WATERVILLE – Brandon Colon already stands alone as the most prolific quarterback in Bates College football history.

On a rainy, windswept Saturday afternoon at Seaverns Field, Colon nearly engineered the kind of comeback that gets a player’s number retired and his grass-stained jersey enclosed in a glass case in perpetuity.

Colon simply wasn’t blessed with quite enough time to bring the Bobcats all the way back in their 114th encounter with the Colby College White Mules. Freshman defensive back Richard Newton knocked down Colon’s last-second launch to Tom Beaton in the end zone, preserving Colby’s 20-13 triumph in a CBB Series classic.

After a 7-yard touchdown pass to Beaton and a subsequent Bates defensive stand, Colon commanded the Bobcats from their own 9-yard line to the Colby 25 in the final 1:57. Colon (21-of-40, 257 yards) hit three different receivers and converted a pair of fourth downs on the abbreviated march.

“Weather permitting, we fought,” said Colon, a four-year starter from Manchester, N.H. “There were some holes in the defense that we definitely felt like we could exploit. We did for the most part.”

Bates (0-6) trailed 13-0 midway through the third quarter and 20-6 after Chris Bashaw’s 2-yard touchdown plunge for Colby with 13:28 remaining in the fourth.

Colon was 8-for-11 on Bates’ initial scoring drive of the frantic final period, a 12-play, 82-yard excursion. It came one week after Colon eclipsed Dan Hooley’s 10-year-old mark of 4,488 career passing yards.

“It was real tough sitting on the sidelines there feeling helpless. I wished I could play defense,” said Colby senior flanker Justin Candon, who caught a career-best nine passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns in his own right. “But they pulled it out for us and made big plays when they needed to.”

Rain ravaged one of New England’s great gridiron rivalries for the second straight year. Colby won last October in Lewiston, 10-7, on a field goal in the fourth overtime to end the longest game in New England Small College Athletic Conference lore.

Overtime seemed unlikely in the rematch when Bashaw fell on Bates’ onside kick after it failed to travel the required 10 yards with 3:36 remaining. But the Bobcats smothered senior captain Bashaw (23 carries, 49 yards) on three ensuing runs, forcing a 31-yard punt by Victor Gagne that pinned Bates inside its own 10.

“The conditions were tough, and that hurts both teams. It doesn’t just hurt the offense. It hurts the defense too. They were slipping out there,” said Colby senior quarterback Billy Ryan. “We’ve got so much confidence in our defense that we knew they were going to get it done, although they scared us a little bit.”

Colby (1-5) jumped offside on fourth-and-2 from the 30 to resuscitate the potential game-tying series. Matt Gregg (7 receptions, 93 yards) then made a 17-yard grab to move Bates into White Mules’ territory for the seventh time.

Shawki White’s fourth-down snare kept Bates in business at the 34 with 17 seconds to play. After a spike to stop the clock, Colon connected again with Gregg for nine yards. Colby buckled down, though, forcing two incomplete passes to cement the victory.

Colon was a quiet 3-for-6 in the first half before Bates’ beleaguered offense picked up a head of steam.

“When we came out in the second half, the weather was a lot better for throwing,” said Colon. “We found a niche. We just didn’t find enough.”

Ryan’s 15-yard TD pass to Candon with 7:16 left in the first quarter held up for a 6-0 halftime lead. Candon caught a 3-yarder to make it 13-0 in the third.

Colon spiraled a 27-yard strike to Beaton set up his own 1-yard sneak and jumpstart Bates’ rally.

Bates won its last CBB crown in 2002. Colby travels to Bowdoin in two weeks with a chance to secure its sixth state championship in the last eight seasons.

“CBB is something that we hold really special. We talk about the history a lot, how we’ve been playing this game since 1897,” said Ryan, who completed 11-of-22 for 168 yards. “We made a memory today being out on this field. Somebody’s going to talk about this in the future, and they’re going to remember today.”