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.