David Bendit wasn't about to let his past come back to haunt him. Not this time.
On Oct. 10, 2009, Colby's then−freshman kicker missed the game−winning extra point near the end of regulation in the Mules' road date with Wesleyan. When a Cardinals penalty gave Bendit a second chance, he misfired on that one, too.
So when Bendit lined up on Saturday with a chance to give Colby one of its most exciting wins in program history, memories of the Wesleyan debacle were swirling in his normally calm mind.
But history, normally a cyclical demon bent on plaguing poor souls, refused to torment Bendit anymore.
As time expired in the fourth quarter, Bendit booted the game−winning PAT, sending Colby into a raucous celebration and spoiling Tufts' Seniors Day with a 42−41 victory on Zimman Field.
It was sweet redemption for Bendit, who calmly stroked the ball through the south goalposts, simultaneously erasing memories of a failed field goal in the first half against Tufts as well as in the Wesleyan game 393 days earlier — which Bendit ultimately won with a 22−yarder in overtime.
"It feels a lot better than last year when I was in the same situation and couldn't do it," Bendit said. "But we're clicking on all cylinders this year and it feels great."
Facing a Jumbos offense that the week before put up a NESCAC−record 671 yards and 49 points versus then−undefeated Amherst, it took a superhuman effort from junior quarterback Nick Kmetz in the fourth quarter, not to mention some stoic kicking from Bendit, to propel the Mules to their third straight win.
"I felt really good about it, despite his demeanor," Colby head coach Ed Mestieri said. "He looked pretty comfortable with the situation. I was more concerned with protection, because they had put some heat on us earlier in the day, but I felt good about David's chances to make it."
On the game's final drive, Kmetz — who set new single−game program marks for total offense, completions and attempts — directed a 17−play, 73−yard effort that included three third−down conversions and two fourth−down conversions.
Such situations are nothing new to Kmetz and the rest of the Colby offense. Each Wednesday, the Mules' practice plan includes a drill called "Red, Red," in which a random scenario is thrown at the first−team offense and defense, which then go head−to−head for bragging rights. This past week in practice, the defense won the drill. On Saturday, it was the offense's time to shine.
"You think about that stuff growing up, moments like that," Kmetz said. "And you hope things play out and things go well. I'm just so excited; I don't know what to say. That's probably the biggest win of my life."
When Bendit lined up to attempt a 24−yarder with one second remaining in the second half, Jumbos coach Bill Samko burned his two remaining timeouts to ice the sophomore. A small mistake by Bendit caused the field goal to sail to the right, allowing Tufts to head into the break with a halftime lead for the sixth time this season.
But when the opportunity for redemption came knocking, this time with the game on the line, Bendit seized it, even though Samko, with the clock ticked to zero, burned all three of Tufts' timeouts before the extra point in an attempt to ice Bendit again.
"I was totally cool by then," Bendit said of the icing. "The icing, it's not that big of a deal. You keep a cool head on the way out and you keep it on the way in. I can't really cheer for the offense that much because I can't really get my heart rate up. I kept to myself for the first couple of minutes, then went out there and did my thing."
"I didn't want to talk to him or get him out of his rhythm," Kmetz said. "He's a pretty quiet kid. And I thought that if they called one more timeout I'd probably roll over and die. When it went through, though, it was pure jubilation."
Following the celebration and the obligatory postgame congratulations, Kmetz plopped down in the south end zone to take stock of the wild finish, utterly exhausted from the effort. Next to him, a member of the Mules' program squatted on the goal line and sawed a screwdriver through the ground, intending to pull up some dirt and grass as a tangible souvenir of the moment.
Though the goal−line carver eventually thought better of his actions, there was really no need to bring a small square of grass, incapable of realistically being distributed to the entire team, back to Waterville, Maine.
The excitement, though? Now that will be shared forever.
