Two key defenders suffer injuries in loss

The game wasn’t the only thing the Columbia football team lost on Saturday night, as two key players exited with injuries, and one of them could be out for the rest of the season.

Junior captain Alex Gross suffered an injury to his right knee on the opening kickoff of the Lions’ 24-21 loss to Lafayette. He spent most of the first quarter being attended to by the team’s medical staff before working his way off the field on crutches during the second quarter. After the game, head coach Norries Wilson noted that the full extent of Gross’ injury will not be known until the linebacker undergoes an MRI, but the initial prognosis was not good.

“There’s a good chance he may not return for the remainder of the season based on what they told me preliminarily about his injury,” Wilson said. “We won’t know until the MRI shows the results of the injury to his knee.”

Wilson didn’t believe the absence of last year’s league leader in tackles was the difference in the game, though. One of the reasons for that was the play of Gross’ backup, sophomore Evan Miller. Miller—the younger brother of the Lions’ All-Ivy defensive end Lou—performed admirably, as he finished with 12 tackles, including 1.5 for a loss, and one pass break-up.

“I thought that Evan Miller went in and played his heart out,” Wilson said. “He went out there and he made plays and he ran around. He did what he was coached to do and we’ve just got to get him ready to go when we play again next week.”

Miller wasn’t the only defensive player who saw more playing time than usual because of an injury to a starter, though. In the second quarter defensive back Calvin Otis suffered what looked like an arm injury and didn’t re-enter the game. With Otis out, sophomore Ross Morand took his place and was a key figure down the stretch.

With the Lions clinging to a four-point lead in the third quarter, Morand came up with what looked to be a huge interception that would have ended Lafayette’s drive. However, Morand was flagged for pass interference, and the Leopards continued at the Light Blue’s four-yard line. The penalty didn’t end up helping Lafayette, though, as senior safety Andy Shalbrack picked off a pass from quarterback Rob Curley in the end zone three plays later.

Morand redeemed himself with just over nine and a half minutes left in the game, pulling down an interception at the Lions’ 15-yard line and returning it 22 yards. The pick was Morand’s first of his career and the Light Blue’s third of the game.

The biggest—and most controversial—play of the game centered around the sophomore cornerback as well. On second-and-15 from the Columbia 16-yard line, Curley tossed a pass to his left in the direction of Mitchell Bennett and it fell incomplete, but again Morand was flagged for interference. This play was very close and it’s debatable whether the ball was catchable, but the end result was that the Leopards got a first down at the Lions’ three-yard line and they scored the game-winning touchdown three plays later.

While it is likely that Gross’ knee injury will keep him out of this Saturday’s game against Penn at the least, the extent of Otis’ injury is not yet known. If Otis and sophomore Owen Fraser—who has missed the past three games with a hamstring injury—can play against the Quakers, it would provide a nice boost heading into the most crucial game of the Lions’ season.