One hundred and one years ago, the build-up to the annual �ֲ���ý-Bowdoin football game had disputes and divided loyalties — classic trappings of a historic rivalry.

And, for �ֲ���ý fans, the 1898 game delivered what a rivalry game should, a victory and a hero, William Allen Saunders, the unlikely scorer of the game’s only touchdown.

Yet in 1898, the grid rivalry, now one of the nation’s longest-running, was just seven years old. And, at least from �ֲ���ý’ perspective, the rivalry had gotten off to a slow start, with Bowdoin easily winning the first five editions by a combined score of 186 to 6.

At the time, interest in college football was surging both nationally and in Maine. With questions of masculinity at the fore in late 19th-century society, the country’s college football fields — offering a far more violent version of the game than today’s — became popular .

Newspapers played up the game’s war-like violence. One pre-game headline in the Lewiston Evening Journal of the era proclaimed, “Bowdoin and �ֲ���ý arrayed in the panoply of war at Brunswick.”

For the 1897 game, a year before Saunders’ star turn, �ֲ���ý supporters filled the trolley for the 90-minute trip to Brunswick. At the station, the �ֲ���ý contingent let loose their traditional cheer: “Boomalaka, boomalaka, �ֲ���ý — boom, boom!”

The Mirror yearbook photo of William Allen Saunders, Class of 1899, the hero of the �ֲ���ý-Bowdoin game of 1898. (Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library)

And boom, like that, �ֲ���ý won the game, securing its first title in the nascent Maine State Series competition, later to become the Colby-�ֲ���ý-Bowdoin series when the University of Maine left the group in 1964.

Perhaps smarting from its first setback in the budding rivalry, Bowdoin in 1898 played hardball. Pointing to its “ability to draw a big crowd,” according to a Journal story two days before the Oct. 29 game, Bowdoin demanded a bigger share of the gate receipts before agreeing to travel to Lewiston.

“The people are coming, coming from everywhere.”

When the two schools reached a revenue agreement a day later, the Journal headline declared, “Foot Ball Peace Assured.” With the game on, the hype machine was on, 19th-century style.

“Everyone who knows the difference between a football and an egg will be on the grounds,” said the Journal, noting that anticipation for the game in Maine has “resembled the feeling throughout New England over the Yale-Harvard games.”

Yes, the paper said, “the people are coming, coming from everywhere.”

And they did, a throng of 2,500 attending the game on a foggy, drizzly day at Lee Park (Garcelon Field wouldn’t be completed for another year). A bygone city commons once located at the intersection of Sabattus Street and East Avenue, Lee Park was known mostly for hosting traveling circuses. It became a housing development in the early 1900s.

The undefeated 6-0 �ֲ���ý football team of 1898 poses for a team photo. William Saunders, scorer of the winning touchdown vs. Bowdoin that year, is standing third from right. Team captain Nate Pulsifer, who made a key block on the winning play, is seated at center. (Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library)

Bowdoin, considered the bigger and more physical of the two teams, entered the game with a 5-2 record, its only losses being to Ivy League powers Dartmouth and Harvard. Hardscrabble �ֲ���ý, often called “the farmers” in media accounts, was 4­-0, having beaten New Hampshire State College, the University of Maine (twice), and Phillips Exeter Academy.

(Winless Colby, meanwhile, wasn’t part of that year’s Colby-�ֲ���ý-Bowdoin talk; its football team needed more “firmness in muscle before they can hope to cope successfully with �ֲ���ý or Bowdoin,” noted the Journal.)

“A few of the young women…bolted outright from the �ֲ���ý standard and bravely shook the black and white of the other side.”

You know a sports rivalry has arrived when it moves outside the sports media, and that’s what happened in 1898. On game day, the late edition of the Journal devoted its “Social World” column to the �ֲ���ý-Bowdoin game, noting that “the young people were at Lee Park this afternoon.”

More than football — something tribal — was at stake, the column suggested.

“The raw October air brought the �ֲ���ý color into the cheeks of the lassies,” the paper said, “but ’twas hard for some of them to be loyal to the garnet and white. A few of the young women…bolted outright from the �ֲ���ý standard and bravely shook the black and white of the other side.” Ouch!

