Bates College football coach Mark Harriman and his squad are entering uncharted waters in the 2014 campaign. 

For the first time since 1981-82, the Bobcats finished .500 or better in consecutive seasons. They went 5-3 in 2012, their best season under Harriman, and won their final two games last year to finish 4-4. 

During that span, Bates won at least a share of the CBB (Colby-Bates-Bowdoin) title. Now, with 18 seniors and 17 juniors on the roster, the Bobcats have their sights set on more program history when their season kicks off Saturday at Amherst College. 

“This is the largest senior class we’ve had since I’ve been here,” said Harriman, who begins his 17th season at the helm. “That’s a huge plus. We have a lot of guys with game experience. We had a rash of injuries last year and now coming out on the other end of that, it’s payed big dividends with the amount of guys that got varsity playing time.” 

Bates lost eight starters to graduation from last year’s team. Among those were Bates’ top two running backs, Shawn Doherty and Ryan Curit, wide receiver Kevin Davis and defensive back Andrew Kukesh. Doherty led the Bobcats with 1,254 all-purpose yards. He rushed for 541 yards, caught 16 passes for 116 and amassed 597 in kickoff returns. 

While the Bobcats will miss their production, they still return two-thirds of their starters from a year ago. Among them is senior quarterback Matt Cannone, who split time with sophomore Nick LaSpada under center. Cannone finished his junior season completing 41 of 75 passes for 555 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. Harriman said Cannone will be the team’s starter this year.

“Going into this year I worked harder than ever on footwork and getting the ball out quicker,” Cannone said. “You can never be fast enough in this offense. The quicker you get the ball out the less time the defense has to react, so that was something I worked on real hard.” 

The majority of Bates’ yards came on the ground in the triple-option offense, and without its top two running backs, the Bobcats are looking for big seasons from sophomores Ivan Reese and James Semmonella. Reese sported 3.5 yards per carry in a backup role last year for a ground game that averaged 231.5 yards per game. 

“We’ll always hopefully have more yards running than passing,” Harriman said. “We’d like to be a little more balanced than we were last year. I think we will be with the evolution of the quarterbacks.” 

Bates’ experience lies in its defense. Five of its top six tacklers from a year ago are seniors, led by defensive back Mike Kelleher, who recorded 54 tackles. Defensive back Ryan Newson and linebacker Gilbert Brown had 7.5 tackles for loss and two interceptions each. Brown also recorded a sack, forced two fumbles and recovered another. 

“The emphasis for us is to be one of the most predominant defenses in the league and to get turnovers,” Brown said. “Two years ago we had a lot of turnovers and our turnover ration was one of the top in Division III. As long as we can try to get the ball in our offense’s hands as much as possible I think we’ll be in good shape.” 

The Bobcats’ defense allowed 21.1 points per game, surrendering 370.5 yards in those contests — 203.8 through the air. They allowed 28 points per game in losses and 14.3 in victories. 

Bates’ matchup with Amherst on Saturday serves as a litmus test as to where the Bobcats stand among the NESCAC elite. Bates is 4-22-4 all-time against the Lord Jeffs, who have won a share of the NESCAC title each of the past three years.

mkraft@sunjournal.com