White pulls off close win in dramatic finish

The annual football spring scrimmage—the Blue-White game—is not just a Columbia tradition. It’s also a chance for both fans and football coaches to assess the team’s status.

In addition to injury problems at quarterback—starter Shane Kelly has been sidelined all spring with mononucleosis—the Lions have run into trouble with their kickers. Starter Jon Rocholl, who has seen action throughout his four years on the team, was unavailable on Saturday. Rising juniors Joe Stormont and William Mazur are listed as kickers, but neither kicked a single ball in the scrimmage. Instead, kicks and punts were drawn out of a bag of scenarios created by head coach Norries Wilson for the stadium announcer. Both teams had to then adapt to the scenarios the announcer drew.

Jerry Bell took to the field as Blue’s first quarterback and converted on a fourth-and-12 situation with a 43-yard touchdown pass to Josh Williams. A successful two-point conversion gave Blue an early 8-0 advantage.

White ran into some early offensive problems, but managed to close out the quarter with a fourth-down conversion of its own when quarterback Millicent Olawale kept the ball and snuck in from one yard out. Running back Ray Rangel tied the score with his two-point conversion.

White struck again with a tricky flea-flicker play. When he finally got the ball back, Olawale found Taylor Joseph deep on the right sideline for another touchdown, giving White a 14-8 lead. The conversion was unsuccessful.

White came up with another big drive soon after, capped by a one-yard touchdown rush for Rangel to go up 20-8.

But Blue mounted a late comeback, eventually tying the score at 20 in the fourth quarter on a field goal.
Olawale, however, would not be denied. With the clock ticking down, he found Mike Stephens down the right side for a 59-yard gain and a chance for the win with only 51 seconds remaining. Stephens then made a great catch in the end zone, handing White a spectacular late-game victory.

One of the morning’s hallmarks was a prevalence of sloppy receiving. Blue running back David Chao had trouble with some passes and, for White, Stephens dropped a perfect touchdown pass from Olawale.

Additionally, Wilson imposed special rules on the defense in order to ward off any further quarterback injuries. The defense was only allowed to blitz on third down, and quarterbacks couldn’t be tackled—instead, they were brought down two-hand-touch style. This rule led to a noticeable uptick in sacks.

The annual spring scrimmage certainly lived up to its billing. The Lions were able to showcase their talent, and they even provided fans with a nail-biting finish.

Columbia will be hoping for similar heroics when the fall season opens up with an away game at Fordham Sept. 19.