A bright spot for Colby in last week’s 35-0 loss to Trinity was the play of running back Jake Schwern. The junior ran for 72 yards on 16 carries and caught a team-high five passes for 38 yards.

“I think we expected that. That’s who we think he is as a player. We think he’s tough and durable. He can run inside and he can run outside. He really did a nice job,” Colby head coach Jonathan Michaeles said.

Schwern’s 110 yards from scrimmage accounted for 55 percent of the Mules’ 200 total yards. Schwern saw time in all eight games last season, primarily as the backup to Jabari Hurdle-Price. With Hurdle-Price graduated, Schwen stepped into the starter’s role. His 4.5 yards per carry average at Trinity was impressive, considering the Bantams are consistently one of the top run-stuffing teams in the country. Last season, Trinity allowed an average of 104 yards per game on the ground.

Saturday, Colby (0-1) hosts Williams in its home opener. The Mules are getting healthier, Michaeles said, and expect to have a few starters back who missed last week’s opener.

“We got some players back we didn’t have on defense. We played without four starters on defense a week ago, and we’ve got three of those guys back, so that should help the depth across the board on defense,” Michaeles said.

• • •

On Saturday, Husson plays another non-conference game, and it’s a tough one. The Eagles (2-0) play at Western New England (1-2), the team that knocked them out of the NCAA Division III playoffs last season.

Husson dropped a 44-27 game to Western New England in the first round last season. The game was tied, 21-21, midway through the third quarter, before the Golden Bears pulled away.

Husson is coming off a bye week, and Saturday’s game is the second of three consecutive road games for the Eagles. Husson won at Dean, 44-12, on Sept. 9, and plays at Endicott next week.

Oak Hill graduate Luke Washburn leads Husson’s defense with 16 tackles and three tackles for a loss. Running back John Smith is 11th in the nation in rushing yards per game, 151.5. In two games, Smith has 303 yards and six touchdowns.

• • •

Cony grad Mitch Caron earned his first win of the season as Castleton’s quarterback in last week’s 28-14 victory over rival Norwich. Caron was 9 of 16 for 122 yards and a touchdown for the Spartans. The 274 yards of total offense Caron helped the Spartans generate was a season-high.

In three games, Caron, a junior, has 310 yards passing with one touchdown and two interceptions. The Spartans are off this week, and begin Eastern Collegiate Football Conference play next week at Anna Maria.

• • •

The University of Maine has a tough game at No. 1-ranked James Madison on Saturday. The Dukes are 3-0, including an impressive 34-14 win over Football Bowl Subdivision East Carolina. Last week, JMU took a 75-14 win over Norfolk State, in which the Dukes piled up 728 yards of offense and 39 first downs. Defensively, JMU held Norfolk State to 91 total yards.

Maine (1-1) had last week off, but the Black Bears looked impressive the last time they played, a 60-12 win over Bryant. The Black Bears gained 536 yards in that game and scored two defensive touchdowns on interception returns.

Lawrence graduate Spencer Carey had the best game of his college career against Bryant. The senior had five tackles and a 25-yard interception return.

After this game, Maine doesn’t play again until Oct. 7 at Villanova. Next week’s game at FBS Central Florida was canceled when the Knights had to make up a conference game against Memphis that had been postponed due to Hurricane Irma.

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM

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