Lions Lose Control, Fall to Big Green

The game literally slipped from the fingers of the Columbia football team on Saturday at Dartmouth, as it dropped its fourth straight contest, 37-28.

With the score tied at 28 in the fourth quarter, the Lions had their backs against the wall, trying to hold Dartmouth to only a field-goal attempt. On second and 10 from the Columbia 17-yard line, Dartmouth quarterback Alex Jenny, who had replaced starter Tom Bennewitz after the first series, fired a pass to receiver Brett Lowe in the end zone. At the last second, freshman cornerback Calvin Otis jumped in and broke up the pass, forcing third down. With the pocket collapsing around him, Jenny saw daylight and made a break for the first down, but was taken down five yards short by linebacker Bayo Aregbe and defensive end Matt Bashaw.

That brought up fourth down, and with the game tied, Dartmouth did exactly as expected and trotted out kicker Andrew Kempler for the 28-yard chip shot. The field goal went up over the line and, before a hushed homecoming crowd, hit the right upright and was no good.

But the defense had held. With 3:23 left in the game, the Lions were in control of their own fate. The running game hadn’t been great, but it didn’t matter. The offense had been clicking all day, led by senior captain and quarterback Craig Hormann, who threw for 343 yards.

With the ball at its own 20-yard line, the Light Blue had all the momentum necessary, and just needed to get into the range of kicker Jon Rocholl, control the ball, and kick a field goal to win.

Unfortunately, the Lions’ aggressiveness hurt them. On the first play after the missed field goal, Hormann threw a short pass to senior tight end Jamal Russell who, with one tackler already on his back, fought for extra yardage down the sideline. He was looking to give the Lions a few extra yards, but instead, a Dartmouth helmet collided with the ball Russell was cradling and jarred it loose. The Big Green grabbed the fumble and took control at the Columbia 16-yard line.

Almost as soon as the momentum shifted the Light Blue’s way, it shifted right back to the Big Green, and the homecoming fans were reignited.

With the ball already in field goal range, the Big Green was not content to attempt another field goal for fear of missing—rather, it focused on the end zone. To get there, it would do what it had done all day: pound the ball on the ground and exploit Columbia’s soft run defense.

On first and second down, the Lions held strong, holding two Big Green rushes to a total of two yards. On third and eight, Dartmouth running back Nate Servis found a seam and ran for 12 of his 130 yards, putting the ball on the Columbia 2-yard line. On the next play, running back Hudson Smythe took on the role of touchdown bandit for the third time that day, as he only rushed six times for 18 yards and three scores.
Despite being down 35-28, Columbia was not out of the game by any means.

Throughout the game, Hormann had been able to hit his receivers for big plays almost at will. Starting from the Columbia fifteen, Hormann completed a pass to sophomore Taylor Joseph for 18 yards. On the next play, sophomore Austin Knowlin ran a post over the middle and, upon grabbing Hormann’s delivery, was hit hard and the ball came loose. Loyal Dartmouth fans clamored for the call to be a fumble, but the referees whistled the play an incomplete pass.

Unfortunately for the Lions, their star receiver, Knowlin, had to be helped off the field after the play. With Knowlin out, Hormann had fewer options, but that was of little import, as he still had talented receivers Joseph and freshman Nico Gutierrez. On second down, Dartmouth brought a heavy rush and sacked Hormann for a loss of eight.

This brought on a critical third and 18 for the Columbia 25-yard line. With the Big Green crowd roaring and linebackers threatening to blitz, Hormann moved up to bark orders to the offensive linemen, possibly to change the play or protection set. But soon center Mike Partain snapped the ball, which sailed past Hormann, caught unawares. The ball squirted from hand to hand and eventually rolled out of the end zone for a safety, putting the Big Green ahead 37-28 and forcing the Lions to attempt an onside kick. The kick was recovered by the Big Green and the game was over moments later.

“I didn’t ask Craig about it, I’m just assuming that he got deep into the snap count and the linemen were prepared for the next sound to be the snap,” head coach Norries Wilson said. “Instead of saying ‘easy’ to back them off, especially the center ... his voice inflection didn’t change and the center took that to be the snap count and snapped the football.”

What hurt the Lions the most were turnovers. Hormann threw an interception in Dartmouth territory in the fourth quarter and fumbled a snap on the Lions’ side of the field in the second quarter, resulting in a Dartmouth touchdown.

Dartmouth’s lone turnover allowed the Lions to get ahead early, as Bennewitz was picked off by senior safety Brandon Buckley, setting up a 16-yard touchdown pass to Knowlin.

Dartmouth then scored twice, and Columbia scored on a 32-yard catch by Gutierrez. The two teams traded touchdowns until the score was tied at 28.

Knowlin had an off day by his standards, catching only two balls for 23 yards, but caught a touchdown in the first quarter and in the fourth scored on a 27-yard reverse. Joseph and Gutierrez picked up the slack, racking up 72 and 132 receiving yards, respectively, and each pulling a touchdown.

The Big Green had two running backs eclipse the century mark in terms of rushing yardage, as Servis and Rob Mitchelson 130 and 105 yards, respectively.

Hormann outgunned Jenny out of necessity, as the Lions were only able to gain 37 rushing yards compared to the Big Green, which rushed for 271 yards. Thus, Hormann had another solid day, completing 19 of 28 passes for 343 yards and three touchdowns.