BRUNSWICK

Coming off two straight losses and a total of seven points, the Bowdoin College football team needed an answer to turn things around.

They didn’t need to look far as sophomore running back Tyler Grant took matters into his own hands and ran the Polar Bears (1-2) to a 33-20 victory in Saturday’s New England Small College Athletic Conference match-up against the Tufts Jumbos (2-1).

With only 602 total offensive yards in the first two games, the Polar Bears compiled 463 yards on Saturday with large thanks to Grant’s 208 rushing yards.

Bowdoin matched its early season total of seven points on the first drive.

Starting on their own 36-yard line, the Polar Bears scraped away through 13 plays for the first scoring play of the game just 5:34 into the first quarter.

Grant rushed for 24-yards on the drive, including a 1-yard rush on a first-and-goal situation to make it 6-0. A 2-point conversion play was attempted, but Jon Fraser was brought down at the 3-yard line and was unable to add to the score.

After a series each by both Tufts and Bowdoin failed to produce points, Tufts got on the scoreboard with a 15-yard run up the middle from Jumbo Chance Brady, a drive taking only 2:26 to complete. Kicker Vince Falk put Tufts ahead 7-6 with the extra point.

The Polar Bears followed up on their next possession, bringing the ball downfield to the Tufts 1-yard line. After letting the clock expire in the first quarter, Grant took the first play of the second for another 1-yard run and the lead. This time around, the Polar Bears opted against a 2-point conversion and went with the extra point, completed by Andrew Murowchick for a 13-7 lead.

It took no time for the Jumbos to respond as they took only 49 seconds on their next possession to jump ahead again, 14-13. Tufts quarterback Jack Doll completed two passes for a total of 44 yards to get his team to the Bowdoin 2-yard line, giving way to a short rush by Zack Trause for the TD and an extra point by Falk.

Grant yet again put the Polar Bears ahead with a 12-yard run, finding a hole and taking it in for another TD. Combined with another Murowchick PAT, Bowdoin took the lead, 20- 14. That scoring opportunity was made possible earlier in the drive when quarterback Mac Caputi completed two passes for a total of 17 yards to get out of a second-and-17 situation after a false start at the Tufts 40-yard line.

Bowdoin had a chance to expand on its lead with just over six minutes to play in the half, but a failed run on fourth-and-one on the Tufts 6-yard line prevented any chance of that happening.

With 1:14 remaining in the half, the Jumbos found themselves just 30-yards out of another scoring chance, but Bjorn Halvorson put the momentum back in the Polar Bears favor with an interception at the 23- yard line and sent the game into the half.

Bowdoin had a massive 20:43 possession advantage, with Grant netting 99 yards on 21 carries, while Caputi was successful in the pocket, completing 12 of 13 pass attempts.

Tufts got right to work at the beginning of the third quarter, tying the game at 20 on a drive containing four completed passes by Doll for 44 yards and a 14-yard run by Trause for the TD.

The Polar Bears took ownership of the next two scoring plays when kicker Andrew Sisti launched two field goals, one from 40- yards out with 6:31 remaining in the third quarter and another from 34 yards with 9:15 remaining in the fourth, jumping the Polar Bears out to a six-point lead.

But the story of the day for the Polar Bears returned for another drive as Grant accepted a hand-off from Caputi and ran it 42 yards for his fourth and final touchdown of the game with 5:32 remaining, placing Tufts in a difficult situation for the remainder of time.

After Mac Caputi’s 2-point conversion was called back on an illegal block in the backfield, Murowchick completed his third PAT to push the Polar Bears lead to 13.

Bowdoin ended the game totaling 463 yards, the second most since the Polar Bears racked up 564 against Wesleyan in 2009.

Grant not only rushed for 208 yards on the day, but he set a Bowdoin school record, carrying the ball 43 times for a total of four touchdowns on the afternoon.

“I thought Jack Donovan, our fullback, had a stand-out game today.” Grant said of his teammate. “He was making the holes wide open for me and we were able to break a couple. I really felt this today.”

“(Grant) is becoming a player,” Polar Bears coach Dave Caputi said of his running back. “We saw him do a little bit of this in practice and we thought he could do this in a game, and it was important that he did.”

Though Bowdoin’s offense lacked in the first two games, both Grant and Dave Caputi believe they have the capability to be a competitor in the league.

“We just have to stick with what we’re doing,” Grant said. “I really think we were in both of the last games we played, but we made a few mental errors.”

“We made mistakes in today’s game, but we didn’t let one mistake become two,” Dave Caputi said. “I think the lesson for our team is that we can’t fall into the trap of playing comparative scores. We have to refocus on what’s next rather than dwelling on what we just did.”

The Polar Bears search for their second win of the season on this coming Saturday (noon) as they travel to Hamilton to take on the Continentals.

Bowdoin 33, Tufts 20

At Whittier Field in Brunswick
Tufts— 7760—20
Bowdoin — 6 14 3 10 — 33
First Quarter
B — Tyler Grant 1 run (run failed), 9:26.
T — Chance Brady 15 run (Vince Falk kick), 3:09.
Second Quarter
B — Tyler Grant 1 run (Andrew Murowchick kick), 14:55.
T — Zack Trause 2 run (Vince Falk kick), 13:57.
B — Tyler Grant 12 run (Andrew Murowchick kick), 8:52.
Third Quarter
T — Zack Trause 14 run (kick failed), 11:23.
B — Andrew Sisti 40 field goal, 6:37.
Fourth Quarter
B — Andrew Sisti 34 field goal, 9:15.
B — Tyler Grant 42 run (Andrew Murowchick kick), 5:32.
Records — Bowdoin 1-2, Tufts 2-1.
Up next for the Polar Bears — This upcoming Saturday at
Hamilton, noon.