USA Football 
    
Hopes 
    are high for Bates football in 2001 after a series of near-misses in 2000. 
    The Bobcats put together a stretch early in the season in which they dropped 
    three games by a total of eight points. They scored the most points ever by 
    a Bates team over arch-rival Bowdoin in a 44-13 win and produced one of the 
    most heralded post-season teams in school history, placing three players on 
    the All-NESCAC team and another conference Rookie of the Year. Under fourth-year 
    head coach Mark Harriman, the Bates defense will look to return to the 1999 
    form that ranked it among the top units in the NCAA statistics in three categories, 
    while the offense returns almost all of its significant contributors from 
    2000.
  
The 
  offense features All-NESCAC running back Sean Atkins (New York, N.Y.). 
  Atkins finished second in the conference and among the top 40 in Division III 
  in rushing yardage, while finishing in the top 25 nationally in all-purpose 
  yards from scrimmage. After stepping into the starting role midway through the 
  2000 season, junior quarterback Kane Jankoski (Spencer, Mass.) will call 
  the signals behind a veteran offensive line led by senior John Dubzinski 
  (Leominster, Mass.). The wide receiver corps features Owen Miehe '04 
  (Glen Rock, N.J.) and John Katsarikas '03 (Quincy, Mass.), in one of 
  the Bobcats' deepest pools at that position in a number of years. The special 
  teams will look to replace one of the best kickers in school history, two-time 
  All-NESCAC selection Rejean Guerriero (Spofford, N.H.). 
  
The 
    strength of the Bates defense has always been its linebacking corps, and 2001 
    will be no different. For the third time in five years, a Bobcat was named 
    NESCAC Defensive Rookie of the Year, with sophomore Pat Foley (Newburyport, 
    Mass.) earning the honor in 2000 for his performance stepping in for injured 
    senior captain Bob Rosenthal '01 (Walpole, Mass.), the 1997 winner 
    of that award. Meanwhile, junior Ben Johnson (Lyndonville, Vt.) led the team 
    with 79 tackles. The defensive line loses a two-time All-NESCAC selection 
    in Ryan Gray '01 (Mansfield, Mass.), but captain Jaime Sawler 
    (Stratham, N.H.) also earned All-Conference honors in 1999 and will look to 
    return to the team as a senior after tying for the team lead in sacks. Three 
    four-year starters are lost from the defensive backfield, but junior Pat 
    Boyaggi (Cleveland, Ohio), the fourth starter, and converted receiver 
    Rob Maguire '04 (Wayland, Mass.), will lead that group in 2001.
  The Bobcats play their home games on historic Garcelon Field. 
    During the off season, the team is able to use some of the finest indoor facilities 
    in the Northeast. The Davis Fitness Center houses the team's weight training 
    facilities. This 5,200-square-foot facility includes 11 free-weight multi-use 
    stations, along with a complete set of dumbbells, Body Master selectorized 
    machines and a complete Nautilus circuit. Cardiovascular machines are located 
    in Davis as well as in nearby Merrill Gymnasium. Merrill Gymnasium includes 
    a state-of-the-art indoor track facility that doubles as an indoor practice 
    facility. The locker room, inaugurated in 1995, features NFL-style lockers 
    and a sports medicine room that meets each individual's needs. 
   
Mark Harriman (mharrima@bates.edu) 
    is the 19th head coach in the 106-year history of the Bates College football 
    program. A Westbrook, Maine, native, Harriman was the defensive coordinator 
    at Harvard for four seasons before arriving at Bates. The 1997 Crimson was 
    the only Division I-AA team ranked in the top five in rushing defense, pass-efficiency 
    defense and scoring defense, helping produce Harvard's first undefeated Ivy 
    League title. Harriman's efforts earned him American Football Quarterly's 
    1997 Division I-AA defensive coordinator of the year honors. Prior to his 
    stint at Harvard, his defense helped Princeton win two Ivy League titles in 
    three years. A 1980 graduate of Springfield College, Harriman was an All-New 
    England linebacker.