The 1898 game, a 6-0 victory for �ֲ���ý, was “a nerve destroyer,” the Journal reported. The teams moved the ball, but had trouble scoring; the action drove the throng into a tizzy, and “police were unable to keep the crowd from swarming over the field at times,” reported the Bowdoin Orient student newspaper.

Midway through the first half, �ֲ���ý’ William Allen Saunders, a senior from the South, ran for the game’s only touchdown.

Born in Louisa Court House, Va., Saunders came to �ֲ���ý after attending Storer School, later Storer College, in Harpers Ferry, W.Va., a historically black institution founded just after the Civil War with the help of �ֲ���ý founder Oren Cheney. (Stella James also studied at Storer before she became the first African American woman to graduate from �ֲ���ý, in 1897.)

Before matriculating at �ֲ���ý, William Saunders (standing, second from left) attended Storer School, graduating with his fellow students in 1895. (Storer College Digital Photographs Collection / West Virginia and Regional History Center)

Besides football, Saunders competed in track and field at �ֲ���ý, in the hammer and shot put. He also served as librarian of one of the literary societies, Eurosophia.

Following graduation, Saunders taught public school in Coaldale, W.Va., and served as a grade-school principal in Hagerstown, Md., before joining the faculty at Bluefield Colored Institute, now Bluefield State College.

He joined the faculty of Storer College in 1907, teaching math, natural sciences, religion, and Latin. He married Inez Johnson and they built a home near the Storer campus, .

Saunders retired from Storer in 1951, and his date of death is unknown. A �ֲ���ý oral history tells the story of a classmate, George Parsons, who visited Saunders in the 1950s, when both were in their 80s. Parsons wanted to take Saunders to dinner but Saunders demurred — no white restaurant in town would serve a black man.

Shortly after joining the faculty of Storer College, William Saunders (second from right, with clarinet) poses with the Storer College Cornet Band in 1908. (Storer College Digital Photographs Collection / West Virginia and Regional History Center)

While Saunders was the hero of the 1898 game, by today’s rules he would never have been a ball carrier. He was an offensive guard — a blocking position today.

Back then, the rules required only five players to be on the line of scrimmage at the start of a play, compared to seven today. That allowed more players to line up in the backfield. And that led to battering-ram formations, including the flying wedge, in which a big lineman, in this case Saunders, and several blockers would line up in the backfield and get a running start into the defense.

Known as a “guard-back” or “tackle-back” formation, it’s what made Saunders the hero of the �ֲ���ý-Bowdoin game of 1898.

Indeed, football in the 1890s hardly resembled today’s game. With the forward pass still a few years away, the game was all about the ball carrier and his blockers bashing into the defense, time and again. In �ֲ���ý-Bowdoin terms, the Journal described the “slap of canvas against canvas” as two sides crashed together.

“Time and again the giant guard, Saunders, went into the line and always for a gain,” said the Student. “Saunders played like a fiend,” reported the Journal. “It always took two men to bring him down.” (Though not big by today’s standards, Saunders, at 5-foot-10 and 173 pounds, was among the tallest and heaviest �ֲ���ý players.)

This commemorative paperweight depicts William Saunders’ gate-winning touchdown vs. Bowdoin on Oct. 29, 1898. It was given to �ֲ���ý by Bowdoin graduate Bruce MacDonald, grandson of Nate Pulsifer, captain of the 1898 football team and Saunders’ classmate who made a key block on the winning play. (Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library)

�ֲ���ý’ game-winning, 14-minute touchdown drive started at midfield. With a “steady humming between tackles and guards,” �ֲ���ý advanced to the Bowdoin 20. The �ֲ���ý captain, senior running back Nate Pulsifer, carried to the 10 for a first down.

Then came Saunders’ turn. He carried to the Bowdoin 4, and then, with Pulsifer and sophomore running back Frank Halliday leading the way, Saunders “went over the line for the first and only touchdown of the game.” (A commemorative paperweight, given to �ֲ���ý by Pulsifer’s grandson, depicts the winning play and the huge crowd at Lee Park.)

