WATERVILLE — As his teammates celebrated and passed around the CBB trophy, Sebastien Romain had a tear in his eye.

In his final game as a Colby College football player, Romain had just played one of the best games of his career, registering a season-high eight tackles. It was part of an inspired defensive effort that led the Mules to a 16-6 victory over rival Bowdoin in Saturday’s season finale at Harold Alfond Stadium.

“It means a lot,” said Romain, a senior linebacker. “We came in here as a bunch of guys who wanted to change the program around. It’s been a while since we had a winning season, and we had some dedicated seniors who decided to stay here. I’m glad we did that on our way out.”

Yes, this win over Bowdoin capped a season years in the making for Colby. After some promising teams came close to winning records in recent years, this one finally broke through, going 6-3 to mark the program’s first winning campaign since 2005.

“We had grit and just kept competing and kept fighting, and that showed for us all year long,” said Jack Cosgrove, Colby’s head coach since 2018. “This group has done some historic things. It’s a good group and I’m proud of them.”

Colby came close to getting over the hump in recent years. The Mules went 4-5 in 2021, then did so again in 2022 despite a 4-2 start. The team then started 3-2 in 2023 before losing its last four games.

But after a 4-5 season in 2024, this fall started with one of the biggest results in Colby history. Fueled by a defense that registered four interceptions and allowed just 195 total yards, the Mules defeated NESCAC juggernaut Trinity 13-6, its first victory over the Bantams since 1995.

“Over the summer, when I was working out with my friend, Declan McNamara (another Colby linebacker) down at Harvard, all we could talk about was, ‘Beat Trinity, beat Trinity, beat Trinity,’” Romain said. “It felt amazing to go out there and do it.”

Unfortunately, a rough patch would follow for Colby, which fell 38-0 to Williams the following week. The Mules then lost 27-17 to Middlebury, needed overtime to beat rival Bates and suffered a 24-7 loss to Wesleyan while amassing just 110 total yards.

A 13-9 win Oct. 18 against 4-1 Amherst, though, got Colby back on track. After beating Hamilton the following week, a 33-6 win over Tufts that marked the Mules’ first win over the Jumbos since 2013 clinched a winning season. Saturday’s victory over Bowdoin to claim the CBB title was the cherry on top.

The Mules have won the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin rivalry series two straight years and five of the seven since Jack Cosgrove became coach. The Mules’ six-win season is the first by one of the three Maine NESCAC teams since 2005, when the Mules finished 7-1 and the Polar Bears were 6-2. Bates’ last winning record was 5-3 in 2012.

Defense and special teams played a big part in Colby’s strong finish this fall. A blocked punt for a score gave the Mules the lead over Amherst. Bend-but-don’t-break efforts followed against Hamilton and Tufts, with Eli Soehren’s punting playing a big role versus the Jumbos. Against Bowdoin, Colby got a safety before McNamara returned an interception for a score.

“We’ve won football games because we’ve excelled in two of our three components every week,” Cosgrove said. “When you don’t have a prolific offense, it just comes down to some of those simple, little things you need to do to win games, and we were able to do that to get to where we are at 6-3.”

Discipline helped, too. Colby’s 299 penalty yards (33.2 per game) were the second-fewest in the NESCAC to Middlebury’s 234 (25.9 per game). The Mules also did an excellent job protecting the football, turning it over just once over their final five games.

The Colby secondary, powered by Ameer White’s four interceptions, led the NESCAC with 13 picks. Antone Moreis’ 483 rushing yards was the league’s fifth-most — and after starting QB Miles Drake dislocated his ankle against Amherst, freshman Patrick Miller stepped up.

“Even though I wasn’t playing in August and September, I was under Miles, who’s an excellent quarterback,” Miller said. “(Offensive coordinator Mark) Clements does an excellent job with the quarterbacks so I was in a comfortable position. … Winning the last four games, it’s a testament to our team’s hard work.”

It’s a season that, sophomore receiver Jack Nye said, could be a launching point for further success. He, Miller, Moreis (junior), White (sophomore), sophomore receiver Sean Trinder, junior linebacker Drew Ramos and sophomore defensive lineman Cooper Bunnell are part of a large group of underclassmen that could return in 2026.

“Being able to see what we did with the guys that we have — a lot of young guys — it’s very beneficial,” said Nye (31 receptions, 369 yards). “We’re all going to get better; we’re all going to come back next year and want it more. We’re not stopping here.”