Two weeks ago, Bates College football sat at 1-4, riding a two-game losing streak. 

The Bobcats had just suffered their worst loss of the season — a 35-6 setback at Middlebury. 

But Bates (3-4) wasn’t deterred by the early-season struggles and finds itself winners of its last two and one victory shy of ending its season at .500 or better for the third consecutive season. The Bobcats also have some hardware, winning the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin title outright following their 10-7 victory over the Polar Bears last weekend. 

“We knew all along we had the potential to be a good football team,” Bates coach Mark Harriman said. “The front end of our schedule’s loaded. We had some opportunities to win some football games against some really good teams and didn’t do it. Our guys have been very resilient and stayed focused on what we needed to do every week. It’s paid off the last couple weeks.” 

The Bobcats close out their season at home on Saturday when they welcome Hamilton to Garcelon Field at noon. Bates is 2-1 this season on their home field. 

The teams have split their 36 meetings, but the Bobcats have had the upper hand on the Continentals (0-7) over the last decade. They’ve won 10 out of their last 12 meetings with Hamilton. A win would give Bates a 4-4 season, the first time its finished .500 or better in three consecutive seasons since 1977-79. 

Hamilton enters Saturday’s season finale losers of its last 19, but Harriman believes the Continentals are better than their record indicates. 

“They’ve got some quality skill guys on offense,” Harriman said. “They’re quarterback has really come on. He’s a young guy but he’s really come on as the year’s progressed. Defensively, their nose guard in my opinion is one the best if not the best defensive lineman in the conference. They have some weapons on both sides of the ball.”

Hamilton ranks ninth among NESCAC teams in points per game with 15.1. The Continentals have been held to 17 points or less in five games this season. The bulk of their production comes from sophomore quarterback Chase Rosenberg, who’s completed 52.6 percent of his passes for 1,162 yards and six touchdowns. His 11 interceptions lead the NESCAC. 

Defensively, Hamilton has been torched to the tune of 335.3 yards and 31.6 points per game. The Continentals surrendered 47 points to Colby, a team the Bobcats beat, 34-28, in overtime on Oct. 25. Linebacker John Phelan leads the team in tackles (57), interceptions (2) and fumble recoveries (2). 

Saturday’s game will be the last for 19 of Bates’ seniors, including quarterback Matt Cannone, who’s healthy after dealing with injuries throughout the course of the season. 

Harriman said the key against Hamilton is to start fast. 

“We’ve got to go out and execute on both sides of the ball and that along with making sure we set the tone,” Harriman said. “That’s one of the things we really need to focus on this week is we come out and set the tone from the opening kickoff.” 

Fall sports wrap up 

Football still has another week and both the men’s and women’s cross country teams have two weeks left, but most of Bates’ fall sports have called it a season. 

Both the men’s and women’s soccer teams went into their regular-season finales hopeful of grabbing a playoff spot, but both were denied. The men, who started the season 0-6-1, fell 2-0 to Colby, but still finished its season 4-3-1 down the stretch. 

The Mules also ended Bates’ women’s season, scoring a pair of goals five minutes apart in a 2-1 win to grab the final playoff spot. The women’s season went the exact opposite of the men’s. They started strong, winning six of their first eight, before dropping six of their last seven. They scored five goals in their final seven games and were shut out four times. 

Field hockey won four non-conference games, but went winless in NESCAC play. The Bobcats dropped their final two conference games — 3-1 against Williams and 2-0 against Colby, to end the season. Shannon Beaton led Bates with six goals and 12 points. 

The men’s golf team capped off its season at the 80th annual New England Intercollegiate Golf Association Championship last week. The men tied for 16th among 22 Division III teams. Alex Stekler and Matt Marcus tied for the team lead with 84s.

Much like field hockey, the volleyball team struggled against conference opponents. The Bobcats finished 9-16 overall, but 0-10 in the NESCAC. They played Trinity tough in their season finale, playing the Bantams to within four points in each set. Chandler McGrath led Bates with 184 kills this season.