The rest of the game, reported the Student, “abounded in runs, fumbles, plunges that seemed to be back-breakers, punts, and hard tackles” — but no more scoring. �ֲ���ý’ defense held; it would allow just 11 points in its six wins in 1898.

Two days after the �ֲ���ý victory, headlines in the Lewiston Evening Journal on Oct. 31, 1898, gave kudos to the “happy farmer boys of �ֲ���ý.”

The �ֲ���ý victory was “universally admitted to be the greatest contest ever held between Maine colleges,” stated the Student.

The Journal agreed, saying the game was “the fiercest foot ball ever seen in this state” with a deserving winner: a “light, stocky, well-trained team that was playing a game of foot ball only excelled by the crack teams of the country.”

The victory kicked off a night of celebration at �ֲ���ý, including boisterous rides around town on the local trolley. Known as the Figure Eight for the shape of its route around Lewiston and Auburn, it “was traveled with a liberal amount of fireworks and red fire on each car,” reported the Journal.

And there were victory songs aplenty, at Bowdoin’s expense, including a new one sung to the tune of “Marching Through Georgia,” with this verse:

The farmer boys at �ֲ���ý have learned
The way to plough the ground,
As the headless birds at Bowdoin,
To their sorrow now have found.
Then with cheers and shouts of triumph
Let the atmosphere resound,
While the Bowdoin dudes are marching back to Brunswick.

Saturday was certainly a day to celebrate for the �ֲ���ý football team, which defeated Bowdoin 24-17 to earn the Bobcats their fourth straight CBB series title.

But it did not come easy.

“We came into this game knowing there would be some ups and downs,” said senior captain Frank Williams of Brookline, Mass. “You know that always happens with a rivalry game.”

The victory puts this year’s seniors in a class of their own: They’re the first to defeat both Bowdoin and Colby in each of their four years.

After the win, the seniors praised first-year quarterback Brendan Costa of Westport, Mass., who ran for 171 yards and a touchdown, while fellow first-year Jaason Lopez of Marblehead, Mass., added 79 rushing yards and a score.

“They were like, ‘Thank you, thank you,’ Costa said. “I was like, ‘Guys, no. You guys helped me get to where I am today.’ They were unbelievable; they all had great games.”

The CBB trophy remains in Lewiston thanks to young and old alike.

“This is its home,” said Jack Maritz ’18 of St. Louis, Mo. “We’re going to keep it here for years to come.”

The �ֲ���ý football team takes on Bowdoin on . At stake? A fourth consecutive CBB title, which has never been achieved in program history.

“Players are very aware of that,” says offensive lineman Sean Lovett ’18 of Groveland, Mass. “It’s something we not only want to do for ourselves but for alumni and the coaches as well.”

As the senior class seeks to make history, it’s a fleet-footed first-year, Brendan Costa of Westport, Mass., who will lead the Bobcats at quarterback.

Slot receiver Mickoy Nichol ’18 of Dennis Port, Mass., recalls last week’s game vs. Colby when the Mule tied �ֲ���ý in the fourth quarter. Costa “just brought us together and said, ‘I know I’m a freshman, but I’m here with you guys and we’re going to win this game.”

“I’m on the job search right now,” says Max Breschi ’18 of Carlisle, Pa., “and every time I get in contact with alums about jobs, they’re bringing up the CBB.”

This marks the 120th football game between Bowdoin and �ֲ���ý in a series that dates back to the 19th century. And with a victory, the Bobcats’ 15 seniors can etch their name in the record books.

The undefeated and No. 4 nationally ranked �ֲ���ý men’s lacrosse team visited Brunswick on Wednesday to take on No. 16 Bowdoin.

The Bobcats trailed by three goals midway through the fourth quarter, but as head coach Peter Lasagna puts it: “We’re going to keep on fighting and our best shooters are going to keep shooting until we score.”

You’ll want to watch what happens next.

With the victory, �ֲ���ý is 9-0 on the season and faces .

