By Kalle Oakes,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – You might look at Dave Bodger’s 6-foot, 215-pound frame and guess that he’s a tailback or a wide receiver. Or maybe a strong safety.

And you’d be wrong. Seventy-two tackles wrong.

That’s how many stops Bodger made as a junior linebacker in 2004, leading Bates College in that bottom-line defensive category.

The Lewiston High School graduate’s 11 tackles and a forced fumble boosted Bates to a 37-13 victory over Hamilton, allowing the Bobcats to carry two terrific memories throughout the offseason. Four weeks earlier, Bates belted Wesleyan and broke a 17-game losing streak against the Cardinals.

As you might guess, this time more accurately, Bodger took last autumn’s encouragement and ran with it, lifted weights with it and slept on it throughout the winter, spring and summer. Not surprisingly, the era of good feelings lingers on.

“I think we’re going to surprise some people,” Bodger said. “Our defense is going to be strong. Our offense has almost everybody back. We have great senior leadership. Honestly, I can’t see many games on our schedule that are going to be a problem.”

Bodger is one of only eight seniors on Bates’ 60-man roster. Surely others were part of the same recruiting class and didn’t make it to the finish line, including players who accomplished as much if not more than Bodger did at LHS.

Confidence and work ethic have blended with a love of contact and a nose for the football to create one of the big stickers in the New England Small College Athletic Conference.

“His physique has changed a lot since high school. Dave is a very physical guy,” said Bates coach Mark Harriman, entering his ninth season. “He won our Iron Bobcat Award, which is what we use in the preseason to gauge how everyone did with off-season conditioning. There are weight training and speed components. It’s comprehensive.”

Bodger’s career path has been a steady climb. The sociology major accelerated from 17 tackles as a freshman to 38, including 27 solo stops, in more consistent playing time as a sophomore.

“You always try to have three guys ready to go at that position and develop somebody,” said Harriman. “Two years ago, he was that third guy.”

Now it’s Bodger’s turn to be a mentor.

One of the sophomore linebackers under his guidance is Ron DiGravio, a Mt. Blue High School product who is playing the position for the first time in college after a year with the offensive unit.

“Linebacker is the one position where we’re pretty young. Dave has done a great job working with the young guys and getting them in line with what we expect,” Harriman said. “He takes a real leadership role as far as film study of our opponents and a knowledge of what each team likes to do. That pays big dividends for us.”

In high school, Bodger was a building block for a program that didn’t bear fruit until after he graduated. Lewiston reached the regional championship game in its former captain’s first season at Bates.

He’d like to cut a year off that construction project in college and bask in some of the rewards. Bodger stayed close to home and joined a program that hasn’t enjoyed a winning season since before he was born, a six-win campaign under Web Harrison back in 1981.

There are no regrets about having endured a 7-17 run over his first three seasons.

“It’s definitely been a great fit for me,” said Bodger. “I’ve been playing since my first year here. It’s a great campus, a great atmosphere. I love it.”

Seventeen returning starters, the benchmark win over Wesleyan and the rout of Hamilton have Bodger believing that this is the year people in NESCAC will find themselves making more wrong guesses about himself and the ‘Cats.

“We’ve come so far since the beginning of preseason as a defense. If everyone executes the way they need to, we are going to be tough,” Bodger said. “We’re looking to get back the CBB title. Beating Bowdoin and Colby, that’s our motivation every year. And definitely we’re thinking of a winning season.”