NEW YORK -- A three-pronged rushing attack featuring senior Leon Ivery and sophomores Nick Gerst and Sean Brackett led Columbia to a 24-10 win over Towson on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon at Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium.
The trio ran for 226 yards and a pair of second-half scores as the Lions controlled the line of scrimmage to the tune of a 224-87 advantage in rushing yardage. Brackett had 89 yards on the ground to lead Columbia, and added 157 yards and a touchdown through the air. Gerst had a career day, rushing for 73 yards and a touchdown, while Ivery averaged 8.0 yards per rush on eight attempts and also crossed the goal line.
Defensively, sophomore Josh Martin had a monster game at defensive end, recording three sacks and hurrying the quarterback on four other occasions. Senior Alex Gross led Columbia with 12 tackles.
"It was a good win. They went out and played hard. They didn't try hard. They didn't work hard. They went out and played hard every possession," said Norries Wilson, Patricia and Shepard Alexander Head Coach of Football. "They did what the coaches asked them to do. They tried to eliminate bad plays. We still had some bad ones, but they reduced the bad plays. We made them play inside their 20 with our defense and special teams and it put us in position to win."
Towson got on the board first midway through the second quarter when Nick Wallace hit a 28-yard field goal. Towson's drive went 69 yards on 14 plays as the Tigers took a 3-0 lead.
Columbia answered with three consecutive first downs, including a 26-yard reception from Brackett to Mark Muston, who started for the injured captain Mike Stephens. Brackett hit Andrew Kennedy for a 16-yard gain to make it first and 10 from the Towson 19. On the ensuing play, Brackett rolled left, scrambled and then found Zack Kourouma for the touchdown. In his first collegiate game, Luke Eddy hit the extra point to make it 7-3 Columbia with 2:14 remaining in the second.
Columbia's defense stifled Towson's first possession of the second half with the help of an 11-yard sack by Martin, who lived in the Tigers' backfield all game. Columbia took the momentum and added to the lead when the Lions took over at the Towson 35.
Leon Ivery busted down the right sideline for a gain of 38 yards and after two consecutive gains of 10, one by Brackett and one by Nathan Lenz, the Lions were first and goal from the five. Ivery took the inside handoff up the middle for the touchdown and Eddy's PAT made it 14-3.
Each team traded dead-end drives when Towson got the ball on its own 38 with 5:59 left. Towson's athletic quarterback, Chris Hart faked a handoff and hit a wide open Hakeem Moore, who ran 62 yards for the score to cut the Columbia lead to 14-10.
Columbia took nearly six minutes off the clock on the next drive. Ivery opened the drive with consecutive runs for a first down. After Brackett was sacked for a loss of seven, the Lions battled back from second and 17 for a first down when Brackett kept middle for a gain of 25. Gerst threw a key block for Brackett to gain 14 yards, giving the Lions first and 10 at the Towson 14. Gerst scored his first collegiate touchdown when he started middle, cut right and jumped over a charging Towson player for the score. The Lions led 21-10 with 14:53 left.
Calvin Otis picked off Hart's pass intended for Erron Banks to start the Lions final scoring drive of the game at its own nine-yard line.
Columbia continued to use the ground game to its advantage, but Brackett connected with Nico Gutierrez on a second and nine for a huge gain. Gutierrez dove to catch the 44-yard pass.
Eddy made a 37-yard field goal for the final 24-10 score.
Towson threatened to score, using five minutes of clock and marching down 80 yards. The Lions' defensive line came up huge, with Martin registering two sacks after the Tigers were first and goal from the nine. Columbia took over on downs with three minutes left to play, sealing the victory.
"Hats off to Coach Wilson and his staff," said Towson head coach Rob Ambrose. "His team played very hard and earned themselves a win."
Columbia returns to action for its third consecutive home game, on October 2, when the Lions host Princeton to begin Ivy League action at 12:30 p.m.
