Ethan Meier is Columbia’s quarterback, but the senior made the two biggest plays of the game from his linebacker spot on defense.
Tied, 7-7, in the final minute of the first half against Fairview, Meier ended a couple of very promising Warrior drives with two interception return touchdowns in a row.
The Raiders (2-0) took a 21-7 halftime lead and posted a 41-27 road win Aug. 25.
Fairview’s passing game got going in the two-minute drill, and both possessions were inside of the Columbia 30-yard line before the interceptions.
Meier’s first one was from 75 yards out to give Columbia the lead with 57 seconds left in the half. He jumped a first-down pass form Burke Lowry and took it all the way untouched. However, the Warriors (0-2) still had time and marched down the field again with two big catches from Nolan Reis and Pat Canfield.
A sack put Fairview in a tough position of third-and-16 from the Columbia 32-yard line. Getting a little risky with a long way to go, Lowry tried to fit a ball in, but Meier was there again. He broke a tackle, and he was gone for the second time to cap off a wild first half.
THIS IS NOT A REPLAY!!
Meier does it again, his 2nd Pick 6 in as many drives!
We’ll call this one 78 yards with only 0:06 left in the half
21-7 Columbia, unbelievable @MJournalSports @ColumbiaAth @FPWarriorSports pic.twitter.com/i78aY8BgOA
— Travis Nelson (@travisnelson40) August 26, 2023
“I’m not going to lie, it was like a movie to me,” Meier said. “We talked all week about just finding guys and matching them and making a play. Fortunately, I was there to make a play when my team needed me.”
Up until that final minute of the half, Columbia found itself in a battle. The Raiders made a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes this team usually doesn’t make. There were a couple of fumbles both deep in Fairview territory, including one at the goal line. There were also multiple personal foul penalties, including a late hit on third down to extend Fairview’s drive that resulted in a touchdown. Meier had one of the fumbles himself, but he made up for it.
“There was a lot going on, but sometimes it takes one special individual effort. We got that from Ethan Meier tonight,” Columbia coach Jason Ward said. “The two interceptions were great because we coughed the ball up twice. I’m really proud of our guys for a hard-fought win. This is an up-and-coming Fairview team.”
Both teams traded punts to start, and Columbia got its running game going behind the legs of Marco Cirigliano. The Raiders marched down the field with ease, and another big chunk play looked to be a touchdown when Cirigliano punched it in from nine yards out. However, he lost the ball crossing the goal line, and it was ruled a fumble and touchback after Fairview recovered it in the end zone.
Wow!
Marco Cirigliano gets right to the goal line, but Fairview recovers the fumble for the touchback!@MJournalSports @ColumbiaAth @FPWarriorSports pic.twitter.com/8KWFshjZ6f
— Travis Nelson (@travisnelson40) August 25, 2023
The Warriors took advantage with an 80-yard touchdown drive. It looked like they were going to punt when Lowry ran out of bounds on a third-and-25 to avoid a sack. However, a late hit extended the drive. Four plays later, Lowry found Sal Rizzo on a 15-yard touchdown pass.
Columbia’s next possession resulted in another fumble on the Fairview 30-yard line, and Vinny Rizzo recovered it.
The Raiders got the ball back and facing a third-and-long of their own, Meier found Danny Corrigan over the middle for a 43-yard touchdown to tie it. The Fairview safety just missed the ball, and Corrigan housed it to make it 7-7 with 2:38 remaining in the half.
Columbia bounces back to tie it!
After another fumble, Ethan Meier finds Danny Corrigan on 3rd down for the 43-yard TD!
7-7, 2:38 2Q@MJournalSports @ColumbiaAth @FPWarriorSports pic.twitter.com/bpsgUrQzAi
— Travis Nelson (@travisnelson40) August 25, 2023
Fairview still looked to have some momentum with its passing game as the clock was winding down, but Meier had other plans than to let the Warriors get in the end zone again.
“I’m sure it’s happened, but I can’t believe that I did it to be honest,” Meier said of his two returns in a row. “I’m really not that fast at all, I don’t know how I got that.”
Despite the first-half setbacks, the Warriors weren’t going away quietly. On the first play of the second half, Mason Woodworth took the handoff and raced 85 yards for the touchdown. The extra point cut the deficit to 21-14.
After such a huge momentum play, Cirigliano provided one of his own for Columbia. On the ensuing kickoff, the senior returned it for an 85-yard touchdown of his own. Fairview’s momentum was suddenly gone again as the Raiders regained their two-touchdown lead.
“Columbia is a winning program. They know how to win and that’s a really good team,” Fairview coach Sean Ranc said. “They made a few more plays than we did. The back-and-forth big plays there, they had a few more of them than we did.”
Columbia forced another punt and went down the field with ease for another score. On the eighth play of the drive, Meier threw his second touchdown on an eight-yard connection with Jacob Sanders with 5:37 left in the third quarter.
The deficit was now three touchdowns, but Fairview kept fighting. On fourth-and-long with the game essentially on the line, Lowry’s pass was incomplete but a Columbia pass interference penalty kept the drive alive. Lowry then found Rizzo again for 45 yards to get into the red zone. Two plays later, Savijan Harris caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Lowry. The failed extra point kept the score at 35-20 with 9:50 left.
When the going got tough in the second half, the Raiders kept responding with scores to put the game away for good. The offense came back with another touchdown set up by a 45-yard completion from Meier to Matthew Pring. Cirigliano took it from there, gaining 21 yards on three carries to end the drive with a touchdown. His score was from two yards out.
Cirigliano runs in the TD for Columbia!
41-20 Raiders with 6:04 left
Dagger.@MJournalSports @ColumbiaAth @FPWarriorSports pic.twitter.com/XSAfyd0cO4
— Travis Nelson (@travisnelson40) August 26, 2023
“Luckily, we were able to get behind Marco a little bit and run the football,” Ward said. “I thought Ethan really ran the ball well from the quarterback position too. It kept the chains moving for us.”
Fairview scored one more touchdown with 3:42 remaining on a seven-yard pass from Lowry to Rizzo for his second score of the game. The touchdown pass was set up by a 33-yard connection between the two on the play before. Columbia was able to run the clock out after recovering the onside kick.
Both teams are back in action on Sept. 1 as Columbia hosts Northwestern and Fairview travels to Brookside.
THE SCORE
Columbia 41, Fairview 27
