Bates’ Mickoy Nichol fights for yards against a pair of Colby defenders during the Bobcats win over the Mules on Saturday. (Dean Denis photo)

When Colby tied the game early in the fourth quarter, Bates football coach Mark Harriman said his team didn’t stress.

“I think it was business as usual,” Harriman said.

Only 37 seconds later, the Bobcats took the lead for good when quarterback Brendan Costa connected with Brian Daly for a 52-yard touchdown pass, and Bates held on to win, 27-24.

While Bates might have treated the moment as “business as usual,” it was much bigger than that because the Bobcats were fighting for their first win of the season.

And that first win boosts the morale for a squad that went through the grinder in the first six weeks of the season.

“Guys that go out and work hard every day, it’s nice to have some success on Saturday,” Bobcats coach Mark Harriman said. “A lot of young guys, especially, are starting to jell, and it showed on the field.”

Among those young players is freshman Brendan Costa, who continues to progress as the Bobcats’ starting quarterback. Costa completed 11-of-20 passes for 136 yards and a touchdown, and ran the ball 26 times for 155 yards and another score.

“His athleticism, obviously, is what helps him in running the football,” Harriman said. “But I think … each week he’s getting better at understanding the pass game. And I think that will continue to improve as he goes on.”

Now the Bobcats (1-6) move on to their second leg of the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin series. They host Bowdoin (0-7) at Garcelon Field on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.

“It’s the start of the CBB for them, so they’re going to be fired up for that,” Harriman said.

The Bobcats can achieve history with a win Saturday: it would be the first time that Bates has won four consecutive CBB titles outright.

To do that, Harriman said, the Bobcats need to play like they did against Colby last week.

“Similar to what we did last week, we’ve got to come out and start fast and try to play at our level and not worry so much about what’s happening on the other side of the field,” Harriman said. “If we can do that, then I think we’ll be in good shape.”

Splitting the uprights

Bates senior kicker Grant DeWald was chosen as the NESCAC special teams players of the week for his performance in the win over Colby last week.

DeWald accounted for nine points — three extra points and 29- and 18-yard field goals.

He is 5-for-5 on field goals this season — and has made his last seven attempts, dating back to last season — and is 13-for-14 on extra points.

“He’s done a nice job,” Harriman said. “Works really hard at what he does and he’s taken advantage of the times he’s been able to be out there and done a very good job.”

All-NESCAC runners

Five Bates athletes have been awarded NESCAC cross country honors.

Katherine Cook, a senior on the women’s team, made the All-NESCAC first team for finishing in the top seven at the conference championship race last week. Cook placed fourth with a time of 22:05.0. Cook, a second-team selection in 2016, is Bates’ first first-teamer since Adelia Myrick in 1996.

Sophomore Olivia LaMarche and junior Ayden Eickhoff were named to the All-NESCAC second team. LaMarche placed eighth at the NESCAC race, while Eickhoff finished 14th.

Abby Hamilton of Yarmouth was chosen as the NESCAC rookie of the year, the first runner in the program’s history to earn that honor. She finished 21st at the conference championships.

For the men’s team, senior captain Zach Magin received first-team honors. He finished sixth at the NESCAC championships, leading the Bobcats to a third-place finish, their best showing since 2011.