Kearns ’28 exploded for 138 yards and two touchdowns against Bowdoin. Photo Courtesy of Colin Ellis ’29
The Continentals triumphed over Bowdoin in their homecoming contest, driving to a decisive 27-13 home victory—their first of the season this past Saturday at Steuben Field.
Bowdoin jumped out to an early lead after a field goal and an improbable touchdown reception, but were unable to maintain their early 10-7 lead as the Polar Bear’s offense stalled and Hamilton scored touchdowns in each of the remaining three quarters.
A field goal in the final minutes of the game made up the only points Bowdoin scored outside the first quarter, and Bowdoin’s last-ditch onside kick was easily recovered to close out a very successful game for the Continentals.
The Hamilton defense established itself early in the game, when a crucial tackle-for-loss forced Bowdoin to settle for a field goal on their opening possession. A goal-line interception was overturned by a holding call, but the defense quickly righted itself and notched consecutive tackles for loss later in the half to bring up 4th and 22 and a Bowdoin punt.
Bowdoin quarterback #18 Soren Hummel ’29 came under incessant pressure throughout the game and was frequently forced out of the pocket, contributing to a low 56 percent completion rate for the day.
The Continental defense’s finest moment came early in the fourth quarter, when a critical 4th-down conversion attempt by Bowdoin was blown up thanks to a crushing 11-yard sack from #27 James Bailey ’27, forcing a turnover on downs.
On the first play of the resulting Continental possession, quarterback #27 Luke Kurzum ’27 found #82 Matthew Kearns ’28 for an electrifying touchdown that cemented Hamilton’s late lead, with a 73 yard pass the second longest of the season for Kurzum. This was Kearns’ second touchdown of the season.
Kurzum had a truly extraordinary outing, racking up 315 yards in the air on a 68.6 percent completion rate, posting a monstrous 125.3 passer rating for the day. Kurzum found the end zone through the air three times, and has yet to record an interception this season.
He is currently the best passer in the NESCAC in every statistical category, and leads the total yardage section by almost 250 – in a span of only three games!
The ground game held up too, as runningback #23 Alastair Orr ’28 gathered almost 100 rushing yards during the outing, including a nine yard touchdown run, his first rushing touchdown of the season and second overall.
If the Continentals can maintain this level of offense, they stand a good chance of triumphing over Wesleyan and Trinity in a pair of upcoming tough games over the next two weeks.
Although by far their best game of the season to date, the Continentals were not without error on Saturday. Penalties were a recurring nuisance, as various players gathered a total of 7 flags for 55 yards during the game, including a heartbreaking holding call that erased a goal-line interception in the first quarter—a call that allowed Bowdoin to punch in their only touchdown on the day.
Punter #9 Henry Rubey ’26 also had a bit of a wild outing—four of his five punts were successful, including a picture-perfect pin at the 1-yard line, but he also produced a terrifying shank that gave Bowdoin the ball inside the red zone.
However, the defense was able to stem the tide and held Bowdoin to an ultimately inconsequential field goal late into the second half. None of these mistakes could be fatal in isolation, but it will be important for the Continentals to play as clean as possible as they head toward tough back-to-back road games.
The Continentals play next at Wesleyan at 1pm this Saturday before coming home to Clinton to play against Trinity next week. Wesleyan is 2-1 in NESCAC, coming off a strong win at Bates. Wesleyan is the defending NESCAC champion and went 8-1 last season in conference play.