The Panthers beat �ֲ���ý twice in 2016 so the Bobcats are extra-motivated for Saturday’s tilt. “They ended our season last year, so that was one of the worst feelings you could possibly have,” says senior captain Kyle Weber.

Lasagna compares this week’s slate of tough games to taking final exams, coming up next week for �ֲ���ý students. “They did a very good job on their first exam,” Lasagna says. “Now we just have to get ready for Saturday’s exam.”

With their CBB-winning 24-7 win over Bowdoin on Nov. 5, the Bobcats have claimed the CBB title outright or tied for the title in six straight seasons.

Game highlights and interviews

Interviews include quarterback Matt Golden ’20 of New Bedford, Mass., who came in for an injured starter to lead the Bobcats to the win.

Post-game quality time with the CBB trophy

Post-game fun as the Bobcats and their families and friends spend some quality time with the symbol of their triumph.

The Facebook page that Hillary Throckmorton ’15 created last summer for the CBB Dempsey Challenge framed the competition perfectly.

There’s a photo of Patrick Dempsey himself, the Lewiston native and Hollywood actor, smiling McDreamily while wearing a �ֲ���ý T-shirt, with a Bowdoin cap on his head and a Colby cap in his hand.

�ֲ���ý participants in the CBB Challenge get close to Dempsey for a photograph. (Clayton Spencer/�ֲ���ý College)

Patrick Dempsey presents the CBB Challenge College Cup to, from left, organizer Hillary Throckmorton '15, Abby Zwetchkenbaum '15 (one of two top �ֲ���ý fundraisers, along with Julia Gordon '15), President Clayton Spencer and the �ֲ���ý Bobcat on Oct. 13 during a ceremony in Lewiston's Simard-Payne Park. (Meg Kimmel/�ֲ���ý College)

As Patrick Dempsey, President Clayton Spencer and the Bobcat listen,Hillary Throckmorton '15 offers comments after accepting the inaugural CBB Challenge Cup on Oct. 12, 2013. Photo by Meg Kimmel/�ֲ���ý College.

Dempsey laughs while holding the CBB Challenge Cup, inscribed with the first winner: �ֲ���ý College. (Meg Kimmel/�ֲ���ý College)

In winning the CBB participation challenge with 94 participants, �ֲ���ý raised $23,300, more than triple the combined totals of Bowdoin and Colby.

Now in its fifth year, the two-day Dempsey Challenge is a run, walk and bicycle fundraising event that draws more than 4,000 participants and raises more than $1 million for the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing in Lewiston.

Throckmorton, from Bangor, Maine, had the idea for the CBB Challenge shortly after joining the Dempsey Challenge PR effort as a volunteer a year ago.

Now that the first year of the CBB Challenge is in the books, it can be said that from a participation and fundraising standpoint, the idea was clearly a win-win.

“Patrick was calling it a ‘friendly rivalry.’ I was like, ‘Yeah…friendly.'”

But, Throckmorton admits, there was a little more to it than that, with respect to Dempsey.

“There was a pride factor there,” she laughed. “We know he got an honorary degree from Bowdoin last year, and we wanted to reclaim him.

“Patrick was calling it a ‘friendly rivalry.’ I was like, ‘Yeah…friendly.'”

Before 2013, participation from the �ֲ���ý community, while significant, was never organized behind one banner. “It was scattered,” said Throckmorton.

She changed all that, with help from President Spencer, who supported a more strategic effort.

“The president was a huge facilitator to the whole operation,” said Throckmorton. “She is very competitive by nature, which everybody loves about her. This was a great way to connect with her.”

The challenge guidelines allowed any participant associated with �ֲ���ý, Bowdoin or Colby to be counted, even if they weren’t part of the school’s “official” team.

Throckmorton gave a special shout-out to Sophie Pellegrini ’15 of Potomac, Md., for helping to boost �ֲ���ý’ participation.

Pellegrini is a co-founder of the �ֲ���ý cancer support and awareness organization, ‘Cats Against Cancer. CAC did tabling in Commons and generally alerted other �ֲ���ý teams to join the challenge, and the CAC challenge team raised $3,519, with another thousand more raised by club members who were part of other �ֲ���ý challenge teams.

