Matt Milano threw for 405 yards with five touchdown passes as Middlebury moved to 4-1 with a 41-27 win over Bates (0-5) on Garcelon Field. Matthew Minno caught 10 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns on the afternoon as the teams combined for 917 yards of total offense. The Panthers return to action next Saturday when they host Trinity at 12:30 p.m.

The visiting Panthers overcame a 10-7 deficit after one quarter to build leads of 28-13 and 35-20. Despite losing several players to injury during the game, Bates twice closed to within one score in the fourth quarter at 28-20 and 35-27. But Panther backup quarterback Jared Lebowitz iced the win with a 40-yard touchdown run on a read-option play with 3:38 left.

Milano was intercepted three times but completed 31-53 passes. Conrado Banky caught five passes for 112 yards and a touchdown, and Ryan Rizzo caught seven passes for 61 yards and a touchdown. The Panthers outgained Bates by a 475-444 margin despite a big edge in time of possession for the Bobcats, 38:10 to 21:50.

Bates rushed for 204 yards and accumulated a season-high 240 yards through the air. Quarterback Patrick Dugan completed 19-32 passes for career-highs of 217 yards and two touchdowns, while getting picked off twice. Mark Riley caught a career-high 10 passes for 117 yards and a touchdown, while Sean Peterson caught four passes for 55 yards.

Bates got on the scoreboard first, driving from its own 35 to the Middlebury 14 before a 15-yard penalty backed up the Bobcats to the 29. Bates settled for a career-long 34-yard field goal by Grant DeWald for a 3-0 lead.

Middlebury roared back with a seven-play, 84-yard drive, capped by Milano's 13-yard touchdown pass to Minno. The score came one play after Banky, on third and three, caught a pass in the flat, made a move past the cornerback covering him and scampered 47 yards to the Bates 13.

Bates came back as Frank Williams exploited a big hole and rushed untouched for 39 yards to the end zone, giving Bates a 10-7 lead at the end of one quarter.

The teams traded turnovers early in the second. Bates' Mark Upton forced a Middlebury fumble inside its own territory that was recovered by Max Breschi. Middlebury returned the favor, as Gil Araujo stripped Dugan of the ball and Tim Patricia recovered at the Bates 40. But two plays later, Ben Coulibaly picked off a pass in the end zone. 

Bates drove as far as the Middlebury seven yard line before settling for another field goal attempt, which DeWald hooked wide left from 25 yards out. Middlebury assumed the lead for good midway through the quarter, driving 80 yards on the strength of two big plays -- a 33-yard catch by Minno on third and 10, and Banky's 34-yard touchdown catch on third and seven. Bates kept the score at 14-10 at the half as Brandon Williams recorded his fifth interception in the past three games, picking off Milano in the end zone in the final minute.

Middlebury opened the third quarter with a key interception by Kevin Hopsicker, made on a tipped, broken-up pass intended for Riley, setting up the Panthers at the Bates 27. Bates' defense forced Middlebury into a fourth and two, which the Panthers converted and then some, as Milano found Minno for a 19-yard score and a 21-10 lead.

DeWald made a 26-yard field goal to close the gap to 21-13 with 2:57 left in the third quarter. But Middlebury, who was 4-4 on fourth down conversions in the game, opened up a 28-13 lead before the half as Milano completed a pass to Tanner Contois for 36 yards on fourth and one.

Before the end of the quarter, Bates embarked on a 15-play, 75-yard scoring drive, capped by a 25-yard touchdown pass from Dugan to Riley deep in the end zone. Mike Decina kept the drive alive with a 10-yard rush on third and eight. Riley's touchdown closed the gap to 28-20 with 11:20 left in the game.

Coulibaly's second interception of the game returned the ball to Bates at its own 33, but two plays later, Wesley Becton picked off Dugan at the Middlebury 43. 

The Panthers mounted another scoring drive, keyed by a four-yard pass from Milano to Rizzo to convert a fourth and three at the Bates 21. Three plays later, Milano found Rizzo open again near the right pylon for a three-yard touchdown pass, making it 35-20 Middlebury with 6:49 lead.

Bates' injury-depleted offense mounted an impressive 10-play, 67-yard touchdown drive, featuring rookie Marcus Ross' first two career receptions, including a three-yard leaping catch for a touchdown that again brought Bates within one possession of Middlebury at 35-27. But Lebowitz, taking his first snap of the game at quarterback, rushed up the middle untouched for 40 yards to make it 41-27 with 3:38 left. Middlebury iced the win with Dan Pierce's interception of Dugan on Bates' final drive.

Araujo recorded a game-high 13 tackles for Middlebury, including one sack, three tackles for a loss, a forced fumble and a pass breakup. Addison Pierce (11 tackles), Patricia (10 tackles) and Jake Clapp (10 tackles, 3.5 for a loss) also keyed the Panther defense.

For Bates, Coulibaly had eight tackles, one for a loss, to go with two interceptions, a pass breakup and two quarterback hurries. Upton also had eight tackles and forced a fumble, and Brandon Williams and Sam Francis had seven tackles apiece.