ITHACA, N.Y.—Cornell scored four rushing touchdowns, quarterback Richie Kenney threw for 244 yards, and the Big Red built a 21-0 first half lead as it registered a 35-9 Empire State Bowl win over Columbia Football Saturday at Schoellkopf Field.
 
The loss ends Columbia's two-year win streak in the annual Empire State Bowl matchup between the two schools. Columbia concludes its 2019 season with a 3-7 overall record and 2-5 Ivy League slate, while Cornell moves to 4-6 overall and 3-4 in Ivy League play.
 
Cornell outgained Columbia 463-339 in total yardage and outrushed the Lions 219-124. The Big Red scored on rushing touchdowns of 58, 1, 10 and 1 yards, totaled 219 yards on the ground and Harold Coles ran for two touchdowns and 122 yards to spark Cornell to a win in the season finale for both teams. Columbia was whistled for eight penalties for 54 yards.
 
It was not the way Columbia wanted to end its 2019 season.
 
"The disappointment is that we created a lot of our own woes today," Columbia's Patricia and Shepard Alexander Head Coach of Football Al Bagnoli said. "It's inexcusable to have five personal fouls and unsportsmanlike penalties today. You can't beat anybody doing that. We gave away more free real estate today against a good team that is playing really well. You can't afford to do that as an underdog on the road. To me, that's the most disappointing thing."
 
For the second consecutive week, Columbia trailed 21-0 in the first half. Just two minutes into the game, Cornell went up 7-0 on its second offensive play when Harold Coles burst through an opening in the offensive line and rambled down the field for a 58-yard touchdown.
 
Cornell made it 14-0 when it scored on a one-yard run by Delonte Harrell on a fourth-and-goal play at the start of the second quarter. The score was setup by a 51-yard pass from Kenney to Eric Gallman, who caught the ball and broke free of two Columbia tacklers. Gallman's run put the Big Red at the Columbia 20-yard line. A 14-yard run by SK Howard gave the Big Red first down and 10 at Columbia's six-yard line.
 
Six minutes later, Coles gave Cornell a 21-0 lead on a 10-yard touchdown run up the middle of the field with seven minutes before the half. The touchdown culminated a 74-yard, five-play drive which featured three Kenney passes of 20, 25 and 19 yards, two to Phazione McClurge and one to Masen McManamon. The pass to McManamon was batted around in the air a few times before he grabbed it.
 
Trailing 21-0, Columbia battled back. The Lions cut the deficit to 21-6 when sophomore quarterback Ty Lenhart found senior wide receiver Josh Wainwright for a 10-yard touchdown pass with 3:37 left before halftime. On his route into the end zone, Wainwright maneuvered around a Cornell defender to catch the pass for his fifth touchdown of the year. Junior punter Drew Schmid kept the Columbia 75-yard, 10-play scoring drive alive when he ran for 27-yards on a fake punt play. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Cornell gave Columbia favorable field position at the Big Red 24-yard line.
 
Columbia trailed just 21-9 at halftime after first-year placekicker Alex Felkins converted a 28-yard field goal with six seconds before the break. The field goal culminated a 12-play, 58-yard, 1:35 minute drive which featured a 28-yard pass from Lenhart to Wainwright. The pass gave the Lions a first-down and 10 from the Cornell 10-yard line.
 
After it recovered a Columbia onside kick to start the second half, Cornell drove 51 yards in eight plays and took a commanding 28-9 lead on a three-yard run by Thomas Glover. The scoring drive was kept alive when Columbia was called for a rushing-the-kicker-penalty on a Cornell punt attempt on fourth down.
 
Cornell added an insurance score and went up 35-9 on a one-yard touchdown run by Kenney following a nine-play, 91-yard drive. A 32-yard run by SK Howard and an unsportsmanlike penalty gave the Big Red the ball at the Columbia one-yard line.
 
Columbia was led by Wainwright, who finished with a game-high 109 receiving yards on a season-high nine catches. He registered his 18^th career touchdown catch, eighth career 100-yard receiving game and concluded the season with 170 career catches for 2,133 yards. Lenhart tied a career-high with 28 completions (42 attempts) for 215 yards and one touchdown. Senior tight end Rory Schlageter caught a career-high seven passes for 52 yards and sophomore running back Ryan Young caught a career-high five passes and rushed for 22 yards. On defense, Columbia was led by first-year Bryan Bell-Anderson, who led the Lions with a game-high nine tackles (five solo), while sophomore linebacker John Harris, first-year linebacker Scott Valentas, and sophomore Cameron Brown each totaled seven tackles apiece.
 
Columbia gambled on several plays. In the second quarter, it successfully executed a fake punt play which resulted in a 27-yard run and a first down, and missed on an onside kick attempt to start the second half.
 
"We had to take some calculated risks," Bagnoli said. "Our roster is really depleted. I thought we had to steal some possessions today. At the start of the second half, Cornell recovered the onside kick. Fortunately, we stopped them on defense, but then we run into the punter and we have a personal foul and give them another first down. I thought for us to have a chance to win, we had to take calculated risks today."