first drive of the game was an auspicious start for the 1-4 Bobcats. Ken Adams took a pitch and cut through Middlebury’s defense to cap a 9-play, 73-yard drive with a 14-yard sprint around the right corner.

Adams finished the day with 143 yards on 36 carries, 96 of which came in the first half. He broke off a 25-yard run to Middlebury’s 9 halfway through the third quarter, but Bates was forced to settle for a 21-yard field goal by Nat Carr, who previously made a 22-yarder in the second quarter. Carr’s boot in the third pulled Bates within one, 14-13, before Middlebury pulled away with Keenan’s touchdown pass to Wolf.

Middlebury (2-3) scored once in the first half. On fourth and goal from the Bates 2, the Panthers put the fullback in motion right, leaving Eric Shanley alone in the backfield. Keenan then faked a handoff to Shanley off right tackle and threw across the grain to tight end Charles Howe, who was wide open in the left corner of the end zone.

Hopes of a winning season were dashed by the Panthers, as Bates can only finish 4-4 if it runs the table the last three weeks.

“It’s time for some of our older guys to step up the intensity,” Harriman said. “We need to pick it up a notch. We are good and playing close, but obviously we are out here to win.”