Vol.25, No. 05	Oct. 1, 1999

Lions Are Top Cats in Battle With Towson Tigers, Win Fourth Home Opener in Row

Columbia varsity football upset Towson University, 28-13, at Baker Field's Lawrence A. Wien Stadium on Saturday. It was the Lions' first home game of the 1999 season and the fourth home-opener in a row that Columbia has won.

Towson, a Patriot League school from Maryland, came to New York with an undefeated 3-0 record and a 31 points-per-game average. The win—the Lions' second in as many games against Towson—was an impressive rebound from its season-opening loss to Harvard in Cambridge, and brought their record to 1-1.

The Lion special teams shone in the contest by contributing half of Columbia's points. Co-captain Justin Meadlin, CC'00, opened the scoring in the first quarter with a 69-yard punt return, and Chris Schaffer, CC'01, ended it in the fourth quarter on an 11-yard run after a fumbled Towson kickoff return.

"To get one score on special teams is great, so to get two is almost amazing," Columbia Head Coach Ray Tellier said in the New York Times story on the game.

Punter Ryan Kiernan, CC'01, was also singled out for his deft footwork. Kiernan's punts consistently buried Towson's vaunted offense deep in its own end.

The Tigers, however, lead the Lions 10-7 going into the locker room at the half. An interception thrown by second-string quarterback Mark Stoutenberg, CC'01, late in the second quarter set up a 29-yard scoring strike that would remain Towson's sole touchdown of the afternoon.

The Light Blue defense, which had yielded 479 yards to Harvard the previous week, dug in during the game's second half. A goal-line stand early in the third quarter forced Towson to settle for a field goal that, though extending its lead to 13-7, was the visitors' last points of the game.

Columbia grabbed the lead for good on a 10-yard toss to fullback John Cavanaugh, CC'01, from starting quarterback Jeff McCall, CC'02, as McCall scrambled near the Towson goal line midway through the third quarter.

Although he completed just 8 passes out of 15 attempted for only 48 yards, McCall's ability to make things happen on offense appears to have settled Columbia's quarterback question. At Harvard, three quarterbacks played without one of them establishing himself as the leader of the '99 Lions. But in the press conference after the Towson game, Tellier said that McCall would most likely start again next weekend when his team faces what is expected to be the toughest competition of the season in the Lehigh Mountain Hawks.

Columbia's last two touchdowns were produced within a span of 10 seconds in the final quarter. The scoring spree was set up by linebacker Jason Bivens's, CC'00, sack of Towson quarterback Joe Lee at the Tiger 29 yard line, forcing a fumble that defensive end Greg Bowman, CC'00, recovered. The Lions tallied on the ensuing offensive series after tailback Norman Hayes, CC'00, drilled through the Towson line to the end zone from two yards out. Hayes had one of his better days in Light Blue, running 22 times for 124 yards.

It was on the succeeding kickoff that Schaffer scooped up the Towson returner's fumble, sealing the victory and the upset for Columbia.