Box Score Box Score
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Columbia scored 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, including the game-winning touchdown with 37 seconds left, to claim the first-ever Empire State Bowl with a 20-17 win over Cornell on Saturday afternoon at Wien Stadium. The win dropped the Big Red to 2-7 (1-5 Ivy), while the Lions improved to 4-5 (2-4 Ivy).
The Lions, behind the legs of sophomore quarterback Sean Brackett, kept plays alive on the go-ahead scoring drive. He finished the day with 151 rushing yards and a score while also passing for 204 yards and a score in the win. His favorite target was Andrew Kennedy, who caught five passes for 55 yards and a touchdown. Defensively, the Lions didn't force a turnover until special teams recovered a fumbles kickoff after its game-winning touchdown, averting any last-minute chance for the Big Red to get down the field and knot the score. All-Ivy linebacker Alex Gross had 14 tackles for the Lions.
Freshman quarterback Jeff Mathews passed for 197 yards, while juniuor tight end Ryan Houska completed a 27-yard touchdown pass out of the wildcat to position-mate JC Tretter, while Cornell's other touchdown came on a 1-yard run by Mathews after a trick play saw him connect with Luke Tasker for 37 yards down to the Columbia 1. Senior Drew Alston set the school's single season for most punts (74) and pinned four of his nine kicks inside the 20. Ben Heller had a points-saving interception at the end of the first half, while Rashad Campbell (11 tackles), Zack Imhoff (11 tackles) and Brandon Lainhart (10 tackles) all had double figure stops for the Big Red.
Cornell came out in droves, as the majority of the crowd of more than 5,300 were wearing red in supporting the fist official trophy game between the two teams.
Cornell controlled the first half, holding the ball for 19:18 and limiting the Lions to 21 yards and no first downs in the first quarter. The Big Red continually won the field position battle thanks to Alston, who put three of his four punts inside the 20. Heller's interception with 10 seconds to play in the half and the Lions driving took the win out of the Columbia sails.
The Big Red used some trickery to score it first touchdown, getting on the board with just under a minute to play in the firt quarter in large part thanks toa double reverse that ended in the hands of Mathews, who was split wide. The freshman quarterback hit Tasker for 37 yards, and only a shoestring tackle at the 1 kept the Big Red out of the end zone. Two plays later, Mathews snuck in for his second rushing score of the year to make it 7-0 after Greenway's conversion kick.
The senior place-kicker added to his career scoring total with a 45-yarder with plenty of leg that split the uprights with 9:10 remaining in the second to make it 10-0. The Lions answered with a seven-play, 42-yard drive that ended in a 35-yard field goal by freshman Luke Eddy to cut the deficit to 10-3.
Columbia looked to get back on the board in the final two minutes of the half, driving to the Cornell 7, but Heller stepped in front of a Brackett pass and returned it 26 yards to keep the home team off the board.
Mathews ended the first half 11-of-20 for 141 yards, with Tasker catching three passes for 66 yards. Gellatly rushed for 33 yards on nine carries. Maybe more importantly, the Big Red was able to contain Brackett, who was just 7-of-14 passing for 85 yards and rushed seven times for 38 yards.
The Big Red extended its lead to 17-3 when Houska, out of the wildcat formation, ran up to the line of scrimmage, pulled up and fired over the middle to JC Tretter, who rumbled untouched for 27 yards and another score.
The Lions used a nine-play, 70-yard drive to score its first touchdown of the game on the first play of the fourth quarter. Brackett used play action to hit Andrew Kennedy for a 3-yard score, his eighth receiving touchdown of the season. Eddy's extra-point conversion made it 17-10 just three seconds into the fourth.
Cornell senior cornerback Emani Fenton, who has been making big play after big play all season, made another to force the Lions into a field goal try after a clean breakup of a third-and-goal pass from the 2. Eddy's 20-yard field goal cut the deficit to 17-13. That set up Columbia's final drive after a pair of three-and-outs and a six-play drive that ended in a punt with 2:45 left. Columbia's 13-play scoring drive included a third-and-10 conversion where Brackett scampered for 16 yards, and a fourth-and-1 play from the 3 that set up the first and goal touchown by Brackett.
With 37 seconds left on the clock, Penn tried to squib kick to avoid a long Campbell runback. THe skipping ball hit an up-man on the return team for Cornell and after squirting away from several players, ended up in the hands of Ryan Murphy at the Cornell 10 . The Lions took a knee twice to earn its victory.
The Big Red closes the 2010 season next weekend when it meets Penn on Saturday, Nov. 20 at 12:30 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field. Cornell and Penn will be playingfor the Trustees' Cup in the annual season-ending matchup.