Those other teams included �ֲ���ý women’s lacrosse ($6,065), women’s squash ($1,335), women’s swimming and diving ($945) and women’s basketball ($940). Throckmorton herself captained the official �ֲ���ý team, which raised $11,271.

�ֲ���ý’ top fundraisers were Abby Zwetchkenbaum ’15 of Providence, R.I., and Julia Gordon ’16 of Santa Monica, Calif., each of whom raised $1,650.

Altogether, the �ֲ���ý teams raised about $23,300 for the Dempsey Center. Funds raised by Bowdoin and Colby pushed the total to $31,000, and matching funds from Positive Tracks, the event’s philanthropic partner, brought the total to over $60,000.

(Positive Tracks describes itself as a “youth-centric nonprofit that empowers young people to fundraise for organizations.” This year, Positive Tracks provided $100,000 to match all funds raised by Dempsey participants under age 23.)

At the award presentation, Throckmorton posed with Dempsey, who grew up in Buckfield and attended high school locally, for photos. To Throckmorton, he’s just “Patrick,” though she does toss around adjectives like “awesome” and “incredible” when speaking about him.

“He’s such a down-to-earth person,” she said, “and the Dempsey Center is such a huge asset to people who are suffering through cancer, and their family members. It’s really cool that we have that in Lewiston.”

It took equal parts good and bad, plus a bit of ugly, for an iconic image from the �ֲ���ý-Colby football game at Garcelon Field on Oct. 28, 2006, to appear in Sports Illustrated‘s special issue, “Football America” (Dec. 4, 2006).

The photograph, featured across pages 46 and 47, shows Jamie Walker ’07 of Needham, Mass., moving a pile of Mule defenders, one of his 43 carries on the day, just two shy of his own �ֲ���ý single-game record.

Later featured in Sports Illustrated, this iconic �ֲ���ý photograph shows Jamie Walker ’07 of Needham, Mass., moving a pile of Colby Mule defenders during a game at Garcelon Field on Oct. 28, 2006. (Daryn Slover for �ֲ���ý College)

Here’s the good. Daryn Slover, a staff photographer for the Sun Journal newspaper on freelance assignment for the �ֲ���ý Office of Communications and Media Relations, persevered despite the wind and rain, only calling it quits after several lenses became too wet to work.

Slover shot the iconic image about two hours into the game. The following Monday morning, �ֲ���ý Communications offered the photograph to the Sports Illustrated photo editors.

Now for the bad: The weather. Some 4.62 inches of rain fell on Oct. 28, including 2 inches during the 3-hour and 15-minute contest, resulting in a flood warning being issued for the nearby Androscoggin River the next day.

Former equipment manager Jim Taylor slogs through the mud and standing water on Oct. 26, 2006, as the �ֲ���ý team awaits the start of overtime vs. Colby at Garcelon Field. (Daryn Slover for �ֲ���ý College)

A southeast wind blew at 20 to 30 mph all afternoon, and despite the look of the photograph, the main obstacles on Garcelon Field were huge puddles, not mud.

And the ugly? The ending, at least from the Bobcat perspective, with Colby winning the four-overtime contest with Brian Bachow’s 22-yard field goal,

Toned by the magazine to make the �ֲ���ý garnet appear a bit more red, this is how the �ֲ���ý-Colby photograph appeared in the Dec. 6, 2006, issue of Sports Illustrated.

Described by the Boston Globe as a “fury of intense, blistering guitars, percolating bongos and impeccable vocal harmonies,” Guster was named best live act at the 1996 Boston Music Awards and best local acoustic act by the Boston Phoenix/WFNX Best Music Poll.

The trio of guitarists-vocalists Ryan Miller and Adam Gardner and percussionist Brian Rosenworcel met in 1992 at their alma mater, Tufts University, and performed in the Boston area during their college years. Their first CD, Parachute, was named 1995’s best local debut album by the Boston Globe. The band also was featured on the national AWARE 3 Compilation in 1995, the same year the threesome graduated from Tufts with honors.