For a little over a quarter, Columbia looked like it might be up to the task of standing up to No. 7 Marist.
But a fumble wasted good field position in a one-score game, and the War Eagles ran with the momentum from there.
Marist scored 21 points on four second-quarter possessions to turn a close game into a blowout and cruised to a 41-0 home win.
When a Marist punt traveled only 15 yards before landing out of bounds at the War Eagle 45-yard line, Columbia (5-3, 4-2 in Region 6-AAAA) was in excellent shape. Down just 7-0, Columbia was a few potential plays from tying Marist (8-1, 6-1) and getting a grip on second place in the region.
On the first play, though, quarterback Andre Brown ran to his right and was hit from behind, losing his grip on the ball. It was scooped up by Marist’s Charlie Utsch and returned to the Columbia 45, ending the Eagles’ scoring opportunity and changing the complexion of the game.
Eight plays later, the War Eagles got into the end zone, going up 14-0 and starting a flurry of scoring in the final 8:13 of the first half that left Columbia in a deep hole it didn’t have the firepower to dig out of.
“That was a big turnover, right there,” Marist coach Alan Chadwick said. “To get that comfortable 14-point lead is important to put some pressure on them. I’m just really pleased with the way our kids responded to a tough loss a couple of weeks ago (10-9 to St. Pius). We did not have a particularly good week of practice, but they came out and took care of business tonight.”
It was a typically balanced offensive game for the War Eagles, but Ian Gipson made the most of his chances.
The 5-foot-9, 200-pound senior fullback runs low to the ground, and Columbia’s defense repeatedly bounced off him as he grinded out 115 yards and 2 touchdowns on just 8 carries.
The bulk of that came on Marist’s first drive, as he carried the ball 6 times for 71 yards and the opening score of the game on a 4-yard plunge. Most of the rest of his yards came on just one run, on which he broke into the secondary and outran the Columbia defense for the 42-yard touchdown.
That was a big part of a win that gets a No. 2 seed just a bit closer for the War Eagles. But this was the ninth consecutive week Marist has played this season, and Chadwick said that’s taking its toll.
“Right now, we need a week off,” Chadwick said. “We’ve got an off week coming up; we’re beat up, and we’re tired. We just need to get some rest under our legs.”
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