WATERVILLE — The Colby College football team moved fluidly from drill to drill at Harold Alfond Stadium on Thursday night, a practice lit by a cotton candy sky over the Mayflower Hill campus.

Watching over his players was Colby head coach Jack Cosgrove, a spring in his step as he paced back and forth along the artificial turf. Now in his seventh season leading the Mules — and 30th head coaching season, overall — Cosgrove is excited for the weekend ahead. The Mules host New England Small College Athletic Conference foe Williams College at 1 p.m., Saturday in the home opener. After years in the game, home openers don’t get old for Cosgrove.

“No, they don’t, they’re always exciting, they really are,” Cosgrove said. “The anticipation (for the game) is now in the air because we’ve kind of wrapped up our practice week. (Friday) we’ll have our walk-through. You just hope you’ve done enough during the week to be ready on Saturday.”

There’s positive energy during practice despite the fact Colby (0-1) lost its season opener 17-7 against defending NESCAC co-champion Trinity last week.

“We played hard, we played fast, we played physical,” Cosgrove said. “We just missed on some plays that we needed to have, both offensively and defensively. It was uplifting to see our competitiveness, for sure… I think we made Trinity play a very good football game. They did, they didn’t make a lot of mistakes. I thought we stood up to them very well, we just didn’t come out with a win, and that’s what you go down there for.”

“We’re super-excited (for the home opener),” said starting quarterback Miles Drake. “I think we’ve had a good week of practice. We’re ready to put the last week behind us and  take the next step forward.”

Colby had success defensively last week. The Mules kept the Bantams to 10 points in the first half, before a 29-yard touchdown pass from Trinity quarterback Zander Zebrowski to Matt Laughlin in the third quarter lengthened the lead to 17-0. Colby collected three sacks against Trinity, with junior defensive lineman Jack Mullen leading the way with 1.5. The defense also held Trinity’s run game to 3.1 yards per rush.

“I feel like we have a stronger trust on defense (this season),” said senior linebacker Julian Young. “We lost a couple guys (to graduation) last year, but we still have a bunch of guys (contributing) that were in the shadows of the guys starting last year… It was good holding Trinity to 17. I felt like it was an alright game to showcase, but, we’re still 0-1.”

Colby College teammates Ben Entner, left, and Andrew Hart walk the sidelines before the start of football practice Thursday in Waterville. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

“Our (defensive) coordinator, Liam Hobbins, (always says), ‘It’s not (about) yards (allowed), it’s points,'” Cosgrove said. “We came up with some big stops, forced (Trinity) to a field goal on one drive. We really made them work for their touchdowns. I think they did a really good job.”

Offensively, the Mules had their struggles, scoring their lone touchdown in the fourth quarter, when Declan McNamara hit Duke Ferrara on a 4-yard pass. Colby also netted just 54 rushing yards.

“We’ve obviously got to get off to a better start,” said Drake, a junior. “We need to move the chains early, get into a better rhythm. All the basic stuff, we just need to do well. If we can complete our passes, hold our blocks, stuff like that, everything else will fall into place.”

There’s reason to be optimistic offensively, as the Mules are experienced at the skill positions. Drake was 14 of 30 passing for 179 yards against Trinity. Ferrara, a senior, had six receptions for 90 yards. Senior running back Keon Smart provides presence both on the ground (339 yards on 87 carries last year) and in the passing game (39 receptions, 352 yards in 2023).

Colby will have a challenge in Williams (1-0), which beat Hamilton 42-7 in its season opener last week. The Ephs racked up 459 yards of total offense, led by sophomore quarterback Owen McHugh, who was 17 of 25 passing for 247 yards and five touchdowns.

“(Williams) is a well-disciplined team,” Young said. “They’ve got some good coaches over there. We’re just looking to watch the film, study their tendencies and just play ball.”

On defense, Williams held Hamilton to just 103 passing yards.

“They’re a very well-coached team, offensively and defensively, special teams,” Cosgrove said. “Watching their opener, they play with a lot of energy and joy. I watched their guys have a great outing and really put up big numbers on Hamilton. They played with great energy and passion. That’s what you expect from them, and I think that’s a tribute to how they’ve conducted business over there over the years.”