Sophomore quarterback Gabe Harrington made his first start for Colby College in last week’s season opening 32-7 loss at Trinity. Colby head coach Jonathan Michaeles stressed that the team needs to be patient as Harrington develops.

Harrington completed 19 of 35 passes for 162 yards, one touchdown and one interception. The Mules’ only score of the game came on a 31-yard touchdown pass from Harrington to Nick Joseph late in the first quarter.

“(Harrington) did all right. We didn’t ask him to do a whole lot, I don’t think. If we stay on schedule, stay within our system, he’ll be just fine,” Michaeles said. “If we put everything on his plate and have to play from behind by a couple scores, then he’s going to have to come of age a heck of a lot faster. But he’s getting better every day.”

Colby trailed 9-7 at the half, but a Trinity touchdown off a turnover early in the third quarter helped the Bantams pull away.

“You want to stay true to your game plan, but we gave them seven (points) right off the bat. We marched right down and got in the red zone, and we didn’t finish,” Michaeles said.

Colby was 0 for 1 in red zone scoring opportunities, while Trinity was 4 for 4.

“It’s getting 11 guys on the same page, every play. There was a lot of good we took from this game (Trinity),” Michaeles said. “It was one guy here, one assignment there, and that’s going to get you. That’s what football is, consistency of play and performance is what we need.”

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In Middlebury, Colby faces one of the top passing teams in the New England Small College Athletic Conference. Like Colby, the Panthers are adjusting to a new quarterback, Matt Milano.

Milano completed 63.9 percent (23 of 36) of his passes in last week’s 22-14 loss to Wesleyan. Milano threw for 204 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

“They did run it a little bit more than maybe was their norm last week. They’ve got a very good group of running backs. They run a good offense. They are very well coached, and their quarterbacks know where the ball is supposed to go,” Michaeles said.

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Maine Maritime Academy (1-1) opens New England Football Conference play on Saturday by hosting Western New England College (2-0).

Maine Maritime leads all of Division III in rushing offense, averaging 477 yards per game on the ground. That’s 52 yards per game better than second ranked Luther (425 ypg).

Mariners junior defensive back Cody McDonald was named NEFC Defensive Player of the Week for his 10 tackle, two interception effort in last week’s double overtime loss to Massachusetts Maritime.

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Maine football fans can see Madison native and University of Maine alum Bobby Wilder in action on Friday night. The head coach at Old Dominion, Wilder and the Monarchs will be televised nationally on Fox Sports One when they take on Middle Tennessee at 8 p.m.

Now in his eighth year at Old Dominion, Wilder has the Monarchs at 3-1 heading into Friday night’s game. Old Dominion picked up a 45-42 win at Rice last week in the first Conference USA game in school history.

Waterville native Brian Scott is on Wilder’s coaching staff, as the Monarchs’ associate head coach and offensive game plan and signal caller. Like Wilder, Scott is a former Black Bears quarterback.

Other connections to UMaine on the Monarchs coaching staff include associate head coach and defensive line coach Jeff Comissong, a linebacker in his playing days at Maine; recruiting coordinator Michael Zyskowski, who played fullback for the Black Bears, and linebacker coach Rich Nagy, a former Maine defensive coordinator.

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM